butterfly photos - wishes,quotes,shayari

Butterflies Galore! The Malay Baron ( Euthalia monina monina ) The Malay Baron is one butterfly species that displays sexual polymorphism*. It is particularly noteworthy that, in the Malay Baron, the polymorphism occurs in the males. In butterflies, polymorphism occurs more frequently in females than in males. In the Malay Baron, there are three known forms of the males - form- decorata , form- monina and form- gardineri . The species is represented by only one female 'form'. The Malay Baron is a forest-dependent butterfly, and is seldom seen in urban parks and gardens, except perhaps for those which are in close proximity to the nature reserves in Singapore. All three forms of the males are seen with regularity, and in some instances, two or more forms are seen in the same vicinity.  This male form- decorata was photographed in the nature reserves feeding on the ripened fruit of the Singapore Rhododendron ( Melastoma malabathricum ) *Polymorphism in biology occurs when two o...

Butterflies Galore! The Great Orange Awlet ( Burara etelka ) This fast-flying skipper exhibits crepuscular* behaviour and is more often seen in the early hours of the day or late in the evening. With a wingspan of 50-60mm, it is a large species, by Hesperiidae standards, with only the Gangara and Erionota spp surpassing it in size. Males are predominantly brown on the upperside and unmarked, whilst the females are deep iridescent blue above. The undersides are orange-brown with pale orange cellular streaks. This individual was photographed by ButterflyCircle member Huang CJ at around 7:30am when the butterfly was attracted to a flowering Syzygium tree in a nature park.  Besides being encountered feeding at flowers, the Great Orange Awlet has also been observed puddling at damp streambanks at times. *Crepuscular animals are those that are active primarily during twilight, that is, during dawn and dusk.

  Over the last 2 days my spare time has been short but yesterday afternoon a trip to Hope Gap was in order. A Crimson Speckled Footman moth had been seen over the weekend and I would love to see another one of these very rare moths. There were quite a few butterflies flying in the warm late afternoon sunshine including several Small Copper and also some Clouded Yellow. I was lucky to see this Clouded Yellow settle. It was actually a helise with very pale upper wings.     Today I decided to visit my home patch. It was really relaxing after all the chasing of Long-tailed Blues recently. 11 species were seen, a very good number for October with another Clouded Yellow seen. Lots of Speckled Wood and Meadow Brown. More usual Autumn butterflies included this smart Comma.         Then, just when I was least expecting it another male Long-tailed Blue appeared, well away from the other sites where they have been seen and some distance from ...

Butterflies Galore! The Grass Demon ( Udaspes folus ) This skipper's caterpillars feed on a range of "ginger" plants and is a widely-distributed butterfly in Singapore. Its host plants include Cheilocostus speciosus (White Costus), Costus lucanusianus (African Spiral Flag), Hedychium coronarium (White Ginger Lily, Butterfly Ginger), Zingiber officinale (Ginger), Curcuma longa (Tumeric), of this the last two are used as spices in Asian food and also for their medicinal qualities. The Grass Demon is a predominantly dark brown with white markings on its fore- and hind wings and is unlikely to be mistaken for any other Hesperiidae species. This pristine individual was photographed by ButterflyCircle member Anthony Wong last weekend at a park connector. The Grass Demon is shown here, perched on the red buds of one of its caterpillar host plants, the White Costus.

Butterflies Galore! The Short Banded Sailor ( Phaedyma columella singa ) The Short Banded Sailor is one of several black-and-white striped (upperside of the wings) butterfly species in Singapore. Amongst the species that have a weaker gliding flight, the Short Banded Sailor can sometimes be confused with the two Neptis spp., the Common Sailor and the Grey Sailor. The Grey Sailor has grey undersides whereas the Common and Short Banded Sailors have orange-brown undersides. The postdiscal triangular patch in the Short Banded Sailor is rounded and not as angular and long as the triangular patch in the Common Sailor. The Short Banded Sailor is common and is quite widespread in its distribution. It occurs from urban areas to nature reserves. One of its caterpillar host plants is the roadside tree, Angsana ( Pterocarpus indicus ), whilst in mangrove areas, its preferred host plant is the Sea Hibiscus ( Hibiscus tiliaceus . This individual, photographed yesterday, was feeding on the ripene...

  With the weather cooling down later in the week the incredible Long-tailed Blue bonanza could soon be over. Thanks to Nigel for finding a superb male near Eastbourne yesterday. When I arrived it had unfortunately vanished amongst the vegetation but with a long search I relocated it as it flew from under my feet and perched in a bush. This may be my last sighting this year of this fabulous little butterfly, although I may be tempted to have one more look in the next couple of days!! After all it could be many years before any more fly over.     With a really still night last night I put out the moth trap hoping for some rare migrant moths. This unfortunately didn't materialise but I did get some more common moths that were new to my trap.     Green-brindled Crescent. This was a real beauty but not easy to capture the subtle colours on camera.   Figure of Eight   Blair's Shoulder-knot.  

Greening of Eco-Link @ BKE A Safe Passage for Wildlife The completed Eco Link spanning across the BKE Way back in 1986, when the roads engineers of the then Public Works Department designed the Bukit Timah Expressway (or BKE as we acronym-mad Singaporeans know it by), their emphasis was to create an efficient transport link from the Causeway to downtown Singapore. Back then, probably the most efficient route took the expressway right through the Central Catchment, splitting the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve from the rest of the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. Elbowed Pierrot (Caleta elna elvira) one of the species observed  Over the decades that passed, nature observers lamented the fragmentation of the two major high biodiversity nature areas by the BKE. Animals separated by the BKE remained on the two sides and were unable to cross the expressway without the risk of being killed by vehicles. The expressway became an insurmountable barrier. Lesser Harlequin ( Laxita thuisto thuist...

Down Memory Lane The Small Red Bob ( Idmon obliquans obliquans ) This small and rather insignificant skipper was recorded in Singapore by the early authors. It resembles the related species from the genus Iambrix, of which there are two representatives in Singapore - Chestnut Bob and Starry Bob. The Small Red Bob is predominantly dark reddish-brown, with a short orange-red post-discal band on the forewing. It flies mainly along open paths in forested areas and is not uncommon.  It flits from perch to perch and often sunbathes in the usual skipper fashion. It is likely that the Small Red Bob's caterpillars feed on grasses. It was found in Singapore in the past, but has not been reliably observed over the past 4-5 decades. It may have been overlooked as it is not a particularly spectacular looking butterfly.  But what caused this species to disappear from Singapore? Will it be back here again one day? Or will it remain only in our memories and is gone forever from Singapore?

  This extraordinary year for Long-tailed Blue continues with higher numbers recorded of this rare migratory butterfly than have ever been recorded in Britain before in history. I had just a couple of hours spare yesterday so another trip along the coast where Everlasting Pea was growing, the favoured foodplant of this species, to see if I could find any more butterflies. Once the weather improved enough I had two definite sightings, one male and one female as well as another possible sighting. I managed a record shot of a male nectaring on the pea flower. I then had to cut my visit short but saw another older male on the return which also allowed some photos.                      

Butterflies Galore!  The Common Palmfly ( Elymnias hypermnestra agina ) The Common Palmfly is quite widespread in Singapore, and is observed in urban parks and gardens, particularly where its caterpillar host plants (various palms) are cultivated. A favourite host plant is the Yellow Cane Palm ( Dypsis lutescens ) which is often used as an ornamental palm in home gardens. The butterfly has a slow flight, although it is very skittish and not easily approached. The upperside of the Common Palmfly features dark bluish black forewings with light blue submarginal spots and reddish purple hindwings. The underside is reddish brown with light grey striations. There is usually a white spot at the costa of the hindwing, although in some individuals, this spot can be missing. This shot of the Common Palmfly was taken by young ButterflyCircle member Jerome Chua.

  Even with all the excitement last week with the rare Long-tailed Blue butterflies I still managed to get the moth trap out a few times. For most of the week the weather was favourable with light winds, although the overnight temperatures were a little lower than they had been.   Despite this I still caught a few new species and also some nice individuals.     The Black Rustic.     Dark Sword-grass   and the Sallow     All these moths are quite common but were all very fresh individuals. Now its waiting for the wind to die down before the next attempt.

Life History of the Large Snow Flat ( Tagiades gana gana ) Butterfly Biodata: Genus: Tagiades Hübner, 1819 Species: gana Moore, 1866 Sub-species: gana Moore, 1866 Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 38-45mm Caterpillar Local Host Plants: Dioscorea pyrifolia (Dioscoreaceae), Dioscorea orbiculata var. tenuifolia (Dioscoreaceae) and other Dioscorea spp. Physical Description of Adult Butterfly: Above , the wings are brown with obscure post-discal and discal spots in darker brown. On the forewing, there are three white hyaline sub-apical spots in spaces 6,7,8. On the hindwing, the tornal area is whitened and there are black marginal spots at the end of veins 2, 3 and 4, and in some specimens, another spot at the end of vein 1b. Below , the wings are similarly marked as per above but with the whitened area on the hindwing extended to the basal area and almost to the costal margin. Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:   This species is common in Singapore and can be found i...