First Visit to Places Around Kota Kinabalu Part 1

I tagged along with some staff members of Butterfly Lodge @ Oh' Farms who went on a guided tour to Kota Kinabalu (KK), Sabah. The fully-booked Jetstar flight touched down KK slightly behind schedule on 3 June. After a sumptuous chicken rice lunch and a rather long coach journey, we finally checked in at the Zen Garden Resort in the late afternoon.

There were many beautiful flowers outside our rooms.

The sun rises very much early here. I was awaken by the loud calls of roosters before 5 am. The morning cool highland breeze and fresh air swept away my fatique due to insufficient sleep. I explored the surrounding places and found a few green leaf beetles.

This is a kind of firefly beetle I guess.

After breakfast, we were on our way to Poring Hot Spring - less than an hour journey. Our tour guide Clement knew where to find the lantern bug which belongs to the genus Pyrops in the order Hempitera. The contrastingly beautiful colours and patterns on the wings enticed many of us queing up to take a picture of it - only pity was that they stayed rather high up on the tree trunk.Instead of going to the Canopy Walk, I chose to explore the jungle trail. My first interesting sighting on the trail was this extremely striking red ginger flower growing at the soil level - a peculiar and interesting plant indeed which attracted a few passerby to take its picture.It was a hot day, most butterflies I encountered were very alert and active - only a few Laycaenids allowed me to take some shots. This shot looks like a Pointed Line Blue (Ionolyce helicon) taking a short break on a grass blade.

There was a waterfall at the end of the jungle trail where I shot this Nacaduba species - quite a few of them puddling on the moist ground or rocks. (note : Seow TL has identified this a male N. calauria)There were a few species of butterflies fluttering along the trail leading to the waterfall. One of them was this Purple Bush Brown (Mycalesis orseis) This is a Jamides species which was fluttering around some Torch Ginger flowers just outside the entrance gate of Poring Hot Spring.The upperside of this Blue is whitish without any metallic blue markings, she finally found a ideal spot to lay her egg.

In my next post, I will feature the critters I found at Kinabalu Park, Sapi Island and the Mari Mari Cultural Village.

Moths From Kinabalu National Park

The sun set rather fast in Kota Kinabalu Park. By 6 pm, the sky was already quite dark, the fluorescent lights at the dinning area of Liwagu Suite where we stayed, were like special attractors to many species of moths and some unknown insects.

Once the moths were attracted to the brightness, they would head to the light source and many of them in fact resting on the glass panel, on the tiled floor, chairs and tables.

Many people think that moths are drab and hairy compared with butterflies. The reality is that some moth species are colourful with fascinating natural cryptic patterns which help them to camouflage.

One effective way to distinguish between a moth and a butterfly is by looking at the antennae. The antennae of a butterfly are club-shaped at the tip whereas the antennae of a moth are unclubed at the end - some species even have comb-like or feathery antennae.

There are more than 150 000 species of moths with different sizes, colours and shapes.

There were many small moths high up on the wall which was out of my camera's effective range. In addition to the night symphony performed by frogs and other night critters, these moths make our night a memorable one.

Though many Moths are nocturnal but there are some species active in the day. This particular moth was found in Sapi Island along the beach.

This orange day-flying moth belongs to the family Callidulidae which can be easily mistaken as a butterfly as it landed with both wings folded. Indeed, not all moths fold their wings when they are at rest.

My First Visit To Bukit Batok Nature Park

Occupying an area of 36 hectare along Bukit Batok East Ave 6 , Bukit Batok Nature Park was developed in 1988 on an abandoned quarry site.

On my first visit to this park on 29 May morning, I explored almost every corner of the park. The hilly terrain makes it a good physical fitness training ground.

The very first butterfly that welcomed me from far was this shy Ancyra Blue (Catopyrops ancyra). Since its first appearance in Pulau Ubin a few years ago, this species has been found quite regularly in the western part of Singapore as well as in the nature reserves. An excellent write-up of the life history can be found in the BC blog here.Next, I saw this hoverfly resting on a grass blade. The morning breeze made me feel refreshing and comfortable but it also posed a great challenge for me to get a good shot. Interestingly, I noticed this fly curving its abdomen, not sure what it was trying to do.A rather common Hairstreak butterfly which can be found in some urban parks, this Common Tit (Hypolycaena erylus teatus) was rather restless and flitting around actively. With patience, I finally could trigger off a few shots when it finally settled down on a leaf along a drain. Near a stream, a kind of white Jasmine flowers were in full bloom. This Chocolate Demon(Ancistroides nigrita maura ) enjoyed the fragrance so much that it visited almost every flower, thus allowing me to take up a good position to take this shot. The way its long proboscis inserting into the flower make it like a fishing line. The common name of this orange lycaenid is Yamfly (Loxura atymnus fuconius), a rather common species in the forest where its larval host plant Smilax bracteata is abundant. The Bamboo Tree Brown (Lethe europa malaya) is usually very skittish and alert. It is quite rare that we can go as close as we like to take a shot. I was rather fortunate to see this guy flitting out from its natural habitat, a bamboo clump to rest on a leaf. Instinctively, I squeezed off a few shots before losing it.

A few birds were seen feeding on a grass patch along the main entrance when I was on my way out. Apparently, they were not afraid of people who came close to them. What are these birds ?

Two Common Blues @ Toa Payoh Town Park

I have not seen many butterfly species at Toa Payoh Town Park for a long time. It was no exception on 28 May. Fortunately, at least two small permanent residents, abundant at times, are always there to greet me.

A pair of Pale Grass Blues (Zizeeria maha serica) were flitting around the flower head of a kind of sedge. One of them perched on the flower first and shortly after another followed suit. These two butterflies didn't rest in the same vertical plane. As a result, it was a challenge for me to take a good shot of them.

The smaller one was seen flapping its wings at a high speed. I managed to get a shot to show a glimpse of its upperside of the forewing - which looks like a male.

Lesser Grass Blue, 毛眼灰蝶 (Zizina otis lampa) is a small lycaenid which looks quite similar to the Pale Grass Blue. A prominent difference between these two species lies in the submarginal markings on the underside wings. Here is a shot of a mating pair enjoying a quiet and intimate moment when I spotted them.

Individually, these Grass Blue butterflies are not colourful or large enough to be attractive, but when you see them flitting around flowers close to the ground in good numbers, they actually create a dynamic and vibrant scene in the garden.

Flowering Calophyllum soulattri @Toa Payoh Town Park

There were three flowering Bintangor Bunut trees (Calophyllum soulattri. Family : Clusiaceae) at Toa Payoh Town park.

I hope I have identified this tree correctly. This was the second time they were flowering this year though not as many flowers as the last time in February.

These trees were planted when the park was upgraded in 2007. More information about this tree can be found on the WildSingapore Factsheet website.

The mature leaves are oblong and elongated with a smooth surface, growing opposite each other.

I noticed the trees had many white flower buds on 17 May morning.

The same bunch of flower buds were in full bloom about a week later on 25 May.

Each flower has 4 white petals and numerous yellow stamens. I could sense the fragrance of the flowers when I stood next to the tree. No wonder quite a few carpenter and honey bees (Apis species) diligently pollinating the flowers early in the morning. We must thank these bees. Without them, the flowers would not be fertilised and bear these rather smooth and round indehiscent drupes. This picture was taken on 28 May.The fruits turn purplish blue when they are ripe.
I am rather fortunate now that almost every weekday morning, I can walk around the park for about 15 minutes before I go to work. I hope I don't have to wait too long to see these beautiful and sweetly scented flowers again.

A Short Afternoon Walk Along MNT

Ardisia elliptica is a shrub that bears whitish pink axillary inflorescence. Its drupes are small and spherical, growing in clumps, initially pale red and turning dark purplish when they are ripe. Interesting to know that about last year this time, the same shrub at the entrance to the MacRitchie Nature Trail (MNT) was flowering as well (see here).

I don't know how many species of planthopper in Singapore. It was my first sighting of this exceptionally small planthopper with a pair of light-blue furry wings which was found underneath a leaf besides the Ardisia shrub.

I guess this is a species of fly with a pair of long antennae.

Chocolate Pansy (Junonia hedonia ida) is a common butterfly in the parks and along forest fringes due to the abundance of its larval host plant Red Flame Ivy (Hemigraphis alternata), a common weed. I was fortunate to spot a mating pair which stayed quite still for me to take a few shots.
The Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane) was not seen previously by me in MNT though the species has established its permanent residence status in many parts of Singapore. This picture looks like a female Neurothemis fluctuans dragonfly resting on a piece of wood. She has the habit of coming back to the same perch after darting off whenever I came near to her.
This looks like a female Jumping Spider (Telamonia festiva ?), playing hide-and-seek with me on the leaf surface.

A kind of soldier fly with yellow-stripped abdomen rested peacefully on a palm tree leaf.

Two different Lycaenids were ovipositing on the young shoot of a jungle vine which looks like Combretum sundaicum (Family : Combretaceae) - only 3 leaves left on this plant.

This looks like a small size "under-nourished" Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa lambi) laid a tiny egg on the tip of the vine followed by a Common Caerulean (Jamides celeno aelianus). I should have take a picture of the egg.

It has been a few weeks since my last blog post on nature sightings at Bukit Timah Hill. I should be updating this blog with one more write-up before I head north again in early June to Kinabalu National Park this time.