Lornie Nature Corridor Part 1

A stretch of wasteland near MacRitchi reservoir carpark, sandwiched between the forest fringe and the Lornie Park Corridor is teeming with wild vegetations and flowers such as the Mile-a-minute, the Bidens flowers and the Snakeweeds and these wild plants and flowers attracted different butterflies from time to time.

I visited the park corridor many times over a period of few months. I must say I have not been lucky enough to spot some of the very rare butterflies that others did. Here are some rather common species that I shot. 

This is a female Knight (Lebadea martha parkeri) 

If you slow down a bit especially when you are brisk-walking along the park towards the MacRitchi Reservoir, you may find a rather common species, the Horsfield's Baron butterfly (Tanaecia iapis puseda) especially the male which is distinctive with the blue patches at the base of the wings.

Its undersides are not so attractive though

The appearance of the female is very different and she is less commonly seen compared to the male. 

A recent shot of a pristine female.

The Malay Viscount (Tanaecia pelea pelea) is another common forest species.

This is our latest South American immigrant, the Dryas iulia modesta (Julia Heloconia) has become a permanent resident of the island. Since its first sighting in June 2022, it can now be seen almost everywhere (a news article on ST)  

This is a male feeding under hot morning sun

The mating pair will produce the next generation of this fast-flying "immigrant" 

Since the completion of the Lornie Nature Corridor, the Cruiser (Vindula dejone erotella) both the male and female can be seen very frequently along this park connector. This pristine female was found resting on a leaf.   

The undersides of the female is rather dull but when shooting infront of her while feeding, it presents a different posture.

The orange colour male is very different the female.

His undersides.

This is the male Green Baron (Euthalia adonia pinwilli) peeping at me. 

A pristine Commander (Moduza procris milonia) decided to puddle on the footpath. 

Occasionally, it folded its wings up for me to snap a few underside shots.

The number of species at this particular stretch of the park connector is surprisingly good. The Blue Spotted Crow (Euploea midamus singapura) appeared in a late morning.

Another Euploea species - this is a female Striped Blue Crow (E. mulciber mulciber).

The Dark Glassy Tiger (Parantica agleoides agleoides) likes to feed on the flowers of the Rattlebox shrubs belonging to the Crotalaria species) 

Its upperside shot

The Malayan Eggfly (Hypolimnas anomala anomola) is another common species can be found here. We can find two forms of this species along this park connector.  This is form nivas characterised  by the hindwings post-discal white streaks.

Its uppersides

I notice that the form-anomala is more often encountered.

The Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon agamemnon) is a very fast-flying butterfly - a lucky shot when it made a short perch on a leaf.

Quite often, we would spot the make Great Helen (Papilio iswara iswara) flying past us and feeding on the Ixora flowers.  

Occasionally it did a short break on a leaf with its wings fully open. 

I feel that the beauty of a black-and-white butterfly lies in the distributions of the white patches on the black wings. This is the Burmese Sailor (Neptis leucoporos cresina)

The Malayan Lascar (Lasippa tiga siaka) seems to be quite common along the park connector but shooting it can be quite challenging if it is not in a feeding or resting mode.