Lornie Nature Corridor Part 2

Continue from part 1 here.  
In this post, I would share pictures of smaller butterflies mainly from the Lycaenidae (Blues) and Hesperiidae (Skippers) family that I have taken over a period of a few months when I dropped by at this place 

This is one of the largest Oakblue butterflies that can be found here - The Centaur Oakblue (Arhopala centaurus nakula).

This tailless Oakblue is the Arhopala major major appeared in a late afternoon. 

A clear upperside shot of any Arhopala species is considered a lucky shot. I was indeed at the right place and the right time  witness  the "opening ceremony" of the wings.

Some not so common butterflies did show up here. This is a female Dark Flat (Tapena thwaitesi bornea) which came out to feed around 11 am.

This pristine male was shot along a dirt trail a week ago. The life history of this species has been excellently documented here.

The Large Snow Flat (Tagiades gana gana) is another common visitor to this part of the park connector.

Another fresher specimen.

This is the Ultra Snow Flat (Tagiades ultra) seems to be getting more common as I have seen it a few times. 

We tend to  see the Common Snow Flat (Tagiades japetus atticus) either feeding on flowers in the morning or resting underneath a leaf.

  

This is another specimen resting on the railing.

From far, it looked like some different sizes of orange mosaic tiles floating in the air,  The Hieroglyphic Flat (Ordina hieroglyphica ortina) is not so common but an attractive butterfly. I usually find it feeding on bird droppings.

This very dark skipper is a male Quedara monteithi monteithi 

Her uppersides

This is a female specimen.

The proboscis of a skipper can be very long, like a fishing line. Thie one looks like a Bengal Swift (Pelopidas agna agna) 

The Malay Dartlet (Oriens paragola) seems to be getting more common these days. 

This is another specimen feeding on some Leea indica flowers.

Any small orange skipper is always a challenge to identify with certainty. But I am quite sure that this is the Yellow Grass Dart (Taractrocera archias quinta).   

Its uppersides. 

The Great Imperial (Jacoona anasuja anasuja) was spotted and shot by a  few people over a period of a few weeks.  I managed to shoot this female on a late morning when a fellow butterfly enthusiast John alerted some of us.   

Just a glimpse of her uppersides.

Another long-tailed butterfly but this species the Fluffy Tit (Zeltus amasa maximinianus) a lot more common than the Great Imperial.

From this upperside shot, I know that this is a male.

This Abisara geza niya demonstrated a typical behaviour of a Judy - it kept hopping around with its wings partially open.

I was lucky to get a few shots of a rather pristine Chocolate Royal (Remelana jangala travana) which was found resting on a leaf with its four white-tip tails spreading out quite evenly.   

Another shot from a different perch.

The Common Awl (Hasora badra badra) was zipping around and all of a sudden, it landed on a blade of grass in front of me.

 

The Apefly (Spalgis epius epius) prefers shady environment.

This Yamfly (Loxura atymnus fuconius) was found puddling on the tarred park connector.

This rathe cute black-and-white lycaenid is rather common in our forest, usually puddling on the ground. It was nice to see them feeding on flowers.

The Cornelian (Deudorix epijarbas cinnabarus) was rather abundant at times. This pristine specimen was feeding on the Bidens flowers before taking a short perch on a leaf.

Another specimen shot on a different day. 

However, the Eliot's Cornelian (Deudorix elioti) is not as common as the Cornelian. I have seen it once here, high on a tree.

A few look-alike species can be found along this trail. This is likely to be the Pointed Line Blue (Ionolyce helicon merguiana)

I believe this is an Opague Sixline Blue (Nacaduba beroe neon)

This is The female Opaque Sixline Blue (Nacaduba beroe neon) perching high on a twig.

Some us played host to a group of Hong Kong butterfly enthusiasts from late May to early June.  On a fine Sunday morning on 5 June, they encountered this mating Large Fourline Blue (Nacaduba pactolus odon) 

This Pysche (Leptosia nina malayana) is from the Pieridae family.  It usually flutters slowly close to the ground level but getting a shot of this species needs a lot of luck and patience as it does not perch for long.

It is now quite obvious that a habitat with wild flowers and plants near a forest fringe seemed to attract more species of butterflies. Let's hope that Lornie Nature Corridor and the stretch of wasteland near MacRitchie Reservoir continues to provide nature photographers an interesting location for watching and photographing butterflies.