Butterflies @ Mae Takhrai National Park, Thailand Part 1

Many thanks to Antonia for the transport and all the arrangement he had made for us (with Les and LC) to go on a 6-day butterfly-phtographing trip in northern Thailand. Les and us arrived in the late afternoon on 2 Nov on two different flights. We stayed one night at the The Dome Residence which is not too far from the Chiang Mai airport. 

After Antonio picking up LC around 9 am at the airport next morning, we headed straight for the Tharnthong Lodges, situated in the vicinity of the Mae Takhrai National Park. We arrived at the lodge about an hour later. 

As the room was not ready, we started to look around for butterflies in the compound of the lodge. We sprang into actions with great excitement when an Angled Sunbeam (Curetis acuta dentata) was flitting across us. It took us quite awhile before we could get a decent shot. 

The fly in the background in fact landed in front of the Sunbeam.

It stayed around the area for a while and occasionally it opened its wings partially showing us a glimpse of its distinctive upperside orange patches.

There were a few other butterflies fluttering around before noon. This skittish skipper, the Common Wight (Iton semamora semamora) allowed me to snap only two shots.

Another dark skipper, the Banded Demon (Notocrypta paralysos asawa) was found on a palm leaf.

A pristine Silver Royal (Ancema blanka minturna) suddenly appeared on the ground in front of me before noon. Of course, without hesitation, I went down on my knee and took a few shots.

From a different angle, the silvery wings could be shown more clearly.

A rather alert female Plain Earl (Tanaecia jahnu) was flying around us. I snapped a quick shot when she was attracted by some dry fruits on the ground.

One single Lascar was gliding around and looking for perch. It looks like the Common Lascar (Pantoporia hordonia hordonia).
The Intermediate Maplet (Chersonesia intermedia intermedia) is rather small and it kept flipping its wings when it was searching for a sweet pot to puddle.

There is a stream not far away in front of our lodge. I had to chase under the hot sun to get some e shots of a rather pristine Staff Sergeant (Athyma selenophora bahula).

After we have checked into our room in the early afternoon, Antonio drove us up to the mountain and stopped at a waterfall site. The activity was quite low but with patience, we finally spotted two large skippers.

This brown skippper believed to be The Great Shift (Pelopidas assamensis) was found feeding on some birddropping on the concrete wall of a drain.

I noticed a black skipper zipping past me when I walked along a stream. We were really excited when this rather large and dark skipper was attracted by some smelly stuff on the ground next to a drain - this is The Nonsuch Palmer (Creteus cyrina cyrina) skipper showing its very unique hairy legs.

As it was rather tame and stayed still, we "climbed" over the drain and took some shot from the other side with the dirt road as the background.

At the sandy patch along the downstream of the waterfall, we spotted a small light brown but a bit worn-out skipper. Dr Seow from the ButterflyCircle helped me to identify it as The Siamese Bush Ace (Onryza siamica).

Antonio's car showed sign of losing engine power when it was going up deep slopes. He decided to park his car on the road side. Two of us continued walking up the hill, hoping to spot some montane species.

Antonio spotted this Dark Judy (Abisara fylla fylla) having a friendly perch on a kerb.

We spotted two Chestnut Tigers (Parantica sita sita). However, I could only get a long-distance shot.

When Antonio and I returning back to where his car was parked, we encountered a Delias-like large butterfly feeding on the Bidens flowers. We chased hard to take some shots. After dinner at the Lodge, Les confirmed that it was The Spotted Sawtooth (Prioneris thestylis thestylis).

In contrast, this Himalayan Yellow-banded Flat (Celaenorrhinus dhanada affinis) was tame and it allowed me to take some shots.

In my next post, I will feature butterflies and a few other critters that I encountered on our 2nd day at Mae Takhrai National Park.

Skippers and Other Interesting Critters at Mandai

On 12 Oct I met with up WH at the Casurina Curry Restaurant. After a quick roti prata breakfast, we boarded Bus 138, heading for Mandai. Shortly after alighting from the bus, I spotted this Oriental Whip Snake (Ahaetulla prasina) curling itself on tree branches near the reservoir edge.

While we were on our way walking towards the butterfly hot spot, WH spotted a beautiful shield bug (?) which I have never seen before.

A slight tweak of the shooting angle produced a different background colour.

Strangely, I have not been sighting skippers as frequently as I used to for quite awhile. So even this small and dull Starry Bob (Lambrix stellifer) could excite us as it presented us with a nice perch on a blade of grass at the entrance to the trail leading to the butterfly hot spot. 

A very dark skipper was spotted at a shady spot a few meters off of the forest trail. It appeared to be The Paintbrush Swift (Baoris oceia).

A glimpse of  the white dots on its upperside wings should be useful for identifying the species.

At one dead end corner of the forest trail, this small dragonfly with a prominent yellow segment on the body was rather sensitive to my presence. With a bit of luck and perseverance, I finally took a shot of it which looks like the Pseudothemis jorina.

Another small dragonfly was taking an afternoon nap along the forest trail.

Along the forest trail, a kind of micropezid fly drew my attention as it looked new to me.

From my first glance, I noticed the abdomen of this dragonfly was exceptionally short. My first impression was that it might be something different. After checking the book - Dragonflies of Singapore, I believe this is the Sapphire Flutterer (Rhyothemis triangularis).

I feel that planthoppers belonging to the insect order Hemiptera has not been widely studied. I encountered two different Flatid planthoppres on two different weekends - I have no clue what they are !

This shot was taken along the trail leading to the butterfly hot spot.

At the butterfly hot spot, this wasp was seen diligently visiting almost every Melastoma fruit, chasing away butterflies occasionally. 

I am not sure if I have seen or shot this small seed bug before found along the park connector. 

Lastly, I saw a moth flying past me and landed on a big tree trunk. Do you see something else resting on the moth?

The butterfly hot spot has been rather quiet since last week of October. I am sure very soon either the flowers or fruits there will bring back insect activity again.  

Hot Spot for Butterfly Sighting and Photography Part 2

Besides lycaenids, Sailors and Lascars seemed to be common at this particular location. A Common Lascar (Pantoporia hordonia hordonia) was sunbathing and constantly flapping its wings on a leaf under the morning sun.

There were a few male Malay Barons (Euthalia monina monina) flying around. With a bit of luck and patience, I encountered a male of  of the form, decorata resting on a leaf surface, facing the trail - a rather common behaviour.

Malay Baron exhibits male polymorphism so this is form-monina.

This shot appears to be a female Malay Baron. But it looks rather strange to me as her hindwing's white arrow-shaped markings troubles me.    

Two very similar Lasippa species were spotted though they were not shot on the same day. It appeared to me that the Malayan Lascar (Lasippa tiga siaka) outnumbered the Burmese Lascar (Lasippa heliodore dorelia) at this location.

Another Malayan Lascar came down to hunt for food on a late afternoon.

While taking a short break on the edge of a leaf, this pristine specimen, likely to be the Burmese Lascar (Lasippa heliodore dorelia) presented a shooting opportunity for me.

How about this ? See carefully, you should be convinced that this is neither a Burmese or a Malayan Lascar - it is The Perak Lascar (Pantoporia paraka paraka). Wow, all the four Lascar butterflies can be found here.

A Nymphalid, The Colonel (Pandita sinope sinope) is always skittish. A long distance record shot is good enough for the purpose of this blog. 

The Commander (Moduza procris milonia) is a common forest denizen and it is not uncommon to see them feeding on the Melastoma fruits. Strong on the wings, its gliding flight would show its reddish-brown uppersides with a prominent v-shaped white band.

The Purple Duke (Eulaceura osteria kumana) is abundant. It has the tendency of scooting around from leaf to leaf  and settling down on the underside of a leaf. 

A different perch from a different specimen on a different day.

There were quite a number of Chocolate and Grey Sailors (Neptis leucoporos cresina).

This Chocolate Sailor (Neptis harita harita) was playing hide-and-seek with me. Finally, I got a chance to "catch" it when it was staring at me from a high perch.

It turned away from me and let me shoot its undersides.

This plot of forested land once again gave us a lot of excitement and the thrill of chasing for "perfect" shots for some of us. In my next post, I will share some non-butterflies photos.