Two Rare Butterflies Near Jurong Eco Green

The Jurong Eco Green (JEG) garden and a small patch of forested area nearby were my favourite wild places for my weekend outing-cum-photographing session. So I was there alone on a fine Saturday morning (25 July).

The forested area is next to the NTU's Community Herbs garden which is now overgrown with lots of wild grasses and thick shrubs and becomes quite inaccessible. As I tried to locate a trail that I used to walk on, I  bumped into a few skippers zipping around me.

This rather skittish but rare skipper, the Spotted Flitter (Zographetus doxus) gave me a hard time tracking it before I could snap a record shot. 

A Potanthus species which does not look like the P. omaha also came to entice me.

I think this is the Lesser Dart (P. omaha omaha).

A cluster of flowers caught my attention next to the herbs garden.

I felt a little in-secured looking for butterflies in this shady  and mosquitoes-infested forested area so I decided to walked towards the JEG garden.

At the edge of the forested area, I spotted a small colony of Harlequins (Taxila haquinus haquinus) -my first time spotting this vulnerable species at this location.

A male Harlequin was perching quite tamely on the edge of a leaf - he gave me ample time to compose a few shots.

I spent some time looking for other butterflies at the vicinity of the Harlequin but in vain.

Wandering in the Wild Wild West

I almost forgot this solo outing to the western part of Singapore happened late last year in November.

I remembered that for a long period of time I was just wandering around, moving further away from the main road, without taking any shots. At last, at a shady spot along a forest path, a Pugnacious Lancer (Pemara pugnans) appeared and rested on a leaf quite tamely.

I went around it to take some shoots from a different angle. The Pugnacious Lancer is a not-so-common forest species. It can be identified by its undersides having a  good spread of dense pale yellowish hyaline spots.  

Not far away from the skipper, a Dark Tit (Hypolycaena thecloides thecloides) presented a high perch to tempt me. As there was nothing worthy of shooting, I waited patiently for it to come down to my eye level. This shot was my reward for my patience.

I decided to turn around and head back to the main road. Since its opening in year 2014, the Jurong Eco -Garden has been my butterfly-hunting ground if I go for an outing in the western parts of Singapore.  

To my surprise, there where quite a number of a tiny lycaenid, the Malayans (Megisba malaya sikkima) fluttering along a forest fringe.

 This Jamides specimen was very small. It fluttered among the Malayans.

I always tried to look for an endangered species apparently endemic to a small plot of forested ground along Nanyang Avenue - but I had no luck. Hope that I will be able to find the Harlequin (Taxila haquinus haquinus) in my next visit.

Critters @ NTU's Vicinity

It has been quite a long time since my last group outing with ButterflyCircle members. Thanks Khew for giving me a lift on 6 Jan to the Community Herb Garden at Nanyang Technological University (NTU). My first shot of the morning was this Malayan Eggfly (Hypolimnas anomala anomala) at a wasteland outside NTU - in fact there were quite a few of them fluttering in that area.

We didn't spend much time at the wasteland. Instead, we crossed the road to visit the Community Herb Garden. The pink berries and some fermented dry fruits of the the Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum) shrubs attracted a few species of butterflies. First, a female Colour Sergeant (Athyma nefte subrata) was "intoxicated" by a pink colour fruit. 

This female Silverstreak (Iraota rochana boswelliana) created some excitement among us. There was a male zipping around but I didn't have the luck to see  it.    

An old and haggard  Commander (Moduza procris milonia) was also attracted by the ripe berries - it stayed and fed on the fruit for a while. These pink berries are edible and they taste rather nice for me.       

Indeed, these pink ripe fruits were juicy; no wonder this Malay Staff Sergeant (Athyma reta moorei) was persistent in getting its share, trying to chase the Commander away.  

At last it found a sweet spot high on the tree.

A male Baron (Euthalia aconthea gurda) perched above my head. I could only take its underside shot.

This Chocolate Demon (Ancistroides nigrita maura) was found along the fence of the garden.

As I didn't see any new species visiting the garden, I went back to the wasteland - this time I adventured  deeper into it. At a shady forested area, I saw this orange skipper which looked like a Lesser Dart (Potanthus omaha omaha).  

Very few critters offered me good opportunities to shoot. However, an Autmum Leaf pupa in its early stage was attractive enough for me. 

I also could not resist to snap a few quick shots of this fly hovering in front of me.

This day-flying moth perhaps the Pompelon marginata  flew past me and rested on a leaf when I was looking at a tall rambutan tree.

What kind of grasshopper is this ? It certainly looked strange to me.

In the early afternoon, we headed to a patch of forested area to look for The Harlequin (Taxila haquinus haquinus). We spotted quite a number of them at one location. However, they were rather alert and skittish this time. As far as I know, this beautiful lycaenid can only be found here regularly. I am worried that its habitat may be gone. 

The hindwing markings of this Arhopala species found in a deep shade of the forest suggested that it could be a Arhopala major major, but with some aberrations - this was my first sighting of a Arhopala species here.

BJ and I visited the location where I first discovered  and shot the Yellow Flat (Mooreana trichoneura trichoneura) last December. But we could not find any adult. Instead, we hung around its host plant and looked for any larvae or egg.  We could only found two dead young larvae like this.

Finally, I noticed that the larvae of the Yellow Flat ate the leaves in a special pattern like this.

With this observation, we managed to find a few larvae. Here is a shot of one of the smallest larvae. A detailed write-up of the complete life history of this species should be published in the near future  in the BC's blog. 

Many thanks to Mr Ng, the person in-charge of the garden for offering us very nice self-made herbal drinks on a rather hot Sunday morning. The Community Herb Garden is run by Mr Ng and a group of volunteers. They need the support from the public and the endorsement of the university so that this herb garden would be well-maintained, benefiting the public and the NTU community. Read here for more information.

 

Some Critters Outside NTU

On a fine Saturday morning, I decided to explore a patch of wasteland outside Nanyang Technological University (NTU). At the "entrance", a female Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber mulciber) was busy feeding on the Bidens flowers. I stalked and chased her for a while before I could nail a few shots.

Another elegant pose.

There were quite a number of dragonflies in the area, one of the species was this Nesoxenia lineata - this male specimen was rather tame perching on a twig waiting for me to take a few shots.

Another beautiful male dragonfly,  the  Crailla metallica was quite abundant there.

 This eight-legged critter looks like a jumping spider which was ambushing its prey on a leaf surface.

My last shot before I kept my camera was a female Spotted Judy (Abisara geza niya). She was rather "shy" and hopped around from leaf to leaf - no chance at all for a proper shot.

Here is a glimpse of her uppersides.

I was waiting at the bus stop when Ben Jin called me from the opposite side the road - glad to see him shooting again. I went with him exploring a small segment of this wasteland again. This time at least two Autumn Leaf (Doleschallia bisaltide?bisaltide)  butterflies came down to search for their nutrients on the ground. They were rather skittish and alert but at last this fellow stayed long enough for us to snap a few shots.  

I spotted this lycaeid resting on a blade of grass at a rather awkward angle. Dr Seow from BC  has identified  it as a female Pointed Line Blue (Ionolyce helicon merguiana)

 These yellow flowers of an aquatic plant were definitely attractive enough for us to take a shot.

I could sense that the wasteland should be a good place for butterfly-hunting.

Community Herb Garden @ NTU

The herb garden at Nanyang Technological University (NTU)  has been changed to a new name - Community Herb Garden (see my previous blog article). I visited the garden again on a fine Saturday morning during one of weekly outings.   

There were not many critters and butterflies fluttering in the garden this time. But I did manage to snap a few butterfly shots. A rather small orange skipper - a Potanthus species loved to open its wings whenever it settled on a new perch. With great patience, I finally snapped a quick shot of its underside. The black patches on the hindwing beneath look strange to me.    

With the uppersides shot, I still cannot identify it with confidence.  

This is the Grass Demon (Udaspes folus)  flitting around at the ground level.  

When there were less critters to shoot, I decided to take some flower shots. I have no idea about what these flowers are. A rather big five-petal herbal plant flower   

A cluster of interesting flowers were blooming in a radial pattern.

These Purplish-blue  flowers were prominent enough to attract my attention, 

A kind of Cat's Whiskers flowers were in full bloom

The nectar of this white flower must be very delicious for this small little bug which stayed in the flower for quite sometime.

The garden appeared to have suffered  from a shortage of manpower for maintenance. The endowment fund that has been set up by NTU  to support this garden has so far raised $500k which is a mere quarter of the targeted amount. Let us do our part to keep this herbs' garden, making it a unique and a special herb garden in Singapore (read here for more information).

A Beautiful Lycaenid Outside NTU

On a fine Saturday morning (10 March),  for a change, I decided to explore a patch of  forested area in the western part of Singapore outside the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).  

My first shot of the morning was this Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus) in a wasteland not far away from the entrance to NTU.
I walked around the wasteland and found this rather "hagged" Silver-Forget-Me-Not (Catochrysops panormus exiguus) - a relatively uncommon lycaenid.

This is a common wasteland  butterfly, the Common Sailor (Neptis hylas papaja). It came out to feed and sunbathe in the morning sun.  

Before I left this wasteland, I noticed a wasp (this is a fly) moving  from leaf to leaf.

A Tailless Line Blue (Prosotas dubiosa lumpura) was puddling on a road outside an army camp.  

A large part of a forested area on both sides of Nanyang Avenue was cleared, giving way to the construction of  the CleanTech Park and widening of road.

I was very pleased to spot a couple of  Harlequin (Taxila haquinus haguinus) in a small sector of the remaining forested area. The life history of this species was excellently recorded here.     

This is a female with her forewing sub-apical region more whitish. No one will deny the beauty of this lovely and rather tame lycaenid but the survival of this species has been severely threatened by the loss of its preferred habitat (see the save the Herlequin project here ).  

This orange skipper looks like a Common Dartlet (Oriens gola pseudolus), displaying a nice perch at my eye-level.    

A skittish Tawny Palmfly (Elymnias panthera panthera) really tested my patience - I could only manage a "hike-and-seek" shot -- shooting through some leaves. 

Due to one special reason, I was extremely excited to see an orange butterfly gliding at the tree top.Waiting patiently, I finally had a puddling shot when it came down. A bit disappointed, it was just a Malayan Lascar ( Lasippa tiga siaka).    

 Lastly, I would end this post with this dragonfly - I will find out the name later.

I feel that the wild places in western part of the island state have not been explored often. I am quite sure that these places would give us surprises in terms of biodiversity.