Back to Fraser’s Hill - 3rd time lucky – Part II

Continue from Part I

We did not have the best of weather this trip as the sky was cloudy most of time. However, we still managed to see many lovely butterflies which sprang into action every time the sun made a brief appearance.

1. Abisara neophron chelina – this species is confined to the highland and is common at Fraser’s Hill.

2. Abisara savitri savitri – This is found at lowland and is the species we have in Singapore. This one was photographed at 600m.

3. Dichorragia nesimachus deiokes (The Constable) – this lovely Nymphalid only stayed for less than a minute before disappearing back into the forest.

4. Papilio demolion demolion (Banded Swallowtail) – A common swallowtail at the foothill of Fraser’s hill.

5. Troides brookiana albescens (Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing)
This is the national butterfly of Malaysia and is also the most beautiful butterfly in Malaysia. I have seen this butterfly countless time and yet every time it make its appearance I will instinctively pause to admire its graceful flight and its lovely electric-green over velvety black wings.

Back to Fraser’s Hill - 3rd time lucky – Part I

This is my third trip to Fraser’s Hill and I have 3 lifer !

The first is a small white inconspicuous lycaenid. I was trailing an Abisara savitri when I noticed a tiny white ‘moth’ flew out form under a leaf. It has a weak moth-like flight and is about the size of a Lesser Grass Blue butterfly. I ignored it and continued to photograph the Abisara. The white moth then landed in front of me and I noticed it has clubbed antenna. It is not a moth ! I quickly snap a few shots and it turned out to be an uncommon lycaenid – Takara mahanetra.

Takara mahanetra

My 2nd lifer was observed in the most unlikely place, inside Puncak Inn. It was in the evening and we were at Puncak Inn having our lemon tea when I noticed 2 butterflies trapped under the glass roof. Both were Arhopala but one looks interesting.

I borrowed Jee Kin’s camera which has the Tamron 180 on it, and took a few shots. It turned out to be another lifer for me ! It is Arhopala paraganesa mendava. According to book ‘Butterfly of Malay Peninsula’, this species is rare and confined to montane. This individual was recorded at 1000m.

Arhopala paraganesa mendava

I encountered my 3rd lifer while we were checking out a road leading to an Orang Asli settlement. We saw a few small lycaenids fluttering under a cluster of bamboo leaves.

On closer examination, we recognized the lycaenid as Miletus sp. The female were laying eggs where there were cluster of ants.

Miletus gallus gallus

The lycaenid was later identified as Miletus gallus gallus.

Jewels from Fraser’s Hill, May 2011

This is my 2nd trip to Fraser’s Hill this year and one of my all time best ! The best because we had the pleasure to feast on the authentic and BEST ‘Mao Shan Wang’ (Gua Musang) durian in Malaysia and I saw many spectacular and rare butterflies out of which 2 are lifer* for me :

• Graphium empedovana
• Chilasa paradoxa aenigma -f. eucyana
• Lamproptera, most likely L. meges.
• Ixias pyrene alticola
• Amathuxidia amythaon dilucida
• Sumalia daraxa theoda
• Hestina nama nama*
• Prothoe franck uniformis*

Here are some butterfly photos from the trip :

Female Yellow Orange Tip (Ixias pyrene alticola) – a subspecies found on highland, the female can be easily mistaken for other pierinae.

The Banded Puffin (Appias pandione lagela)– a common pierinae at Fraser’s hill.
The Yellow Glassy Tiger- a common butterfly at Fraser’s Hill.

The Striped Blue Crows, sipping seepage from on rock surface.

The Blue Begum and Koh-I-Noor – both are rare and were sighted at the same location ! Awesome !

Staff Sergeant (Athyma selenophora selenophora)

The Green Commodore (Sumalia daraxa theoda) - A highland species which like to settle high above ground, can be mistaken for a small G. sarpedon. This is the first time I managed to photograph this species.

The Common Nawab - common but always a joy to watch and photograph.

The Circe – flies and looks like a Chestnut Tiger ! It will trick all but the true expert. RARE ! Jackpot !!

The Larger Yamfly (Loxura cassiopeia cassiopeia)
The White Banded Awl – one of the more colourful Awls.

and last but not least the authentic Mao Shan Wang durian.

April Fraser’s Hill trip

A few of us went to Fraser’s Hill in April. The weather at Fraser’s Hill was still cold and misty in the morning.

In the evening, the sunset was mesmerizing ..

We have a fantastic view of the sunset right from the living room.  Below, Amy is taking photo of the sunset just before dinner was served.

We saw lots of butterflies and everyone had a great time taking photo of species which are not commonly seen at lower elevation.

Amy and Laurence shooting the Red Spot Jezebel (Delias descombesi eranthos).  See Laurence’s photo of this beauty here.

We chanced upon another rare species, the Common Jester (Symbrenthia lilaea luciana) near our bungalow.

At one of our favorite haunts, we had a very cooperative Orange Albatross (Appias nero figulina) posing for photograph. 

This trip I saw 4 lifers :
- Charaxes durnfordi dumfordi – This is a 5-STAR !
- Euthalia malaccana malaccana
- Symbrenthia lilaea luciana
- Scobura woolletti

I also saw the very rare  Graphium empedovava !

Other species I saw include :

Yasoda pita dohertyi (Malayan Branded Yamfly)
Loxura cassiopeia cassiopeia (The Larger Yamfly)
Symbrenthia lilaea luciana (The Common Jester) 
Kallima limborgii amplirufa (The Indian Leaf butterfly) 
Idea hypermnestra linteata ( The Tree Nymph )

Scobura woolletti (Brown Forest Bob)- A small skipper that resembles the Chestnut Bob
Pareronia valeria lutescens (The Wanderer)
Papilio helenus helenus (The Red Helen) - a very common Papilio at this part of Malaysia.

Papilio nephelus sunatus (The Black and White Helen) – They are very common as well. I saw at least 8 of them in 2 hours.

You can see more photo of butterflies from Fraser’s Hill here.

My 1st Fraser’s Hill trip in 2010

It seems like ages since I last step foot on Fraser’s Hill but my last trip there was actually in November, just 4 months ago. Gosh, I missed the place.

This time round I brought along the Sony DSC-TX7 to take panoramic shots of my favorite place. The TX7 is a joy to use and takes spectacular photos with its HDR, Sweep Panorama and 25mm wide angle lens.

Misty Morning

Full view of our bungalow, straight from the camera.

Inside our bungalow.

The Smoke House at Fraser’s Hill.
I think this is my #13 trip to Fraser’s Hill and I am still seeing lifer every time I come here.

This trip I have a butterfly lifer - The Indian Yellow Nawab ( Polyura jalysus ), which I spotted along the road while we were looking at Cicada.
The Blue Admiral ( Kaniska canace ) is a resident at Fraser’s Hill and likes to perch on a leaf.

The Yellow Banded Awl ( Hasora schoenherr ), one of the most colorful Awls, is uncommon in Singapore but not uncommon at Fraser’s Hill.

Feb-Apr at Fraser’s Hill has the perfect weather for moths – cool, misty with light drizzle in the late evening. Our moth screen was covered with thousands of moths every night !

All in all, we have 31 different species of Hawk moths, 16 Golden Emperor moths (Loepa sikkima and megacore ) and 8 Luna moths (Actias maenas and selene ) ! On top of that we added 3 new species of Hawkmoths to our already long list : Hippotion velox, Clanis orhanti and Meganoton nyctiphanes.

Mireille with an Actias maenas

And after so many trips here, I finally see the female Actias maenas diana ! Below is a photo with the male at the top and female at the bottom.

Another Luna moth – Actias selene perching under the roof.

Melanothrix nymphaliaria - I only spotted this moth when I made my last round around the bungalow just before we depart. When I first spotted it I thought it was a butterfly. It reminds me of the Yellow Barred ( Xanthotaenia busiris ).

Ambulyx canescens, a rather common hawkmoth at Fraser’s Hill.

Cypa decolor decolor – An uncommon and tiny hawkmoth.

Owen spotted this interesting Cicada. It looks somewhat like the Trengganau sibylla, with red eyes and green color forewings. However it has a picture of a skull on its thorex. Maybe it should be named the Death-head Cicida :-D.
We have no idea what is the id of this cicada. Post a note here if you know the name or know someone who can help to id this cicida.

Along the ‘new’ road, we saw this large (4” long) turquoise color beetle sunning itself on the leaf of the Tree Fern.

We also saw this interesting looking Praying Mantis.

Before I know it, it is time to pack and head back home. Times flies here !

Before we head off, Mr Lim took a group photo for us,

and Mrs Lim sending us off, knowing that she will be welcoming us back next moth !