Wednesday, December 30, 2009

November at Fraser’s Hill

After 2 days at Maxwell Hill, we headed south to Fraser’s Hill, our favorite highland get away. 

Oct-Nov is the 2nd durian season in Malaysia and the road from Maxwell to Fraser’s was lined with stalls selling durians. The durians were dirt cheap, going for RM3-5 each.  We stopped along the road and ate till our heat’s content and ‘ta pao’ some to Frasers.  The durians were soooo good and we paid only RM40 for 10 ! 

On our way up the hill we saw both the male and female Wanderer - Pareronia valeria lutescens ! The female mimics the Yellow Glassy Tiger – Parantica aspasia aspasia.

Pareronia valeria lutescens (m)-MYFHRub_20091126_D3416-480Pareronia valeria lutescens (f)-MYFHRub_20091126_D3401-480 

By the time we reached our bungalow, the whole place was surrounded by mist !

MYFH_20091128_D3737a_stitch MYFH_20091128_D3736

The next day we headed to our favorite Raub waterfall.

There I saw my butterfly lifer of the trip – a very rare male Elymnias esaca andersonii. Unlike the larvae of other Elymnias which feed on Palms, this one feeds on the Bamboo Orchid - Arundina graminifolia  !

Elymnias esaca andersonii (m)-MYFHRub_20091127_D3549-640 

Along the way we saw a Plain LacewingCethosia penthesilea methypsea-MYFH_20091128_D3871-640

and a few male Wanderers feeding on Hibiscus flowers.Pareronia valeria lutescens (m)-MYFHRub_20091127_D3572-480

The weather was less than ideal for moths but I still had many moth lifers. This hawkmoth - Acherontiini Agrius which we only noticed when we were packing up our moth screen, is the #47 hawkmoths we have recorded at Fraser’s Hill.
Acherontiini Agrius convolvuli-MYFH_20091128_D3844-640

other intersting moths we saw include :

The lovely Luna moth – male Actias maenas.Actias maenas diana-MYFH_20091127_D3504-640

A large Noctuid moth - Phyllodes verhuelli , with a forewing length of about 90mm.Phyllodes verhuelli-MYFH_200911-640

A colourful Arctiid moth - Areas galactina.ARC-Areas galactina-MYFH_20091128_D3709

This is my 5th and last trip to Fraser’s Hill for 2009 and I look forward to going back there next year.

No comments: