I am referring to the milkweed ‘tiger’ butterfly from the Danainae sub-family, specifically the Mangrove Tiger butterfly - Danaus affinis malayanus. The Mangrove Tiger is an endangered species and is only found at 2 locations in Malaysia – Kuala Selangor Nature Park (KSNP) and Kuala Kurau, Perak.
I have always wanted to see this butterfly so armed with a GPS, I drove 1.5 hrs from KL to KSNP, arriving at 11:30am.
| |
| Map of KSNP |
Along the bund, I saw lots of Tylophora sp, the larva host plant of the Ideopsis and Parantica ‘Glassy Tiger’.
   |
| Tylophora sp growing climbing onto mangrove trees |
I saw three type of Glassy Tigers at KSNP :
Ideopsis vulgaris macrina – The Blue Glassy Tiger
Parantica agleoides agleoides - The Dark Glassy Tiger
and Ideopsis similis persimilis - The Dark Blue Glassy Tiger
but there were no sign of the Mangrove Tiger. As I made my way towards to seaward side of the bund, I saw butterflies which are commonly found at mangrove forest :
Common Tit,
Autumn Leaf,
Long Banded Silverline
After 2 hours of walking, at about 1:30pm at the mid section of the seaward side of the bund, a male Mangrove Tiger suddenly appear !
| Danaus affinis malayanus - Mangrove Tiger |
 |
A few more started appearing and feeding on the flower of the Sea Ox Eye, Wedelia biflora.
All in all I saw about 8 individuals. I was hoping to see the larva host plant - Ischnostemma selangorica but I cound’t find any along the bund :-(. Time was running out and I had an appointment at 4pm in KL so I headed back to the car.
My mission the next time I come back to KSNP is to locate and photograph the larva host plan Ischnostemma selangorica.
1 comment:
if you go out again - please take a photograph of Ischnostemma selangorica, there is not a single photograph of this rare plant!
Best regards, Sigrid
Post a Comment