Other Critters and Plants @ Semakau Island On 20 Aug

Continue from my previous post.

There were not many species of butterflies on the grassland. Fortunately, other critters and some very beautiful wild flowers kept me busy. Let me begin with some flowers.

This uniquely patterned, large and showy pinkish-purple flower of the Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae) is definitely attractive. This coastal ground creeper is quite invasive which has extended its territory to the scrub land. A detailed write-up on this plant can be found here.

Passiflora foetida is a vine that can grow wild in wasteland. Though its white flowers are less conspicuous, these flowers could attract insects - look carefully, there was a fly on the flower.

I guess these are the flowers of Vigna reflexopilosa. A small colony of Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus) and one or two Gram Blue buterflies (Euchrysops cnejus cnejus) were spotted around this ground creeper.

This pair of mating leaf beetle was found on a blade of grass.

This is another tiny and cute beetle - a great deal of patience and luck was needed to get a decent shot under a windy condition.

Another interesting-looking and colourful beetle (or was it a bug ?) was looking downwards, clinging on to some young leaves, making it difficult for me to take a proper shot.

This is the only spider species that I saw - a rather small one. I have no idea what it is.

I think this is a kind of lacewing (this is an owlfly, thanks Marcus) which I have never seen before.

Here is another record shot from a slightly different angle.

I am not sure if this is a kind of broad-headed bug which rested on the mimosa leaves.

I encountered quite a few small dragonflies like these shots below - they look like the Diplacodes nebulosa.

Another individual.

On our way back to the jetty, I saw this male Diplacodes trivialis dragonfly perching on the ground.

I saw a few Yellow-Barred Flutter (Rhyothemis phyllis) dragonflies hovering in the air and settling down on a twig at times.

According to John, this wasp looks a Ropalidia marginata (need confirmation). It didn't stay long enough on the ferns for me to take more shots.

I have no clue if this is a rare or common grasshopper - since it was a survey outing, I would post it here.

I am not sure what plant this is but the flowers certainly attracted some insects.

A close-up shot on the tiny flowers.

Here is another plant that I hope someone could provide me with a name.

Though the white flowers look quite small, they are quite nice and unique if we view them with a macro lens.

On our way back to the jetty, we stumbled on a pond (in fact we saw two ponds) and scared off a flock of birds resting there.

The vegetation and plants that grow on this landfill are getting more diverse, growing taller and denser. This huge grassland will be home to many more animals in years to come.

Butterflies @ Semakau Island On 20 Aug

Thanks Khew for giving me a lift to the West Coast Pier, reaching there a few minutes before 7 am, the earliest outing I have ever had. Thanks Ria and Marcus for organising this trip and inviting ButterflyCircle (BC) members to do a butterfly survey on the island.

The morning sea was calm and the constant breeze really helped refresh our body and engage many of us in conversations. I didn't feel it was a 30-minute long journey. After a quick briefing by Ria at the Semakau jetty, we walked towards the hut, a few kilometers away.

Cher Hern and I saw some Blue Pansies (Junonia orithya wallacei ) frolicking at the edge of the open grassland. We broke away from the group and decided to fill our stomach first before we ventured into the overgrown grassland to chase the Blue Pansy.

This female gave in to my relentless effort of chasing and stalking and she finally rested a bit longer, allowing me to take a few shots.

This is a record shot of a male Blue Pansy - can you see the slight differences in the size of the eyespots ?

There were many Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis lampa) fluttering eractically on a patch of grassland near the jetty where we had our breakfast.

Another common butterfly on this huge open grassland, the Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe contubernalis) was seen fluttering amongst the wild flowers - but they were often shy away from camera.

Tawny Coster (Acraea violae) was rather abundant in this open wasteland as its larval host plant is passiflora foetida - a common wasteland weed, was growing wild here.

Another specimen was taking a rest on some dry seed pods.

This is either a 3rd or 4th instar larva of the Tawny Coster which was munching the leaf of the hostplant.

This grassland is really big. After two hours of wandering in it we still have not reached the forested area where other BC members were. So we decided to turn back to the jetty in order not to miss the boat at 12:30 pm.

The erratic flight pattern of a small lycaenid attracted my attention. Determined to find out what it was, I waited patiently for it to perch and tool a few shots - it turned out to be a Tailless Line Blue (Prosotas dubiosa lumpura).

I encountered quite a few orange skippers along one stretch of a dirt road.

I must thank Dr. Seow from BC for identifying these orange skippers for me. This is a shot of the Common Palm Dart (Telicota colon stinga) stretching its legs while I took this lucky shot.

Another specimen.

I noticed that this orange skipper was slightly bigger than the Lesser Dart (Potanthus omaha). Seow said this is Potanthus confucius - apparently a rather common species in Hong Kong

Its proboscis and antennae went deep into the corolla tube of the Asystasia flower.

This is a record shot of a Potanthus species at the same vicinity of the previous two shots. It looks like a P. confucius.

This brown skipper, a Contiguous Swift (Polytremis lubricans lubricans) was rather skittish and sensitive to flashlight - no chance for a better shot.

There were many other critters making this huge open grassland their home - you will find out in my next post.

Blog posts related to this outing :

(a) Wild Shores of Singapore - 'White patch' in Semakau mangroves : a closer look and Semakau Otter Overload !

(b) Singapore Nature - 110820 Semakau forest

My Second Visit to Semakau Island Part 2

After a quick and simple packet lunch at the shelter, our "base camp", I checked out the forested area. The forest floor was piling up with many dead brown leaves due to the dry spell in the past few weeks.

The first critter I encountered was this pretty butterfly Hypolycaena thecloides thecloides which can be found quite regularly near mangrove areas in Pulau Ubin as well. The orange patches at the forewing apical and submarginal region are much more intense and prominent than its close relative Common Tit (Hypolycaena erylus teatus). The upperside wings are brown in both sexes. It liked to open its wings partially, making us quite frustrated if we were trying to get a good upperside shot.I encountered this rather tame and large beetle resting in the shade. I wonder if it has eaten and punctured the leaf foliage. This is an unattractive and dull-looking moth. However the shape of the wings is rather strange and unique. I have seen the name of the species before but I just cannot recall at the moment.

I saw quite a few Tiger Beetles on the beach. This species is different from what I usually saw in our parks or forest edges. I found it less skittish and shooting it was not as challenging as other Tiger Beetles.

From far I saw this lizard climbing up a tree growing on the shore. It scurried up the tree fast and high the moment I came closer. It looks like a juvenile to me but I have no idea what species it is.

Lastly, this solitary digger wasp, Stizus species according to John, was seen entering a subterranean tunnel on the beach. Just before it entered the tunnel, I took a quick shot. It appeared to me that the wasp was in the process of building the tunnel - an interesting behaviour.I only covered a tiny section of the island. I hope I will have another opportunity to explore more about the island in the near future.

Related posts :
1. http://peacockroyal.blogspot.com/2010/03/my-second-visit-to-semakau-island-part.html
2. http://peacockroyal.blogspot.com/2009/01/pulau-semakau-on-18-jan-2009.htm

My Second Visit to Semakau Island Part 1

Thanks Khew for organising as well as sponsoring this butterfly survey for ButterflyCircle members on 7 March. After about 20-minute of smooth and comfortable boat ride, we reached Semakau island around 9:30 . An NEA officer was already there to receive us. Read more about the outing here.

I decided to check out a portion of the grassland first while some other members went straight to the forested area.

Not very far away from where the first shelter is, BJ and I found some host plants of the Common Tiger (Danaus genutia genutia) Cynanchum ovalifolium. Most of them look very young and vulnerable. I hope the recent weeks of drought will not threaten the survival of this vine which is becoming less abundant. This is a record shot of a solitary male Common Tiger feeding on a Coat Button (Tridax procumbens) flower. From the non-green background of this shot, you can imagine how dry this place was. Though there were quite a few Blue Pansy, Two-spotted Line Blue and Tawny Costa, Lycaenids and skippers fluttering and zipping around, these butterflies were extremely skittish, alert and restless, perhaps the intense radiating heat also affected them as much as human beings.

The moment I noticed this orange skipper resting on a leaf, I quickly approached closer and snapped a few shots. It appears to be a Common Palm Dart (Telicota colon stinga).Here is another skipper. After a few minutes of high-speed flashing flight, it decided to rest on a dry Lalang leaf. I could only get a long distance shot. There were many hoverflies both in the grassland and the forested areas. A few of them were seen chasing each other but most of the time they were busy visiting flowers.This carpenter bee appears to be smaller than a particular female Xylocopa confusa. In addition, the brown patches on the wings make me think that it might be a different species. It was found resting on a dry stem. I almost had to lie on the ground to take this shot with a blue-sky view in the background. This is another shot from the side. I wonder what that little red thing near the end of the abdomen.
Every 15 minutes of searching and hunting (yes, not much shooting) in the open field, I was exhausted by the heat wave and had to look for a shady tree nearby. This was how I noticed this Lacewing hanging on a Lalang when I was taking a break under a big Acacia tree. I think the common name of this attractive pale yellow flower is African Morningvine (Xenostegia tridentata Family : Convolvulaceae ). It is a perennial vine with arrow-shaped leaves, growing relatively well in the grassland near a big Rhu tree.

More information on this vine can be found here. I don't remember I saw this Cucumis maderaspatanus when I first visited Semakau last January. This wild climber with sprawling stems, producing small melon-like fruits was doing very well in one particular area in the field.

You will be surprised this tiny flower can produce such a nice-looking edible fruit.

After about 90 minutes of sun-tanning in the open field, I felt quite exhausted and decided to head back to the shelter to replenish my energy level. In part 2, I will write about my encounter in the forested areas.

Related Post :
1. http://peacockroyal.blogspot.com/2009/01/pulau-semakau-on-18-jan-2009.html