A lifer from Ulu Yam

I was in Selangor with my family last week. While my family was out shopping, armed with a GPS, I drove to Ulu Yam in search of butterflies.  The last time I was there was about 10 years ago and it was there that I saw my first Banded Peacock (see this post).

10 years later, at the same place, I saw another lifer, The Giant Saturn  - Zeuxidia aurelius aurelius. .

 
The Giant Saturn is rare and this one is a female, with the marking of the upperside forewing white in color.  According to BMP, the female attains a wingspan of 145 mm., and has the largest wing area of any Malaysian butterfly !

At the same place I also saw the Malayan Jungle Glory - Thaumantis odana pishuna.

T. odana can be differentiated from the other 2 Thaumantis by the oblique blue band on the forewing.

I saw a few Striped Ringlet – Ragadia makuta siponta, fluttering among the bushes. This is a common butterfly in the Malaysia forest.

Before I knew it, it is time to head back to the hotel.  I will definitely come back to Ulu Yam the next time I visit PJ/KL.

Hypolimnas bolina bolina unknown form

Sometime in May this year, Simon and I saw a male Great Eggfly that is unlike any of the bolina forms described in BMP.

It has a submarginal white area on the both side of the hindwings and the the white discal area is missing from both side of the hindwings.

Two new species spotted in my garden !

Last Saturday, a Lemon Emigrant (Catopsilia pomona) was spotted around my garden on the 6th floor. Unfortunately it didn’t stay long enough for me to take a photo.

This morning however, a Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris) came and stayed for a few hours on my Heliotropium indicum plant.

With this 2 new species, the butterfly count in my garden is now in two digits – 10 !

The other butterflies which I am trying to attract to my garden are – Common Mormon, Common Tiger, Plain Tiger and Common Birdwing.

Delias hyparete ovipositing

Yesterday morning, a female Painted Jezebel come to my garden to lay eggs on the mistletoe (Dendrophthoe pentandra) growing on my Sui Wrightia religiosa

I grabbed my camera and managed to video it laying eggs on the mistletoe leaf.

Painted Jezebel caterpillars

These are the 30+ caterpillars (a few hidden behind the leaf ) my mrs rescued from the mistletoe plant in my condo.

If left on the plant, the caterpillars will most likely perish from the weekly fogging or being removed together with the mistletoe by my condo’s gardener.

A large moth in my living room !

A large moth just landed in my living room !

It is Erebus ephesperis ( we call it Mee Rebus moth ;-D ) from the Noctuidae family.  This is the 3rd largest moth in Singapore, the other 2 being the Atlas moth (Attacas Atlas) and Lyssa moth (Lyssa zampa).

Elymnias hypermnestra tinctoria (Moore, 1897)

Name : Elymnias hypermnestra tinctoria
Common Name : Common Palmfly
Family : Nymphalidae
Subfamily : Satyrinae
Larva host plant : Dypsis lutescens (Palmae), Cycas sp(Palmae)

In Peninsula Malaysia, the subspecies tinctoria is found in Kedawi while it Thailand, it can be found through out Thailand.

In flight, the female of this subspecies can be easily mistaken for Danaus genutia and D. chrysippus while the male is indistinguishable from subspecies agina.

Female – underside

Female - upperside

Female ovipositing on Cycas sp.

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Life History Record

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Date : Aug 2009
Larva Host Plant : Dypsis lutescens (Yellow Cane Palm)
Pupation period : 7 days

Ovum:

Larva:
1st Instar

2nd Instar

3rd Instar

4th Instar 

5th Instar , 50mm.

Pupa :

Adult (female):