Butterflies of Singapore

Butterfly of the Month - February 2018
The Green Baron (Euthalia adonia pinwilli)

A male Green Baron feeding on the ripened fruit of the Singapore Rhododendron

We cross into the Chinese Zodiac sign of the Year of the (Earth) Dog as Chinese communities all around the world celebrate the Lunar New Year on 16 February. The dog is the 11th animal out of the 12 selected animals that made it to the Jade Emperor's Great Race. The most defining characteristic of someone born in the year of the dog is their loyalty. They will never abandon their friends, family or work. Honest and just, they are popular in social circles. They are also good at helping others find and fix their bad habits.

Some geomancers predict that 2018 is going to be a tumultuous year for global events. A few predictions even pointed to some serious natural disasters in parts of the world. Then again, soothsayer predictions have always been here to stay, and to each his own whether to believe and take action to avoid 'bad luck' or to just ignore any form of fortune-telling, and live life to the fullest.

In the US, another senseless shooting took the lives of 17 innocent people at the Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. The shooter, a former student who had been expelled for bad behaviour carried an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle with multiple magazines and was probably intent on taking lives when he went on his shooting spree that morning. As long as the US lawmakers remain adamant about "doing the right thing" as far as guns are concerned, such incidents will happen over and over again.

Over here in Singapore, we can only be thankful that the government has made the possession of firearms illegal and that such shooting incidents are highly unlikely to be caused by a civilian who has relatively easy access to assault rifles. It is hoped that governments of countries with strict gun control laws will continue to impose such laws so that what happened (and will continue to happen in the US), can be avoided in our respective homelands.

As the Chinese New Year celebrations continue for the next 15 days, Singaporeans wait with bated breaths for the announcement of the 2018 Budget. Rumours are rife that taxes, particularly the goods and services tax, will be raised. This usually translates into a higher cost of living as the GST affects practically every aspect of our daily life. Coincidentally, someone once said 'nothing is certain but death and taxes'.

A female Green Baron feeding on the flowers of the Javanese Ixora

Whilst looking for a species that features some auspicious red colour befitting of the Chinese New Year season, I selected one with some attractive red accents in its wings. Hence we feature the Green Baron (Euthalia adonia pinwilli) as February 2018's Butterfly of the Month. The attractive red spots, particularly on the underside of the wings of the male, gives the Green Baron a distinctive look.

A newly-eclosed male Green Baron clinging onto its pupal case

The Green Baron is a medium sized butterfly with an average wingspan of 55-65 mm. It is moderately common and regularly observed in urban parks and gardens, although it frequents the forested nature reserves as well. The main reason why the Green Baron is widely distributed, is because it caterpillar host plant, the parasitic plant, Malayan Mistletoe (Dendrophthoe pentandra), can be found growing quite commonly on many other plants in urban parks and gardens.

The butterfly has a robust body like other species of the Euthalia genus (or collectively known by their common English name of "Barons"). Both the male and female of this species are strong flyers and skittish. They will fly rapidly away from any intrusion into their territory and head high up to the treetops, out of reach of any predators.

Male Green Barons feeding on Singapore Rhododendron fruit and Javanese Ixora flower

The male Green Baron is dark green on the upperside with a lighter green tornal area of the hindwing. The forewing has prominent white subapical spots and post-discal spots. The underside features the same subapical and post-discal spots but has a number of crimson spots at the cell area of the forewing and across the hindwing.

Female Green Barons feeding on Singapore Rhododendron fruit and Javanese Ixora flower

The female Green Baron has a broad white band across both wings with the veins blackened prominently. The tornal area of the hindwing on the upperside is an iridescent green with large black marginal spots and crimson spots on the tornal and apical area. The underside features large red cell spots on the forewing but fewer spots compared to the male.

Both the male and female are regularly observed to feed on rotting fruits. They like the ripened fruits of the Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum), although they have been seen on other types of flowering plants like Ixoraand Lantana. They are extremely skittish if they are not feeding and difficult to approach without scaring them off.

The Green Baron has been successfully bred on the parasitic plant, Malayan Mistletoe (Dendrophthoe pentandra), a host plant that it shares with the Painted Jezebel, Peacock Royal and Great Imperial.

We would like to take this opportunity to wish all our Chinese readers a Happy and Prosperous Lunar New Year!

GONG XI FA CAI!!!

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Foo JL, Federick Ho, Huang CJ, Khew SK, Koh CH, Nelson Ong, Tan BJ and Horace Tan.

SeasonalButterflyAppearances
Featuring the Dwarf Crow (Euploea tulliolus ledereri)

A male Dwarf Crow feeding on the flower of the Snakeweed

I was reading up on one of the "Crow" species of butterflies - The Blue Branded King Crow (Euploea eunice leucogonis) recently. This medium-sized "Crow", listed as extant in Singapore in the Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula 4th Edition, has not been seen in Singapore since the 1990's. One of the observations made in C&P4 was "It is erratic in appearance; it may be abundant in a locality for a few months and then disappear completely for a year or two before reappearing and becoming as common as before."

The closely-related Blue Branded King Crow - looks similar to the Dwarf Crow, but much larger in size. On the upperside forewing, there is a prominent blue "brand". This species, although recorded as extant in Singapore, has not been seen on the island for over 40 years.

The Blue Branded King Crow is "suggestive of E. tulliolus, but is much larger." (C&P4 page 116). This related species, the Dwarf Crow (Euploea tullioulus ledereri) was re-discovered on the offshore island of Pulau Ubin back in 2002. Similar in appearance to the Blue Branded King Crow, it appears to display the seasonality characteristics as observed in the book.

A Dwarf Crow feeding on the flower of the Spanish Needle

The seasonal appearance and re-appearance (but not necessarily annually) of the Dwarf Crow on Pulau Ubin, where it is most regularly seen, is of noteworthy mention. After it was first observed and recorded in the Singapore Checklist, its appearance on Pulau Ubin has been erratic. There were some years where the species completely disappeared from the island, only to re-appear many months later and become common again.

A Dwarf Crow feeding on the flower of the Bandicoot Berry

Recently, in the later months of 2017 and in January and February 2018, the Dwarf Crow has become common again on Pulau Ubin, and particularly at the Butterfly Hill, where it is frequently spotted. On one outing, I counted at least 6-8 individuals feeding at the flowering plants - particularly on the flowers of the Spanish Needle (Bidens alba). The species also feeds on several other nectaring plants and does not appear to be too fussy or have fixed preferences on where they get their nectar from.

After feeding in the morning hours, Dwarf Crows tend to hide in the forest shade, perched on leaves, branches or twigs to rest in the afternoon

In the later hours of the day, after noon and having done all their feeding, they will take shelter in the shaded areas to rest. They will stay still on their perches, unless disturbed by movement, whereby they will take off and look for another perch to rest. This behaviour is quite typical of several Danainae species.

A female Dwarf Crow showing the upperside of its wings

The Dwarf Crow is the smallest member of the genus Euploea. The wings are reddish-brown with the apical portion of the upperside of the forewing a deep blue. There are a number of bluish or whitish discal and sub-marginal spots on the forewing. The hindwing is unmarked in the male and the tornal area is lighter. In the female, the hindwing has a series of submarginal diffused whitish spots.

The male Dwarf Crow's forewing dorsal margin is bowed or curved, whilst the female's dorsal margin is straight

The dorsal margin of the male is bowed or curved whilst it is straight in the female. On the underside, both sexes are almost indistinguishable with the usual whitish marginal and submarginal spots on both wings. The underside of both wings is a dull matt brown.

The Dwarf Crow flies in an unhurried manner, moving from flower to flower to feed. It then clutches on the flower head whilst its proboscis probes deep into the flower to gain access to the nectar within. Like all the related species in the Euploea genus, the Dwarf Crow is also believed to be distasteful to birds.

A Dwarf Crow puddling at a sandy footpath

Occasionally, the Dwarf Crow can be seen puddling at damp footpaths and muddy areas that have been tainted with animal urine or other minerals. It will come back to its favourite spot again and again even after being disturbed.

A Dwarf Crow feeding on the flowers of the Indian Heliotrope

The caterpillar has been described as dark violet brown with faint pale and dark transverse stripes along its body and the dorsal stripes are yellowish white. The filaments are violet brown. We have not been able to find the early stages of this species in Singapore thus far. The caterpillar host plants are believed to be Mikania cordata and Malaisia scandens. (Ref : C&P4 and Fleming)

A Dwarf Crow feeding at the flowers of the Prickly Lantana

Like its close cousin, the Blue Banded King Crow, the erratic appearance of the Dwarf Crow is still a mystery. Where does the species disappear to, in the years when it is absent from Pulau Ubin? Does this have something to do with the abundance (or lack of) its caterpillar host plants? When it reappears, why does it become common again? What causes it to disappear again?

These are questions that have yet to be answered, as we continue to observe the behaviour of the Dwarf Crow. In the meantime, for the photographers who are keen to record this species for their digital collection, do visit Pulau Ubin to get your fill of the Dwarf Crow before it disappears again. Who knows how many years will pass, before it re-appears and becomes common again?

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Bob Cheong, David Ho, Khew SK, Loh MY and Jonathan Soong.

Butterfly Photography Series
Digital Post-Processing - Part 1

In the earlier Butterfly Photography 101 series, we discussed a range of subjects, from photographic equipment to composition to stalking butterflies in the field. We continue on to another aspect of digital photography - post processing. Whilst it is important to "get the photo right" out in the field, there are numerous situations where a butterfly photo needs an extra bit of work to get it "perfect".

In today's world of photography, post-processing is very much a part and parcel of a photographer's arsenal of technical skills to present a photo in the best possible way. Whilst purist advocates of photography frown on any sort of manipulation of a photograph, such digital interventions are quite acceptable in many situations. The key is the extent of digital manipulation. In extreme cases, a major makeover eliminates the need to even take a photo of a butterfly out in the field! However, this article is more about doing basic post-processing to make a photo look even better.

The majority of amateur butterfly photographers would deem some form of digital manipulation of a photo as acceptable. Unless one is an expert at using any of the sophisticated photography post-processing software like Photoshop, most of us should be quite happy just adding a bit of sharpening or increasing the contrast of a photo. It would be quite safe to assume that most of these photos end up on social media, websites and other parts of cyberspace, rather than printed out in poster-size for display.

In this new series on digital post-processing, ButterflyCircle member Loh Mei Yee shares her tips and tricks on how she enhances her butterfly photos before sharing her work online with the community. In this Part, she discusses some fundamental post-processing editing of a photo to make it look a little better. Over to Mei Yee...

I started butterfly photography in January 2017. Under the guidance of some of the best butterfly shooters in ButterflyCircle, I was able to progress very smoothly. Thank you to all the sifus! In the field, I applied the things that I’ve learned. Examples are how to approach the butterflies like I’m practising Qigong, avoid sudden movements, try to get as close to the butterflies as I could so that I can get good bokeh with shallow depth of field, etc. After that few seconds of snapping away, I’ll immediately check my shots and I will be very happy if I managed to get a few good shots, or even if there was just one good shot.

I’m sure some of us will find that the photo you see on your computer does not look as good as what you have seen from your camera screen. And you might wish that there’s something you can do to make it look better. There’s when that little photo editing magic comes in. In this mini series, I will show you some simple steps in Photoshop editing. I am by no means an expert in Photoshop, nor would I say my methods are the best, but I’m here to share with you some of the things I’ve learned through the years of using Photoshop. I hope you will find them useful!

These are the 7 free plug-ins in Nik Collection. But I will be using only 2 plug-ins, Viveza and Sharpener Pro.

Most of the post-processing is done using Nik. The Nik Collection by Google comprises seven desktop plug-ins that provide a powerful range of photo editing capabilities. Nik plug-ins can be used on Photoshop®, Lightroom®, or Aperture®. You can download it free here : The Nik Collection. I’m a long-time Photoshop user but only discovered Nik Collection last year, thanks to Uncle Bob Cheong for introducing me to this awesome plug-in, and now I’m addicted to it. It was made available for free in 2016.

Open your file in Photoshop. I’m using Nikon camera and I shoot in raw. I use a free application called Capture NX-D to open the RAW files and from there, open the files in Photoshop. You can download it here : Nikon Capture NX-D. I’ve chosen a photo of the Common Bluebottle that I shot some time in May 2017.

The red arrow shows the use of RAW Presharpener under Sharpener Pro

Step 1

Under Sharpener Pro 3, select ‘RAW Presharpener’. Many DSLR cameras have anti-aliasing filters to prevent *moiré. Anti-aliasing filters often introduce an undesired blur to a photo. The RAW Presharpener helps to remove this issue. The advantage of using the sharpening tools in Nik is that you can choose to select areas that you want to sharpen on by adding control points. In this case I’m sharpening the entire image but I prefer to do it with Nik because it will automatically create a new layer after applying the tool. You can also sharpen the image by using the Photoshop function. Go to Filter—Sharpen—Smart Sharpen.

*Moiré pattern occurs when a scene or an object that is being photographed contains repetitive details (such as lines, dots, etc) that exceed the sensor resolution.

The ‘Adaptive Sharpening’ is default at 100%, click OK. Remember to look out for noise appearing due to sharpening, because then you have gone way too far. You might want to reduce the percentage of sharpening, it’s totally up to you. Just remember to make it subtle, we don’t want any halos showing up.

A new layer is created. Your original image is at the Background layer, if you are not total pleased with what you have applied, you can delete the newly created layer and start all over again.

The red arrow shows Viveza 2. Click to launch the plug-in

Step 2
Enhance colours with the use of ‘Viveza 2’.

Adjust the brightness and contrast to your preference and click OK.

A new layer is created. Now you will see that your photo is starting to come alive!

Step 3
Using control points in Viveza 2.

In this step, I will show you how to make use of ‘Add Control Point’ to make adjustments to selected areas.

I felt that this blue area on the wing is a little too bright so I added a control point, close up the area that you want to make adjustment to by moving the slider to the left and reduced the brightness.

To make the butterfly “pop” even more, I decided to brighten up the background and also to reduce the saturation. By reducing saturation to the background, it makes the background looks ‘duller’ and hence the emphasis is on the main subject. Again add ‘control point’ on the background and move the slider to the right to covers the entire picture.

Adjust the brightness and saturation and click OK.

Again, a new layer is created. When you are happy with the result then it’s time to move on to cropping out the unwanted areas.

Step 4
Cropping the image.

By cropping out some of the background on the right and bottom, it helps to “move” the butterfly into a better position and creates “lead room”. Select the crop tool from the tool box, select your desired aspect ratio and hit the ‘enter’ key.

Original Photo

Post-processed and cropped photo

Original photo

Post-processed photo

I hope these 4 simple steps of editing helps you to become more confident in how you process your photos. As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, there are many different ways of doing editing, we just have to explore and find the method that suits you best. In summary, I have made a short 3-minute video tutorial below, showing you how you can enhance the look of your photo in just 4 simple steps.

Text and Photos by Loh Mei Yee

Butterfly of the Month - March 2018
The Ancyra Blue (Catopyrops ancyra)

We are into the third month of 2018 already! Time and tide wait for no one, as the saying goes, and if you are waiting for things to play out in this Year of the Dog, don't wait too long. And if you are the type who makes bets against Lady Luck, you can only wish you were as lucky as the punter who pocketed more than S$6,000,000 in prize money for the 2018 Lunar New Year Toto Draw.

Two bits of interesting global news may make an impact on all our lives in the coming years. The first, coming from China, is the proposal to drop the presidential term limit. This would essentially allow President Xi to stay on as the leader of the world's second most populous nation beyond 10 years. This is a break from the unwritten rule of two five-year terms as head of the party. Supporters of this strategy say that this will ensure stability, consistency and the ability for long-term planning by the Chinese government.

On the other side of the globe, we have the US President imposing trade tariffs on steel and aluminium, threatening to set off a trade war with other countries. Consistent with his "America First" policy, President Trump continues on his strategies to protect US interests in terms of trade and commerce with the rest of the world. Whilst it is hard to predict the outcome of a trade war that the US may have started, we live in exciting times as we watch all these battles unfold, and wonder how it would affect us (or not).

An Ancyra Blue perches on the top of a leaf with its wings folded upright

In Singapore, the Budget 2018 has been announced, and the much-predicted increase in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) by 2% was received with a lot of heated debates. Albeit it was an 'early warning' of the increase, which is slated to go up only some time between 2021 and 2025, there was generally an unhappy reaction to the news. After all, why would anyone be happy with an increase in tax and to pay more? The government continued to rationalise the need for the increase and explain why such an increase would be for the greater good of Singapore's future.

And then we had a Singaporean who tried to escape a jail term by attempting to leave the country via boat. His planned 'jailbreak' on a fishing boat heading for Malaysia was thwarted by a whistle-blower and our vigilant law enforcers. This brazen shot at escaping the long arm of the law was almost comical as the fishing boat headed out to cross the border in broad daylight was stopped by the Police Coast Guard. Apparently, it was not the first time that the boatman who was trying to ferry the criminal out of Singapore had done something like this, so perhaps some complacency set in.

Over to our Butterfly of the Month for March 2018, we feature a butterfly that was a new discovery for Singapore in 2004. It was first spotted on Pulau Ubin and recorded as a new find for Singapore. The early authors' checklists did not list the Malaysian species as being extant in Singapore. As it was uncertain as to whether it is the same subspecies as the Malaysian one, we have recorded this new find, the Ancyra Blue (Catopyrops ancyra) at the species level only.

An Ancyra Blue puddling on a damp dirt track

The Ancyra Blue was first spotted puddling along a dirt track along the Sensory Trail at Pulau Ubin. Although initially appearing like one of the Line Blues (Nacaduba spp), the sharper and more distinct white markings on the underside of the wings called attention to the possibility that it was something new to Singapore. Further investigations revealed that it was indeed a species that had not yet been recorded in Singapore. Subsequently the Ancyra Blue was observed in various parts of the main island of Singapore, even in urban parks and gardens.

A male Ancyra Blue sunbathes in the sunshine, show its blue upperside

The upperside of the male is dull blue with two small black tornal spots on the hindwing. The female is fuscous black with basal parts shot with iridescent blue on the forewing and a duller blue on the hindwing.

The underside of both sexes feature black orange-crowned tornal spots on the hindwing. These orange areas in spaces 1b and 2 are inwardly defined by a narrow dark line. The white striations on both wings are distinct and not diffuse. There is a white-tipped filamentous tail at vein 2 of the hindwing.

A female Ancyra Blue feeds on the flowers of the String Bush

The butterfly has a fast erratic flight but is often found perched upright on the top surfaces of leaves with its wings folded up. Occasionally, it is seen feeding on the flowers of plants like the String Bush. Males of the species are often encountered puddling at damp footpaths.

The caterpillars of the Ancyra Blue have been successfully bred on Pipturus argenteus and Trema tomentosa in Singapore. Both these host plants are common and widespread, which may explain the wide distribution of this species across Singapore - from the Central Catchment Nature Reserves to urban parks and gardens.

Whilst the Malaysian subspecies aberrans has been described as "rare in lowland forest", its Singapore counterpart cannot be considered rare as it has been observed with relative regularity, and in some instances, a small colony of the species was observed in its favourite locations near where its caterpillar host plants thrive.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by David Chan, Bob Cheong, Chng CK, Huang CJ, Khew SK, Michael Khor, Nelson Ong, Michael Soh, Jonathan Soong and Horace Tan

Butterfly Photography at Our Local Parks
Featuring : Upper Peirce Reservoir Park

In our earlier article on butterfly photography at our local parks, we featured the Lower Peirce Reservoir Park. Originally known as the Kallang Reservoir, the it was formed by impounding across the lower reaches of the Kallang River in 1910. In 1922, it was renamed Peirce Reservoir in commendation of the services of Robert Peirce, who was a Singapore Public Works Department engineer from 1901 to 1916. In 1975, a dam was built across the upper reaches of the Peirce Reservoir, splitting it into Upper and Lower Peirce Reservoirs thereafter.

A view of the 350m dam separating the Upper Peirce Reservoir (on the right) and the Lower Peirce Reservoir (on the left). A 30m elevation separates the two reservoirs.

A view looking down at the Lower Peirce Reservoir from the dam

A view of the Upper Peirce Reservoir with lush vegetation of the nature reserves along the reservoir banks

In this weekend's blog article, we visit the Upper Peirce Reservoir Park. In 1970, the Public Utilities Board (PUB) conducted feasibility studies for the construction of a new reservoir in the vicinity of Peirce Reservoir. The site was found to be suitable and construction started in May 1972. The works included the building of a 30-metre-high, 350-metre-long earth dam upstream of the existing dam, hence creating a new reservoir upstream of the existing one. This new reservoir was named Upper Peirce Reservoir, while the older reservoir was accordingly renamed Lower Peirce Reservoir.

A commemorative marker indicating that the reservoir was opened by Singapore's founding Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew in 1977

The Upper Peirce Reservoir was completed in 1975 and officially opened by then Prime Minister Mr Lee Kuan Yew on 27 February 1977. Today, Singapore has a total of 17 reservoirs spread across the island. The Upper Peirce Reservoir covers a surface area of 304 Ha and has a capacity of about 27.8 million cubic metres of water.

The Upper Peirce Reservoir Park is a serene and tranquil park located to the eastern banks of the Upper Peirce Reservoir (UPR). This reservoir, together with the MacRitchie Reservoir, the Lower Peirce Reservoir and the Upper Seletar Reservoir, bound the Central Catchment Nature Reserve (CCNR). The nature reserve acts as a water catchment for the reservoirs in the area and is considered a protected catchment.

The Upper Peirce Reservoir Park covers an area of about 5 Ha. Access to UPR is via Old Upper Thomson Road, via a gated access. The gate is open from 6:00am to 7:30pm daily. The scenic road is undulating (a challenge for cyclists and pedestrians, but excellent for an exercise workout) flanked on both sides by lush vegetation and tall trees. Do keep a lookout for various troops of the Long-Tailed Macaques who are used to visitors feeding them. Some of them may be a bit more 'friendly' than preferred as they often associate humans with food.

There is a carpark at the end of the road, with toilet and other basic park amenities like shelters, seats, rest areas and even water coolers. The 350m long earth dam ends in a golf course at the other side from UPR. The view of the serene waters of the Upper Peirce Reservoir (at the higher elevation) and the Lower Peirce Reservoir, some 30m below the earth dam is picturesque and beautiful.

The vegetation at UPR is largely native plants that are typical of the flora of the Central Catchment Nature Reserves. Some years ago, when the landscaping of the park for visitors was first started, the Javanese Ixora shrubs attracted a good variety of butterflies. However, these plants are now over their prime and what remains hardly attract any butterflies any more. It is hoped that the NParks will continue to cultivate more butterfly-attracting plants in this area so that visitors can enjoy the diversity of species that are present in the CCNR.

Walking around the open park areas, one can expect to see common butterfly species like the Chocolate Pansy, Common Mormon, Common Four Ring and several species of the Grass Yellows. Occasionally, a few Cruisers, Barons and various Hesperiidae can be seen on hot sunny days.

Exploring along the side road leading to the service reservoir and treatment plant where water from UPR is treated and stored, a visitor may be treated to some rarer species that live in the forests of CCNR. As there are not many flowering plants in the area, it is usually more challenging to photograph butterflies, but keep a sharp eye out for those that visit the flowers of the Bandicoot Berry flowers and other native flowering shrubs in the area.

There is an open area along this service road that has flowering shrubs like the Mile-A-Minute weed that may sometimes attract various species of butterflies in the early morning hours. Keep an eye out for ovipositing Malay Viscounts, Malay Barons and the odd OakBlue (Arhopala spp). that visit their caterpillar host plants in the area.

A walk down the service road to the water tanks and Treatment Plant can sometimes be fruitful with some interesting encounters

Walking further in towards the fenced Service Reservoir, one can sometimes encounter species like the Common Bluebottle, Lesser Jay and Five Bar Swordtail puddling in the damp areas in the drains. The proximity of the CCNR may turn out surprises once in a while and over the years of surveys and outings in UPR, there have been encounters with very rare species before.

Butterflies photographed at Upper Peirce Reservoir Park

Some examples of the rarities spotted at UPR include the Black and White Flat (Gerosis limax dirae), the Spotted Silverstreak (Iraota distanti distanti), the Golden Royal (Pseudotajuria donatana donatana), the Hoary Palmer (Unkana ambasa batara), Dark Banded Ace (Halpe ormenes vilasina), Green Imperial (Manto hypoleuca terana), the Great Imperial (Jacoona anasuja anasuja), The Grand Imperial (Neocheritra amrita amrita) and Banded Royal (Rachana jalindra burbona). So keep your eyes peeled and hope that you get lucky!

Upper Peirce Reservoir Park cannot be described as a 'butterfly haven', but its adjacency to the Central Catchment Nature Reserves may sometimes turn up something surprising and rare. A typical walk on an ordinary day may not yield anything more than some common species, so if that happens, just enjoy being out there in nature and the splendid views of the reservoirs and the lush greenery that surrounds you!

How to Get There :
By Bus:
Bus nos. 163, 167, 169, 855, 980.
Alight at the bus stop nearest to the Casuarina Curry Prata shop and walk along Old Upper Thomson Road towards Upper Peirce Reservoir Park. Be prepared for a long walk in and out! Estimated walk in one direction is about 30-45 mins.

By Car : Follow the direction of Upper Thomson Road. Turn left before the traffic lights at the junction of Ang Mo Kio Avenue 1 into Old Upper Thomson Road. Follow the road until you see the entrance of Upper Peirce Reservoir Park. Parking facilities are available at the end of road near the toilet (Free parking).

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Khew SK, Loh MY and Mark Wong

Butterflies' Favourite Nectaring Plants #16
The Peacock Flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima)

In the 16th article in the series on our local butterflies' favourite nectaring plants, we feature an evergreen bush with attractively colourful flowers, the Peacock Flower (Caesalpinia pulcherrima). The Peacock Flower is often used in urban landscaping in Singapore and is a favourite amongst landscape architects looking to add colour to their palette of greenery and lush plants. It is also regularly cultivated in public parks and gardens.

The Peacock Flower with its attractive flowers and pea pods

The Peacock Flower grows upright, attaining a height of 3-6 metres tall and a spread of 2-4 metres wide. The attractive shrub flowers throughout the year and usually does best in open areas in full sunshine. The orange-yellow flowers are pretty and uniquely shaped, with the stamens projecting well beyond the petals. Although it is an exotic, it does not occur naturally and where it grows, it has been cultivated.

The genus name of this plant is in honour of the Italian physician, philosopher and botanist, Andrea Caesalpino. His most important publication, De plantis libri XVI (1583) is considered the first textbook of botany. He was the director of the Botanical Gardens at the University of Pisa. From 1592 he served as physician to Pope Clement VIII and taught at Sapienza University in Rome. The Latin species name pulcherrima means 'most beautiful', referring to the flowers.

The Peacock Flower is considered an exotic in Singapore. Its region of origin is the tropical Americas and was probably introduced to Singapore as a landscaping plant. Its use is limited to parks and gardens, usually cultivated an accent plant or as a boundary hedge. The brittle branches and sometimes thorny stems are considered negative attributes of cultivating the plant in urban gardens, and placing the plant adjacent to human traffic should be avoided.

Plant Biodata:
Family: Fabaceae (Leguminosae)
Genus : Caesalpinia
Species : pulcherrima
Synonyms : Poinciana pulcherrima
Country/Region of Origin : Tropical America
English Common Names : Peacock Flower, Barbados Flower Fence, Flower Fence, Cana, Barbados Pride, Red Bird of Paradise, Paradise Flower, Flamboyant Tree, Gold Mohur, Pride of Barbados, Dwarf Poinciana
Other Local Names : Jambul Merak, 金凤花, 洋凤花, 孔雀花

The bi-pinnate oval leaflets of the Peacock Flower and a young shoot

The Peacock Flower is a sprawling evergreen perennial shrub (or a small tree) reaching a maximum height of 6 metres, if left unpruned. Its deep green foliage is bi-pinnate, typical of Fabacea (Leguminosae) species. The leaves are fernlike and twice compound, with many small, oval leaflets.

The terminal racemes of the Peacock Flower, with the globular buds in a pagoda-shaped arrangement

The flowers are borne on terminal clusters of about 20-30cm tall. Each flower is bowl shaped, 2-3" across, with five crinkled, unequal red and orange petals, and ten prominent bright red stamens that extend way beyond the corolla. There is one modified petal which is smaller than the other 4 petals. The typical orange-yellow flower hybrid is the most common one cultivated in parks and gardens. However, there are other hybrids which feature all-yellow, pink-white and all-red flowers.

The pea pod is light green when immature, but turns a crispy chocolate brown when ripened

The fruits are oblong, with thin flat pods of up to 10 cm long and look like Snow Peas. The pods are light green when immature, turning to a dark brown when ripened. Each pod contains 8-10 flattened dark brown to black seeds which are ejected as the pod splits open at maturity.

A range of flower colours amongst the hybrids of the Peacock Flower

The Peacock Flower is only moderately attractive to butterflies, particularly the larger species. This may be because of the shape and design of the flower, which require longer proboscis of the larger butterflies to reach into the flower for nectar.

The very long stamens are a unique feature of the flower of this plant

In the field, there are occasions when no butterflies visit the flowers at all, especially when there are other preferred nectaring plants in the vicinity. However, on certain days and in the morning hours of the day, the flowers appear more attractive to butterflies and they will feed greedily at the flowers. Perhaps this could be due to the quantity of nectar produced by the flowers at specific times of the day? Or could there be some other explanation?

The larger Papilionidae feeding on the flowers of the Peacock Flower

Amongst the larger Papilionidae, the Common Birdwing, Great Mormon, Lime Butterfly, Common Mime and Common Mormon have been observed to feed on the flower of the Peacock Flower plant. We have not observed other species of the Papilionidae feeding on this plant's flowers.

Various Danainae feeding on the Peacock Flower.

The Danainae are sometimes attracted to the flowers of the Peacock Flower plant. Amongst these are the Common Tiger, Plain Tiger and Black Veined Tiger. On a single rare occasion, the extremely rare Mangrove Tree Nymph (Idea leuconoe chersonesia) was photographed feeding on the flowers of this plant at high level at Pulau Ubin's Butterfly Hill.

Some of the Pieridae also like the flowers of the Peacock Flower

Amongst the Pieridae, we have seen the Lemon Emigrant, Orange Emigrant and Mottled Emigrant attracted to feed on the flowers of the Peacock Flower plant. The Grass Yellows (Eurema spp.) are usually active around this plant, but more likely because it is one of their caterpillar host plants, and not to feed on the nectar from the flowers. There was one occasion when a Common Grass Yellow was observed to feed on the flower of this plant.

Thus far, there have been no observations of the other families of butterflies, particularly the smaller species, feeding on the flower of the Peacock Flower plant. Despite its attractive bright colours, it is strange that the Peacock Flower is not more attractive to a wider range of butterflies.

A male Great Mormon feeding on the flower of the Peacock Flower

Even though there is enough evidence to show that the Peacock Flower is a butterfly-attracting plant, the range of species that feed on its flowers is unfortunately rather limited. In the selection of nectaring plants for a butterfly garden, it would be probably wise to combine several other more preferred nectaring plants with the Peacock Flower to offer a wider range of nectaring plants to attract more species of butterflies.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Bob Cheong, Huang CJ, Khew SK, Loh MY and Simon Sng.

Singapore's Judys
Featuring the Abisara spp. (Judys) of Singapore

The family Riodinidae was previously classified as sub-family Riodininae of the Lycaenidae family (ref : Butterflies of the Malay Peninsula 4th Edition), but raised to family status subsequently in more recent publications. Many species in the family feature metallic markings on their wings, giving rise to their collective common English name of "Metalmarks".

Female Spotted Judy perched on a leaf

In the Southeast Asian region, the Riodinidae is characterised by small, reddish-brown butterflies that prefer deep forest shade habitats. They have a unique, short, hopping flight and alight on the upper surfaces of leaves with half-opened wings. When active, they will twist and turn on the leaf with jerky walking movements, often to the frustration of the butterfly photographer who is trying to get an ideal angle to shoot them.

Male Malayan Plum Judy perched on a fern

Many species of the Riodinidae have yellow-green eyes. A special characteristic of the family is that the forelegs of the males are under-developed, appearing more like hair tufts. The females, on the other hand, have all six legs fully developed.

In Singapore, the Riodinidae is represented by five species in three genera. Of the five species, three belong to the genus Abisara. The species in this genus are collectively named Judy. It is interesting that the common names of the group of butterflies in the Riodinidae originate from the traditional beach puppet or marionette show of "Punch and Judy". The species of another Riodinidae genus, the Dodona, have all their species named after Punch. However, this genus is not extant in Singapore.

Male Spotted Judy

This article introduces the three Judy species found in Singapore. The extant species of the Abisara spp. in Singapore are the Malayan Plum Judy (Abisara saturata kausambioides), the Spotted Judy (Abisara geza niya) and the Malay Tailed Judy (Abisara savitri savitri). It was earlier thought that another Malaysian species, the Straight Judy (Abisara kausambi kausambi) also exists in Singapore, but further research showed that this species is not found here.

The Malayan Plum Judy (Abisara saturata kausambioides)

The most common of the three Abisara species found in Singapore, the Malayan Plum Judy is found at urban parks and gardens as well as in the forested areas of the nature reserves. It can also be found on the offshore island of Pulau Ubin. Males are more often seen, but both sexes display the typical Riodinidae behaviour of hopping from leaf to leaf and turning around with their wings half-opened.

The upperside of the male Malayan Plum Judy shows a deep purple-blue colour in angled lighting

The upperside of the male is a deep crimson brown without any markings. When viewed in a sidelight, the upperside may show a purple-blue colouration. The paler underside features a pair of diffused pale purplish post-discal bands. The outer band on the hindwing has a series of large black, white-edged submarginal spots.

The paler female has a diffused white sub-apical patch on the forewing, whilst the hindwing "tail" is prominently angled at vein 4 and appears to flare out wider than in the male. The Malayan Plum Judy has been successfully bred on two alternative host plants - Ardisia elliptica (Myrsinaceae), Embelia ribes (Myrsinaceae).

The Spotted Judy (Abisara geza niya)

The second of the Judy species found in Singapore is the Spotted Judy. This species is superficially similar to the Malayan Plum Judy in appearance. Also a deep crimson brown in colour, the male of the Spotted Judy differs from the Malayan Plum Judy in the whiter diffused subapical patch on the outer post-discal band.

Female Spotted Judy. Note less extensive sub-apical white patch on the forewing and the dislocated post-discal band at vein 4 of the hindwing.

In the female, the diffused sub-apical patch is more restricted than in the Malayan Plum Judy. The hindwing "tail" is also prominently angled at vein 4 and displays the similar flare that is wider than in the male. Both sexes can be separated from the Malayan Plum Judy in their diagnostic characteristic hindwing post-discal band that is dislocated at vein 4.

Upperside of the male Spotted Judy. The structural scales diffract light at certain angles where the wing colour shows a purple-blue.

The Spotted Judy is moderately rare, but can be found in generally the same habitats as the Malayan Plum Judy. Males are sometimes seen 'dog-fighting' in the late hours of the day. The species can be found in urban parks and gardens as well as in the forested nature reserves, preferring heavily shaded environments. It has been successfully bred on Embelia ribes (Myrsinaceae) and Embelia canescens (Myrsinaceae).

The Malay Tailed Judy (Abisara savitri savitri)

The third and rarest Judy found in Singapore is the Malay Tailed Judy. It is found mainly in the heavily shaded forested areas of the nature reserves. This forest-dependent species is generally larger than its previous two related species. It also differs from the other two in that, instead of the crimson brown wings, the Malay Tailed Judy is a pale beige with a light tinge of violet.

It cannot be mistaken for any other species in Singapore. The Malay Tailed Judy features two diffused white transverse sub-apical stripes on the forewing. It has a distinctly longer white tipped tail at vein 4 of the hindwing. It shares the behavioural characteristic of hopping on the upper surfaces of leaves with half-opened wings.

The Malay Tailed Judy has been successfully bred on the same host plants as the Spotted Judy - Embelia ribes (Myrsinaceae) and Embelia canescens (Myrsinaceae). The species can be occasionally observed feeding on overripe fruits on the forest floor.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by James Chia, Huang CJ, Khew SK, Nelson Ong, Jonathan Soong, Horace Tan and Benjamin Yam.

Butterfly Photography Series
Digital Post-Processing - Part 2 : Noise Reduction

In Part 1 of our Digital Post-Processing series, ButterflyCircle member Loh Mei Yee shared with us the basics of post-process editing by adding contrast, brightening, sharpening and cropping a shot. Mei Yee is back again in Part 2, where she takes us through a simple process of reducing 'noise' in a photo using a Photoshop Plug-in. Over to Mei Yee...

In my earlier article, I showed how you can enhance your photo with the use of Nik plug-ins – ‘Sharpener Pro’ and ‘Viveza 2’. In this continuing article of the series, I will touch on an issue that many of us often face – NOISE! Not the disturbing noise from annoying neighbours blasting loud music but digital noise in photography. I will be demonstrating how to reduce noise in photos using another Nik plug-in called ‘Dfine 2’.

What is noise? In digital photography, ‘noise’ is the commonly-used term to define aberrant pixels, or simply known as the “small dots” that are all over the image which causes a rough look or texture, making the photo unpleasant to look at. These small dots might not be very noticeable but they can be quite visible when you zoom in and view the image, or when your image is heavily cropped.

What causes digital noise? Higher ISOs which you may need when shooting in low light, is the main culprit in causing more noise. Another reason is the size of the sensor of your camera. If you compared a DSLR and a point and shoot camera (PnS), and both have 10 megapixel sensors, the DSLR would yield a much cleaner image with a lot less noise when compared to the point and shoot image. This is because DSLRs have much bigger sensors and therefore can accommodate larger *photosites compared to point and shoot.

*A photosite (photo/photon sensing site), as it is often termed around the web, refers to a sensor pixel in this context. Depending on the design of the sensor, a photosite or pixel may contain the necessary circuitry for a single coloured pixel, or it may contain the necessary circuitry for multiple colours of pixels

Take a look at the image below, you’ll notice that noise is more obvious on areas that are flat mid-tones (which is normally on the background) and less noticeable on areas that are bright and are with textures. What we want to do is to reduce the noise on the background.

In this tutorial, I have chosen a photo of the Common Tiger that I shot some time in September 2017. I will be using ‘Dfine 2’ to reduce noise mainly on the background whilst no noise reduction will be done on the butterfly. We want a smooth looking background but retain the details on the butterfly.

Once you are in Photoshop, go to your Nik Collection Plug-ins menu and launch DFine2

Dfine 2 will analyse the image and reduce the noise accordingly.

Automatic profile applied. Noise reduction has been applied to the entire image.

To further reduce the noise, click on the ‘Reduce’ button.

Increase the ‘Control Noise’ to 200%. Double click on the image to enlarge, click on ‘Split preview’ to have a look at the before and after effect. When you move the red line to the left and right, you’ll notice a significant difference in the green background.

Because noise reduction has been applied to the entire image, it means that some details on the butterfly have been lost. The next step is to bring back the details on the butterfly.

I am using this button (see red arrow) to add control points on the butterfly. This is to remove the noise reduction effect and bring back the details.

Start with adding a control point at the tip of the forewing (or anywhere you prefer), move the slider to the left, to cover only the area of the wing and not to affect the background.

Continue adding more control points where needed.

Double click to enlarge the image when adding control points on small areas. Double click again to reduce the image.

When you have finished adding control points, you can click on ‘Split preview’ to have a look at the before and after effect. Move the red line left and right, you’ll notice a significant difference in the green background but little to no changes on the butterfly.

Click OK and a new layer is created. The original image is at the Background layer.

Original photo with noise

Photo after applying Dfine 2 noise reduction

Original shot without post-processing

Final shot using post-processing techniques discussed in Parts 1 and 2 of this series

This brings us to the end of Part 2 tutorial. To further enhance your photo from here, you can also apply the steps that are shown in the Part 1 article. I have made a video tutorial of how I edited my photo using Dfine 2. See you again soon in the next article in my digital post-processing series!

Remember to watch the video in HD for better quality

Text and Photos by Loh Mei Yee

Butterfly of the Month - April 2018
The Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus)

We are now about halfway through the fourth month of the year, and typically, the weather should spell springtime for the northern hemisphere. However, the cold fingers of winter seem loathe to release its hold, leaving cold snaps in its wake, and even unexpected snowfall in several countries in late March. In Singapore, the record cold temperatures at the start of the year made way for rather hot and humid days with temperatures reaching the high 30's.

A Pea Blue feeding on the flower of the Spanish Needle (Bidens alba)

I took a short vacation in early April to Northern Thailand to Chiangmai. My last trip there was back in Oct 2016, and it seemed like a good time to visit Antonio and our butterfly friends up in Thailand again. The weather forecasts indicated hot dry days with temperatures even hitting 40 deg! However, it rained on the 3rd day when we were in Chiangdao where the night temperature plunged to a cold 18deg! The butterfly activity was rather low for this time of the year, but we still enjoyed the trip.

The world of technology and social media has touched hundreds of millions of users all over the world. And it would be unimaginable today, if we didn't check our smartphones about what our friends across the globe are doing on popular portals like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Whatsapp, Wechat, Weibo and the spectrum of social media platforms that is all-pervasive in our daily lives.

A Pea Blue perched on the flower of its caterpillar host plant

However, on the 'dark side' of social media, are privacy issues. What each of us choose to share with our friends, may end up in the wrong hands. A case in point would be Facebook's data breach that has affected over 87 million users, mainly in the US. The data leak created a situation where personal information may have been inappropriately shared without the users' permission.

Speaking of privacy, today's technological advances have the potential of becoming the 'all-seeing' eye in both the virtual and real worlds that we exist in. One such technology, facial recognition, has already been tested and proven to work in China, when a fugitive was recognised and identified from a sea of 50,000 spectators at a concert, by a facial recognition system. He was subsequently nabbed by the police.

Singapore is also planning to jump onto this facial recognition bandwagon with a government initiative to install such a system island-wide via its 110,000 lamp posts. Like all new technological systems, there are always positive and negative sides to consider. On the lighter side of things, high quality face mask manufacturers (cue Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible) may be ramping up their production capacities in anticipation of the increased business!

A Pea Blue perching on a blade of grass

Such a "facial" recognition system may also be useful for our butterflies. But unfortunately, there is probably very insignificant commercial motivation for any company to develop such a system. A amateurish attempt to do this by a local enthusiast started a couple of years back, but it quickly fizzled out after the recognition algorithm was unreliable to ID butterflies. Perhaps when someone more capable designs the system, such a butterfly ID system may see the light of day.

Our Butterfly of the Month for April 2018 is the common species, Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus). This species has the distinction of being first described by the 'father of modern taxonomy', Carl Linnaeus himself back in 1767! The Pea Blue is globally widespread and is recognised as the English "Long-Tailed Blue", an infrequent visitor to the southern coast of England.

Despite its delicate appearance, the Pea Blue is nomadic and has a range that takes it from southern Europe to Africa and the Indo-Australian Region to as far east as Hawaii. It has not been found in America yet. The Pea Blue is one of the butterflies that most taxonomists have not found any morphological or geographical justifications to add a subspecies to.

A female Pea Blue oviposits on the buds of its caterpillar host plant

The Pea Blue is considered common in Singapore, and is most often seen wherever its caterpillar host plants, Crotalaria retusaand Crotalaria mucronata are found. In recent years, the host plants are cultivated in our urban parks and gardens and is one of the preferred plants for butterfly gardens. The Crotalaria spp. also have the added benefit of being attractive to Danainae butterflies, which feed on the excretions of the seed pods and stems of the plant.

Male (top) and Female (bottom) Pea Blue showing off their upperside of their wings

The male of the Pea Blue is dull purple blue above with two black tornal spots on the hindwing. The female is brown with the wing bases a pale shining blue, with white post-discal and submarginal fasciae on the hindwings. Males are more often encountered, although females can usually be spotted ovipositing on the caterpillar host plants.

The underside is a pale buff brown with white transverse fasciae creating a pattern that is easily distinguishable and quite unlike that of any other Lycaenid. The orange-crowned black tornal spot on the hindwing has greenish-blue metallic scaling. There is a long white-tipped filamentous tail at vein 2 of the hindwing.

The Pea Blue is usually skittish, flying with an erratic flight pattern. But it can be approached carefully when it stops to feed at flowering plants or when it perches on the top surface of leaves to sunbathe or to rest with its wings folded upright.

A Pea Blue puddling at a damp sandy streambank

Occasionally, the Pea Blue has been observed to puddle in search of nutrients in damp sand or along forest footpaths. The life history of the Pea Blue has been successfully recorded on the two Crotalaria spp. found in Singapore.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by David Chan, May Chan, Bob Cheong, Khew SK, Loke PF, Bobby Mun, Simon Sng, Mark Wong and Benjamin Yam

Back to Chiangmai 2018
Butterfly Outing to Northern Thailand

A group of predominantly Zebra Blues puddling with other Lycaenids at Chiang Dao carpark

The last time I visited northern Thailand was in early October 2016. Back then, we visited the usual favourite butterfly-hunting grounds that we first discovered about 4 years ago. Compared to Singapore, these locations are 'butterfly havens' which would keep a butterfly photographer engaged for a whole day! So after a year away from northern Thailand's butterfly havens, we decided to make a trip to check out the butterfly scene again.

Look forward to a week of butterflying in Northern Thailand

After making all the necessary arrangements with our dependable and expert guide, Antonio, we got ourselves organised and looked forward to a week's worth of butterflying in Chiangmai and Chiangdao in northern Thailand. The group comprised of 'veterans' who had visited these places several times before, and we were just looking for a fun and relaxing outing this year. Some newbies who had initially wanted to join us had to pull out due to various commitments.

Our good friend and butterfly guide, Antonio Giudici also runs butterfly tours for enthusiasts from all over the world! Highly recommended! Refer to thaibutterflies.com for more information.

Our slightly under 3-hour flight on SilkAir was quite uneventful, and we arrived in Chiangmai International airport just before 11am in the morning, and met our old friend, Antonio. He had already spent several weeks before our trip, showing many groups of butterfly enthusiasts around good butterfly hunting grounds in Thailand. After checking in at our favourite hotel in Chiangmai and changing into our butterfly-hunting gear, we headed out to the nearby Doi Suthep and Doi Pui.

Orange Punch (Dodona egeon egeon)

Dark Judy (Abisara fylla fylla)

Relaxing and having Mrs Antonio's freshly-baked cakes for a picnic at Doi Suthep

It was already early afternoon, and the usual stops at the butterfly-rich locations didn't turn up anything new. Antonio shared with us that there was quite a bit of haze due to some bush and forest fires in the vicinity over the past week, and the air was not as clear as he would have wished. We made a couple of stops at our favourite hot spots and added a few new (or better) shots of some species. We also met Pamela Sai, an India-based butterfly photographer who travelled all around the world to shoot butterflies.

Further up on Doi Pui, it was getting overcast in the late afternoon, and the sun was fighting hard against the thick blanket of clouds. Our regular at this location, the Truncate Imperial did not show itself. However, a male Danaid Eggfly (Hypolimnas missippus) came down to play and was cooperative enough to allow us to take shots of it.

Dinner with guests Yutaka Inayoshi and Pamela Sai at our favourite Mexican joint (minus the tequila)

Dinner was at the nearby Mexican restaurant where we also met Chiangmai-based Japanese butterfly guru, Yutaka Inayoshi. He also shared with us that he was working on a book on Thai butterflies that is expected to be launched some time in the coming year or so. As usual, dinner conversation revolved around butterfly hunting adventures, new finds, unexpected rarities in Thailand.

Day 2 (Mae Kampong)

After our breakfast and a quick pit-stop at a 7-eleven outlet to buy our lunch, we headed out to the streams in the hilly outskirts of Mae Kampong. We visited the hilltop of the Chae Son National Park at an elevation of 1,517m above sea level. Butterfly activity was rather low, and Antonio shared that perhaps the season has been slightly delayed by the colder weather in the early part of the year and also the poor air quality recently.

Lesser Punch (Dodona dipoea dracon)

Cabbage White (Artogeia canidia canidia)

Staff Sergeant (Athyma selenophora bahula)

The cool fresh air lifted our spirits and there were always butterflies to chase and shoot. We checked out a few stream crossings where there were attractive puddling grounds and flowers to attract butterflies. It was a relatively cloudy day, but the butterflies were up and about.

Tailed Judy (Abisara neophron chelina)

Around late afternoon, we headed back to Chiangmai city as dark clouds loomed on the horizon. We had our fill of butterflies for the day, although we didn't encounter anything special. Dinner was at our favourite Japanese restaurant near our hotel. Considering where Chiangmai is located, and nowhere near the coast, the Japanese seafood was surprisingly fresh (and competitively priced too!).

Day 3 (Doi Inthanon)

We left slightly earlier in the morning as it was a longer drive to Doi Inthanon, Thailand's highest mountain. The roads were surprisingly clear on this day, and Antonio attributed it to the public holiday and also the forthcoming Songkran festival (Thai New Year). Many working Thais would have taken leave and headed back to their hometowns for the festivities.

Our first stop was the Princess Siribhume Royal Garden and waterfall, where we could find some unique montane species of butterflies. One such rarity was the Satyrinae, Mottled Argus (Callerebia narasingha dohertyi), which Antonio said that he had only seen a few times. Despite its rather 'boring' look, the Mottled Argus was very local in distribution and considered a rarity.

Mottled Argus (Callerebia narasingha dohertyi)

Grand Duchess (Euthalia patala taooana)

Our next destination was the Huai Sai Lueang Waterfalls. Our catch of the day was the large and showy Grand Duchess (Euthalia patala taooana), of which there were several individuals zipping around. One slightly more cooperative male came down to puddle and was friendly enough for us to even take handphone videos of it! This was a more pristine individual than the one we encountered in Apr 2015.

Exotic Lanna cuisine. Fancy some ant eggs/larvae?

Dinner in the evening was slightly more adventurous as we sampled some exotic Lanna food, which included frog's legs and ant pupae! We were told that the large ant pupae (through which you can almost see the developing ant) were from the Weaver Ant nests that were harvested for the unhatched pupae. There were other exotic stuff which are not particularly for weak-stomachs!

Day 4 (Chiang Dao)

A panoramic view of the Nest 2 accommodation

We checked out of Dome Residences and headed out to Chiangdao after breakfast. Like on our previous trips, we had booked the Nest 2 as our accommodation. The Nest 2 is just 5 minutes drive from the now 'world-famous' Chiangdao car park. Ok, it's just famous amongst butterfly watchers and photographers, but nevertheless very popular, and a must-visit location with the fraternity of those who like butterflies.

A washout day when it rained almost the whole day at Chiang Dao

The trip up to Chiangdao took us slightly over an hour in relatively light traffic. However, it was an overcast day and the weather outlook did not look too promising. After offloading our luggage at the Nest 2, we headed to the "car park", paid our entrance fees, and set up our gear. However, the weather had other plans and the skies poured soon after. It was a very different Chiangdao carpark on this day, compared to what we experienced on our previous visits.

All ready for action! And the sun's out!

The weather did not look like it was going to cooperate, and it continued to be wet and raining the rest of the day. It was a good respite from our previous days out butterfly hunting, and for the first time, we even had time for an afternoon nap in the cool weather. The weather that evening dropped to a chilly 19degC and we didn't even have to use the aircondition!

Day 5 (Chiang Dao)

A congregation of Lycaenids (mainly Zebra Blues)

The following morning, the low clouds hung overhead and it threatened to be another washout day. However, by mid-morning, the sun peeked out and the skies cleared soon thereafter. The lethargic butterflies at the car park began to stir and very soon, the puddling butterflies, particularly the Zebra Blue (Leptotes plinius), of which there were hundreds of them, started to swarm the damp ground for nutrients.

Dark Cupid (Tongeia potanini potanini)

Common Pierrot (Castalius rosimon rosimon)

Green Dragontail (Lamproptera meges)

The diversity of species was not as good as our previous trips, but we still managed to add one or two new ones to our personal collection of butterflies shot in Thailand. It was always a challenge to look out for unique species or something special amongst the crowd of puddling Lycaenids. And there will be the odd rarity that would make its appearance from time to time.

Red Tailed Forester (Lethe sinorix sinorix)

Brown Prince (Rohana parvata burmana)

A quick drive up the winding road to a higher elevation did not turn up anything special, as we encountered the usual species that we found on previous trips - like the Brown Prince and a couple of skittish Lethe species puddling on the roadside. It was also generally low activity throughout the day at the carpark.

Day 6 (Doi Pha Hom Pok)

We moved off early in the morning and headed towards Fang, another town further north from Chiangdao, and about 90 minutes drive. Our destination was Doi Pha Hom Pok, the 2nd highest mountain in Thailand. Previous trips there yielded some interesting montane species, although this time around, we were not planning on reaching the peak where the Kaiser I-Hind flies.

Dark Jezebel (Delias berinda yadanula)

A crowd of Delias butterflies puddling

A couple of stops along the key puddling grounds did not turn up anything special, although this time around, there were lots of the Dark Jezebel (Delias berinda yadanula) in season and were fluttering all over the place. Other rarer Delias were also around, but challenging to locate amongst the crowd of the commoner species.

Stately Nawab (Polyura dolon grandis)

Antonio supervising the photographers

Interestingly, there was a bunch of the Stately Nawab that came down to puddle for about an hour, and we counted a total of 8 individuals in the vicinity, and several of them were tame enough for handphone videos of them puddling. Diversity was still low, and Antonio wondered if it would be better in the later part of the month. Although it sounded like we were complaining about the lack of butterflies, it is only because our earlier trips had "spoiled" us with much greater numbers!

Day 7

A giant amongst the dwarves, Tawny Rajah (Charaxes bernadus) amongst other Lycaenids

This was our last shooting day in Chiangdao and we spent half a day at the car park. It was a hot sunny day, and the temperature soared to about 35degC by midday. More species were up and about today, and interestingly many individuals were very pristine, probably having just eclosed that morning. The crowds of Zebra Blues continued to dominate the puddling grounds.

Pieridae to the left! Papilionidae to the right! Taxonomically organised puddling!

An aberrant Zebra Blue

There were more Papilionids turning up at the puddling grounds as the day progressed but the hot humid conditions made it very exhausting to shoot them. All too soon, we had to call it a day and we piled up our luggage and headed back to Chiangmai city. Despite the relatively lower butterfly activity on this trip, we were more selective at what we wanted to shoot, and felt more relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

The Vagrant (Vagrans sinha sinha) was common at Chiangdao this season

The following morning, we bade farewell to our good friend Antonio, as he dropped us off at the Chiangmai International Airport. Until the next time, adios Chiangmai, Antonio and all the butterflies of northern Thailand. I'm quite sure that we'll be back again in the near future!

Cheers! and to the next Chiangmai outing!

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Huang CJ, Khew SK and Loke PF.

Sexual Dimorphism in Butterflies : Part 1

Featuring Male-Female Differences

A mating pair of Orange Emigrant. Left : Male, Right : Female

Sexual dimorphism in butterflies is the condition where the two sexes of the same species exhibit different characteristics beyond the differences in their sexual organs. These differences may include size, colour, distinguishing markings and secondary characteristics. In some cases the flight characteristics between the males and females are also distinctly different. The differences in sexual dimorphism can range from negligible to exaggerated, and may be subjected to sexual selection.

The degree of differences in sexual dimorphism in butterflies can be classified under a range that falls between negligible to exaggerated. I have further broadly categorised the differences into the following 4 categories :

1) Negligible : Males and Females appear so similar that it takes a bit more effort to scrutinise secondary characteristics closely to ascertain and differentiate between the males and females.

2) Subtle : Males and Females appear similar but there are minor giveaways that can instantly distinguish between the males and females

3) Distinct : There are clear differences between males and females that a glance will be able to separate between the two sexes in these species.

4) Exaggerated : The males and females of these species of butterflies appear so different that one could even assume that they are two different species.

A mating pair of Dark Brand Bush Brown. Left : Female, Right : Male

These categorisations are by no means scientifically based and not intended as formal scientific classifications. As in any general layman categorisations, they are based on personal observations and there are certainly outliers and exceptions that may or may not fall clearly into any of these categories.

A mating pair of Pale Mottle

Then there are examples of dorsal and/or ventral sexual dimorphism. This is where the differences between males and females of a species are either on the dorsal (upperside) or ventral (underside) of the wings. In some cases, the differences are both on the dorsal and ventral sides of the wings.

A mating pair of two different morphs of the Lemon Emigrant

In some exceptional species, the sexual dimorphism is further expanded to polymorphism (i.e. more than just one form in either sex). This phenomenon may occur in just the females that display many different forms, or just the males that display many different forms. And then in some extreme examples, both the males and females display polymorphism. But by and large, only a handful of species fall into these categories. In Singapore, some examples are the Great Mormon, Malay Baron and Lemon Emigrant.

1 . Sexual Dimorphism (Negligible differences)

A pair of Lime Butterfly. With a close look at the abdominal tips of the two individuals, it can be ascertained that the female is the top butterfly and the male is at the bottom

We now take a look at some of the examples of butterflies that fall into the 4 broad categories of sexual dimorphism. The first category is the most straightforward - where the males and females of a butterfly species are physically similar and it may take careful scrutiny to establish between a male and female of the butterfly. Examples shown here are certainly not exhaustive but just to illustrate some species that fall into this category.

Top : Male Lime Butterfly Bottom : Female Lime Butterfly. Note the size of the tornal spot and proportion of the blue-edged black spot to the red spot

Our first examples from the Papilionidae family would be the Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus malayanus). Ventrally (or seen from the underside), this species' sexual dimorphism can be considered 'negligible'. On the dorsal (upperside) of the wings however, the dimorphism may be considered 'subtle' as the main difference between the male and female of this species is the tornal spot on the hindwing. In space 1b on the hindwing, there is a red spot in both sexes. In the male, this spot is capped with a narrow blue lunule with a very narrow intervening black gap. In contrast, the red spot and the blue lunule in the female have a rather large black spot between them.

A mating pair of Psyche. Difficult to separate between male and female from the underside

An example from the family Pieridae would be the Psyche (Leptosia nina malayana), in which the male and female are virtually indistiguishable when viewed from both the upperside and underside of the wings. The mottled underside and the predominantly white upperside with a black apical patch and a black spot on the forewing is almost identical in both the male and female of this species. This makes it near impossible to separate between the male and female of this species unless the primary sexual organs are examined.

From the Nymphalidae family, a good example of negligible difference in sexual dimorphism would be the Peacock Pansy (Junonia almana javana). This pair of mating Peacock Pansy demonstrates that there is almost little or no perceptible dimorphism between the male and female of this species. When viewed ventrally, it is difficult to separate the two. The two sexes are also near identical on the upperside with the usual ocelli present in both the male and female.

This pair of Common Caerulean (Jamides celeno aelianus) represents an example of negligible difference category as far as sexual dimorphism is concerned. Ventrally, the male and female is difficult to set apart from just the physical markings on the underside of the species. However, on the dorsal side, the sexes can be distinguished by the broader black border on the forewings of the female, making this species a dorsally distinct category.

Mating pairs of Skippers showing very indistinct differences between the males and females

Amongst the skippers, there is less sexual dimorphism in quite a number of the species in the family Hesperiidae. Quite a large number of the species can be classified under the negligible difference category. Examples shown here are the Large Snow Flat (from the sub-family Pyrginae), the Chestnut Bob and Grass Demon (from the sub-family Hesperiinae).

2. Sexual Dimorphism (Subtle differences)

Mating pair of Tailed Jay. Female is the one on top, with its comparatively longer tail

The next category would be butterflies that demonstrate subtle differences in males and females of a species. The degree to which we can consider the "subtleness" in the difference between a male and female of butterflies is rather subjective, and here, we just give examples where there are minor features that are able to give away the difference between the sexes.

Left : Male Tailed Jay and Right : Female Tailed Jay. Note the comparative length of the tails

A Papilionidae example of subtle difference between the male and female of the species is probably the Tailed Jay (Graphium agamemnon agamemnon). In this species, the key difference between the sexes is the relative length of the tail of the butterfly. Whilst the colour, spots and size are usually similar (with the male typically slightly smaller), the individual with the longer tail (usually twice as long) is the female. This very subtle difference separates the male from the female of this species.

Mating pair of Orange Emigrant. The female, on the right, has darker and more pronounced spots on the wings

A typical example of a Pieridae that displays subtle differences between the male and female would be the Orange Emigrant (Catopsilia scylla cornelia). In the photograph shown of a mating pair, the female has more spots on the hindwings compared to the male, and on the dorsal side, the female has a black marginal border on the hindwing (absent in the male).

Mating pair of Plain Tiger. The male, on the top, has an extra spot on the hindwing

From the subfamily Danainae, the secondary sexual characteristics of a sex brand on the hindwings is a subtle diagnostic feature that separates the male from the female. In the case of this mating pair of Plain Tigers (Danaus chrysippus chrysippus), the male (top) has an additional "spot" in the form of a sex brand on the hindwing. The female does not have this brand. This subtle spot separates the sexes in this species.

Mating pair of Apefly. The female, on the left, has a more rounded forewing compared to the sharper and more angular shape of the male's forewing.

In this pair of Apefly (Spalgis epius epius), the structure of the wings is a very subtle giveaway in separating the male and female butterflies. The forewing of the male is more pointed and pronounced compared to the more rounded forewing of the (usually) larger female. The male, on the right of this photo, displays the more angular forewing and is obvious enough to distinguish between the sexes.

A mating pair of Common Mormon with clearly distinct features between the male and female. These two categories will be discussed in Part 2 of this article next week.

In Part 2 of this article, we take a look at species with more distinct physical appearances between the males and females. We also look at the evolution of some of these examples of sexual dimorphism and ask some questions with regard to some of the reasons behind some of these evolutionary adaptations, probably by natural selection.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Chng CK, Antonio Giudici, Khew SK, Koh CH, Loh MY, Tan BJ and Anthony Wong

Life History of the Cabbage White (Pieris canidia canidia)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Pieris Schrank, 1801
Species: canidia Linnaeus, 1768
Subspecies: canidia Linnaeus, 1768
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 45-55mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plant:Cleome rutidosperma (Capparaceae, common name: Purple Cleome, Fringed Spiderflower).

A male Cabbage White.

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:

The wings are mostly white, and dusted in black (more heavily so in the basal areas of both fore- and hindwings). On the upperside, the forewing sports a black apical border and a black post-discal spot in space 3. On the hindwing, there is a black sub-costal spot and four to five black marginal spots. The female is more heavily marked in black than the male, and has a distinct double spot in space 1b of the forewing. On the underside, the wings are mostly white in the male, and strongly yellow-dusted in the female (in the hindwing and the apical area of the forewing). In both sexes, there is a yellow basal streak along the costa on the hindwing, and there are black post-discal spots in spaces 1b, 3 and 5 in the forewing. The spot in space 5 is typically much less conspicuous than the other two.

A female Cabbage White.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:

This species occurs in open grassy areas and flies in the company of the Cabbage White and Psyche, both of which share the same local host plant with the Cabbage White. It is a weak flyer, and keeps close to the ground looking for flowers to feed on. On sunny days, it flies restlessly, and rarely stop for long. The species can occasionally be found in wastelands, farm ways and parklands and is sometimes common where it occurs. Often, several individuals are seen at one time, especially in the vicinity of the host plant. The males have the habit of puddling for mineral intakes. Although C&P4 described the Cabbage White as not uncommon in Singapore, sightings of this species, however, have become much less frequent in the past years.

Early Stages:

The recorded local host plant for the Cabbage White, Cleome rutidosperma, is a common herbaceous weed with violet-blue to pink flowers. Caterpillars of the Cabbage White feed on the relatively young to middle-aged leaves as well as young shoots, stems and flower parts. A noteworthy feature is that caterpillars of Cabbage White, in all instars, possess a prosternal gland, on the ventrum of the prothorax. This gland is present in a limited number of butterfly species,and it is everted when the caterpillar is roughly handled. Past studies have found it is capable of emitting chemicals with a defensive function.

The prosternal gland (on the ventrum behind the head) of a Cabbage White caterpillar.

Local host plant: Cleome rutodosperma.

A mating pair of the Cabbage White.

A Cabbage White laying an egg on a leaflet of the host plant.

Eggs of the Cabbage White are laid singly on a leaf of the host plant. The pale yellowish egg is cylindrically-shaped with a narrowing upper end, and has a height of about 1mm. It has vertical ridges and numerous transverse striations. The vertical ridges end in low projections encircling the micropylar at the upper end.

An egg of the Cabbage White on the underside of a leaflet.

A close-up view of an egg of the Cabbage White.

The egg takes about 3 days to hatch. The newly hatched has a length of about 1.8mm and a pale yellowish head capsule. Its cylindrically-shaped body is in a stronger shade of yellow and featuring sub-dorsal, dorso-lateral and lateral rows of small tubercles running lengthwise. Each tubercle has a moderately long setae emerging from the middle of it. The end of each setae bears a tiny droplet.

A newly hatched caterpillar of the Cabbage White eating its egg shell.

The newly hatched eats the empty egg shell for its first meal, and then moves on to eat the leaf lamina. Its body takes on a strong green undertone with the intake of leaf diet. In 2.5 days, the caterpillar grows to a length of about 3mm before the moult to the 2nd instar.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, length: 2mm.

The 2nd instar caterpillar is yellowish green in body color with similar droplet-bearing setae as in the 1st instar. In addition, there are numerous small, black, conical tubercles dotting the body surface. Each of tubercles has a short black setae emerging from it. This instar lasts about 1.5 to 2 days with the body length reaching about 5.5mm.

Two view of a 2nd instar caterpillar, length: 4.75mm

Two view of a late 2nd instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 5.2mm

The 3rd instar caterpillar resembles the 2nd instar caterpillar closely except for the appearance of a faint yellowish dorsal band and a spiracular series of small yellow markings. The head capsule is now yellowish green. This instar takes about 2 days to complete with body length reaching about 9mm.

Two views of an early 3rd instar caterpillar, length; 5.8mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, length: 8.9mm.

Two views of a late 3rd instar caterpillar, dormant prior to its moult, length: 9mm.

Again, the 4th instar retains all the features as the 3rd instar. In addition, numerous fine and white setae, in greater proportion than in early instars, now adorn the body surface. This penultimate instar lasts about 2 days with body length reaching about 15.5mm.

Two views of an early 4th instar caterpillar, length: 10mm.

Two views of a 4th instar caterpillar, length: 15.2mm.

Two views of a late 4th instar caterpillar, late in thie stage, length: 14mm.

The 5th and final instar caterpillar resembles the 4th instar caterpillar closely. Its yellow dorsal band is more prominent than in the 4th instar. The many black tubercles dotting the bluish green body surface gives its a distinctive speckled appearance. The 5th instar lasts for 2.5-3 days, and the body length reaches up to 25mm.

Two views of an early 5th instar caterpillar, length: 14.8mm.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, length: 25mm.

A pair of 5th instar caterpillars sharing a young stem.

Close-up, frontal view of the head of a 5th instar caterpillar.

On the last day of the 5th instar, the caterpillar ceases feeding and its body gradually shortens. It wanders around and comes to rest on the underside of a stem/stalk or a leaf of the host plant or adjacent plants. Here the caterpillar spins a silk pad and a silk girdle to secure itself and then becomes immobile in a head-up pre-pupatory pose.

A pre-pupatory larva of the Cabbage White.

Pupation takes place about 0.5 day later. The greenish, black-speckled pupa secures itself with the same silk girdle as in the pre-pupal stage, but with cremaster replacing claspers in attaching the posterior end to the silk pad on the stem/leaf surface. It sports a yellowish, thoracic dorsal ridge which is sharply raised at thoracic segment 2. This ridge ends in a pointed, yellow-tipped cephalic horn at the anterior end. The abdominal segments 2-4 are produced laterally into a black pointed tooth at each side of the abdominal segment 2. The dorsum is whitish on the anterior side of this transverse edge. In addition, two lateral whitish ridge lines run lengthwise along the entire length of the body. Length of pupae: 17-19mm.

Two views of the pupa of a Cabbage White.

Two maturing pupae of the Cabbage White.
Top panel features a male pupa and the bottom panel a female pupa.

After about 6 days of development, the pupal skin turns translucent as the development within the pupal case comes to an end. The markings on the forewing upperside become discernible and indicative of the gender of the soon-to-emerge adult. The following day, the adult butterfly emerges from the pupal case.

A newly eclosed male Cabbage White.

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society, 1992.

A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore, Khew S.K., Ink On Paper Communications, 2nd Edition, 2015.

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by Bobby Mun, Mark Wong, Tan Ben Jin, Federick Ho, Khew SK and Horace Tan

Sexual Dimorphism in Butterflies : Part 2

Featuring Male-Female Differences

A mating pair of Common Mormon. Female on top.

In Part 2 of our discussion on sexual dimorphism in butterflies, we take a look at the latter two categories of differences between male-female butterflies. We now evaluate examples of butterfly species that fall into the "Distinct" and "Exaggerated" categories of dimorphism. In Part 1 of our article, we considered the four broad categories as :

1) Negligible : Males and Females appear so similar that it takes a bit more effort to scrutinise secondary characteristics closely to ascertain and differentiate between the males and females.

2) Subtle : Males and Females appear similar but there are minor giveaways that can instantly distinguish between the males and females

3) Distinct : There are clear differences between males and females that a glance will be able to separate between the two sexes in these species.

4) Exaggerated : The males and females of these species of butterflies appear so different that one could even assume that they are two different species.

In many butterfly species that are distasteful to predators, the males and females look alike. The theory is that sexual dimorphism is unnecessary as the female does not need any protection via mimicry or camouflage to avoid predator attacks. However, there are also many exceptions to this.

Before we take a look at some butterfly species that display sexual dimorphism that can immediately distinguish between the male and female, let us first consider the evolutionary reasons why dimorphism happens. Not all species of butterflies share the same rate of evolution. And in many cases, do not even need to evolve to differentiate the male and female of the same species.

Whilst the female butterfly stops to lay eggs, it is temporarily vulnerable to predator attacks. This may be one of the reasons why the females of some species use mimicry or camouflage to mitigate risk of attacks whilst it goes about its business.

In natural selection, the evolution of the physical appearances of organisms is often related to adapting itself for survival and procreation. In the animal kingdom, quite unlike us humans, the males are usually more colourful and attractive, compared to the females. It is no different for the majority of species amongst butterflies. One may wonder why this is the case. Females have the role of laying eggs to ensure the continuity of the species. However, whilst it is carrying out this role, females of butterfly species are often vulnerable to predators. This may be one of the reasons why the female butterfly has evolved and adapted through strategies of mimicry and camouflage to mitigate the risk of being attacked and killed whilst she is ovipositing.

In many Lycaenidae species, the males are often brightly coloured on the uppersides, with iridescent blues, greens and other attractive colours. Females tend to be drably coloured - brown, greys and colours that do not call unnecessary attention to themselves.

Hence in butterflies, the females of many species tend to be more drab and 'unattractive' compared to the males. The colours of the wings of many female butterflies have evolved to avoid attracting unnecessary attention to themselves. This is more prevalent in species that are not distasteful and do not enjoy the protection of having the ability to sequester plant toxins from the leaves that their caterpillars eat.

The Common Mormon's female (right), according to Wallace, mimics the distasteful Common Rose for protection.

The evolutionary process of sexual dimorphism in some species is explained by A.R. Wallace who postulated that the phenomenon of "sex-limited mimicry" where the mimetic resemblance could be limited to the female sex of the species. He continued to explain, with particular reference to the female of the Common Mormon (Papilio polytes) that "the female needs to survive for longer for oviposition".

A mating pair of Wanderer, where the female mimics the distasteful Yellow Glassy Tiger and even flies like it. The male, on the other hand, has the erratic and swift flight of a typical Pieridae butterfly.

Mallet and Joron (1999) argue that, for example, females may need to engage in mimicry because selection of oviposition sites requires slow flight, and one way to be protected while flying slowly is to mimic the colour patterns of typically slow-flying and chemically defended aposematic species. An example of the dimorphism is the Wanderer (Pareronia valeria lutescens), where the male is brightly coloured, but the female resembles the distasteful Danainae, the Yellow Glassy Tiger (Parantica aspasia aspasia) and indeed, even copies the flight characteristics of the Yellow Glassy Tiger! The male on the other hand, flies rapidly like other Pierids.

Female (left) and Male (right) of the Purple Duke (Eulaceura osteria kumana) displaying sexual dimorphism

In other species, sexual dimorphism takes on a different strategy where the females evolve to camouflage themselves to avoid predation. The female butterflies then adapt their colours and patterns on their wings to blend in with the habitats which it prefers. Generally, the evolutionary mechanisms in sexual dimorphism tends to drive adaptations in females of butterfly species towards making the females less obvious to predators.

The Malay Baron (Euthalia monina monina) - One female (centre), many male 'morphs' including variations in colours and patterns

And then there are species that have dimorphism and even polymorphism between the sexes that have apparently no rationale. However, nature always holds mysteries that we humans may not always have an answer for. Further research and field observations will certainly be necessary to unveil answers to some of these mysteries that are currently not so obvious. Let us now take a look at some of the sexual dimorphism of various butterfly species that fall in the categories of "distinct" or "exaggerated" either dorsally, ventrally or even both.

Sexual Dimorphism (Distinct differences)

The large black spots on the hindwing of the female Common Birdwing is distinctive in separating the males and females of this species.

Amongst the Papilionidae, there are a few species that display distinct differences between the males and females of the species. A glance at these obvious differences will immediately establish whether it is a male or female. An example is the Common Birdwing (Troides helena cerberus). The female possesses a series of large black submarginal spots on the hindwing that makes it distinct from the male.

The Common Mormon (Papilio polytes romulus) is unique in that the more obvious female form-polytes, features red spots on the hindwing that makes it look immediately different from the male. The dimorphism in this female form of the Common Mormon is believed to mimic the distasteful Common Rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae asteris) for protection. However, it is still a mystery why the other female form-cyrus, which resembles the male, still exists.

Great Mormon (Papilio memnon agenor) - One male, many female 'morphs'. The various female forms mimic other distasteful Papilionidae species. However, in Singapore, all the other distasteful 'models' have since gone extinct. Hence the protection that the female of this species hopes to get from mimicry is therefore irrelevant. Further evolution in the works?

In terms of sexual dimorphism, another Papilionidae species of interest is the Great Mormon (Papilio memnon agenor). In this species the differences between the male and female are even more interesting in that the female is polymorphic - having no fewer than 5 different female forms recorded in Singapore. In the case of the Great Mormon, the female forms mimic various distasteful species like the Malayan Batwing and Common Clubtail. In at least one female form-distantianus, the dimorphism can be considered exaggerated as the differences between male and female are so extreme as to suggest a different species.

Leopard Lacewing - male (left) female (right) show distinct differences between the sexes

An example of Nymphalidae that displays distinct differences between the sexes would be the Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane). The colour difference on the upperside of the wings of the female distinguishes it from the male quite easily. As the Leopard Lacewing is known to be distasteful to predators, the sexual dimorphism is probably unnecessary. Hence there may be other reasons why the female has evolved to look different from the male.

One of the uncommon examples of distinct sexual dimorphism in Hesperiidae. The family shows the least amount of dimorphism between the sexes. Is it because they are crepuscular? Or they use their tremendous speed to escape predation even whilst the female is ovipositing? Food for thought!

There is very little sexual dimorphism displayed amongst the majority of species in the Hesperiidae family. One example that comes to mind is Quedara monteithii monteithii, where the female's striking forewing white band sets her apart from the drab unmarked dark brown male. When seen individually, the female may be mistaken for another species - the Banded Demon.

Sexual Dimorphism (Exaggerated differences)

A rare gynandromorph (half male, half female) example of the Archduke that was found in the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. It was reported that the butterfly aviary imported pupae from the Penang Butterfly Farm (now called Entopia).

In this category of dimorphism, we investigate species in which the males and females are so significantly different in appearance that it would be understandable if a casual observer would assume that they are two different species. Whilst not many species fall into this category, those that do, exhibit this spectacular and interesting dimorphism between the sexes.

Female (left) Male (right) of the Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida vasava)

The Striped Albatross displays exaggerated sexual dimorphism in that the males and females look like different species

To the uninitiated, the male (left) and female (right) of the Wanderer may be mistaken for two different species of butterflies. Even the flight characteristics are different, besides the colours, patterns and wing shapes between the sexes

There are some examples amongst the Singapore Pieridae that display this level of dimorphism. Of note are the Striped Albatross, Chocolate Albatross and Wanderer, each of which shows significant differences between males and females of the species.

Male (left) and Female (right) Cruiser (Vindula dejone erotella) showing exaggerated differences in sexual dimorphism.

This exaggerated dimorphism occurs more often amongst the species in the subfamily Nymphalidae. Amongst the more interesting examples are the Cruiser, Horsfield's Baron, Green Baron and Archduke just to feature a few.

Another example of the sexes that look very different from each other - Horsfield's Baron. Male (left) Female (right)

In the Horsfield's Baron, the female has evolved to appear similar to several related species like the Malay Baron and Malay Viscount. Whilst it has no apparent benefit in mimicking these other species, it is believed that the drab colouration may help to reduce attention to itself, compared to the male's more contrasting and bright blue wing margins.

Male (top) Female (bottom) of the Green Baron. The dimorphism extends to size as well, where the males are obviously smaller than the females.

Similarly, the Green Baron's female appears different in wing shape, pattern, colour and even size - both dorsally and ventrally. Again, it is not quite understood as to how the evolution of this dimorphism may be beneficial to both sexes. Studies have not yet been conclusive as to whether the Green Baron is distasteful to predators or not, since it shares its caterpillar host plant with the Painted Jezebel (which is known to be distasteful).

The Archduke is a classic example of exaggerated sexual dimorphism where the male and female appear very different from each other. Male (left) Female (right)

The Archduke's sexual dimorphism can be considered an exaggerated case where the male looks totally different from the female. It is likely that the female's spotted appearance helps it to camouflage itself on the forest floor amidst the dappled sunlight amongst forest litter, where it usually forages for food. Whilst the underside of both sexes is quite similar, the dorsal patterns and colours of the Archduke makes it a striking example of exaggerated dimorphism.

Lycaenids tend to display dorsal (upperside) differences in colours and patterns on their wings. On the ventral (underside), however, the sexual dimorphism differences may be very subtle

Moving on to the Lycaenidae, the evolutionary path of sexual dimorphism appears to direct the differences towards the dorsal appearance between the sexes. Many species are almost identical ventrally but the main difference occurs on the uppersides of the butterflies. Many of the females amongst the sub-family Theclinae are drab, brown and unmarked, whilst the more showy males display iridescent greens and blues on the uppersides.

The degree to which each species displays sexual dimorphism and the reasons for this evolutionary process does not always fit within specific rules. Whilst in some cases, they fall into the postulation that AR Wallace describes - sexually-selected mimicry to avoid predation, and in other cases, the drab colours of the females avoid calling attention to themselves, there are examples of sexual dimorphism in some species that defy simple explanations.

The examples of sexual dimorphism featured in this article is by no means exhaustive nor is the article intended to be scientifically conclusive by any measure. If anything, it probably leaves more questions than answers, but it serves to elicit further thought and discussions. It is left to further research and continued field observations to unravel some of these mysteries and for both professional and citizen scientists to record these observations for discussion. Until then, it is unlikely that there is a single answer to explain all aspects of sexual dimorphism (and polymorphism) in butterflies.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Rey Aguila, Isa Betancourt, James Chia, Bob Cheong, Antonio Giudici, Khew SK, Loke PF, Bobby Mun, Terry Ong, Horace Tan, Lemon Tea, Anthony Wong

Sexual Dimorphism in Butterflies Part 1

Butterfly Photography Series
Digital Post-Processing - Part 3 : Photo Retouching using Clone Stamp Tool

In this 3rd instalment of our Digital Post-Processing series, ButterflyCircle member Loh Mei Yee will share her digital techniques to remove minor unwanted elements in a photo and how to clean up the background of a shot to bring out the subject of the shot using Photoshop tools. Over to Mei Yee....

In Part 1 and Part 2 of our Digital Post-Processing series, I shared how to enhance photos using mainly Nik plug-ins to remove noise, sharpen images, adjust brightness and contrast, and cropping photos. In the following 2 parts of this series, I will be showing how to remove unwanted elements and how to clean up the background with the use of Photoshop tools like the ‘Clone Stamp Tool’ and ‘Layer Mask’.

Photo retouching…is it necessary? When we are out photographing butterflies, our goal is to do as much “right” in the camera as possible so that we won’t need to do too much “fixing” in post-processing later. As for me, I will always try to achieve clean or blurred background, so that the butterfly is isolated from its environment, leading the viewers’ eyes to the main subject of the shot - the butterfly. But when we are out in the field, there are things that we cannot control, like where the butterfly lands. We may end up with photos having distracting elements like a twig, a branch, leaves or glaring spots caused by the sun.

Photography purists will argue that photographs should never be altered in any way and that they should retain their authenticity. However, some photographers would prefer to have these elements to be removed to make the photo look more pleasant. Good post-processing can bring out the character of the photograph, making a good photo a better one. There is no “right” or “wrong” in photography, everyone has different preferences, we just have to do it in an “ethical” way.

Below are 3 examples of what can be achieved in Photoshop, from minor manipulation like removing some small distracting elements to a more major make-over.

#1 : Example of a minor touch-up with only the flower of the grass being removed.

#2 : A little more work was done here with unwanted elements removed, distracting hotspots/highlights and background smoothened out.

#3 : A major clean-up on the background to remove contrasty patches, distracting elements and hotspots.

Firstly, let’s talk about the Clone Stamp Tool. The Clone Stamp Tool allows you to duplicate or clone images. The process involves setting a sampling point in the image which will be used as a reference to create a new cloned area.

Open your file in Photoshop. From the Toolbar, choose the Clone Stamp Tool.

Under the “brush preset picker”, you can choose either soft feathery edged brush or hard edged brush. Frist, let’s try the soft feathery edged brush.

Set a sampling point by holding Alt key (for PC) or Opt key (for mac).

Click on the area you want to clone (without holding any key on the keyboard). The cloned image has a soft feathery edged.

Next, let’s try the hard edged brush.

You can see that the cloned image has a hard edge.

The distant between the sampling areas and the new cloned areas remains the same if they are cloned without setting new sampling point.

Only pixels within the brush will be picked up for cloning. A small brush size picks up a smaller area for cloning.

A large brush picks up a larger area for cloning.

Another convenient way to change the brush size is to hold ‘Alt + right-click’ (for PC) or ‘Opt + Ctrl + click’ (for mac) on your mouse and drag to the right to increase the brush size and drag to the left to decrease the brush size.

Removing the flower buds on the left. Set a sampling point on the green background and clone stamp on the flower buds.

Continue setting new sampling points as needed and continue cloning.

Continue cloning until the flower buds disappear.

I have also summarised the digital processing technique of using the Clone Stamp Tool in Photoshop for removing minor unwanted elements and cleaning the background of your shots in a simple video below.

Watch in HD for better quality.

We have come to the end of Part 3 tutorial. In the next and final article, I will be showing how to use Layer Mask in Photoshop for photo retouching. See you in the next article!

Text and Photos by Loh Mei Yee

Previous articles in this series :

Digital Post-Processing - Part 1 : Basic Post Processing
Digital Post-Processing - Part 2 : Noise Reduction

Butterfly of the Month - May 2018
The Common Posy (Drupadia ravindra moorei)

A Common Posy sharing the sweet secretions of a young shoot of the Bandicoot Berry plant with some ants

The month of May is almost over as we look back at a rather interesting period of global and political precedents in a world that is more fraught with uncertainties these days. After a flurry of nuclear tests and a show of aggression and disregard for any possibility of hostilities with the US, North Korea's President Kim suddenly did a turnaround and agreed to an inter-Korean summit with his southern counterpart.

That historic meeting was the first time since the end of the Korean War in 1953 that a North Korean leader stepped foot in South Korea. The summit focused on the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, peace establishment and mutual cooperation. An agreement known as the Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula and was signed by both leaders in the South Korean border village of Panmunjom.

A male Common Posy sunbathing with open wings and showing its blue hindwings

What followed was an announcement that the North Korean leader would meet the US President for a dialogue on denuclearisation. This meeting would take place on 12 Jun in Singapore. However, subsequent events continue to put into doubt whether the meeting would take place. The US then cancelled the meeting. In a surprising turn, another unannounced inter-Korean meeting was held on 26 May - the strongest sign yet that the two Korean leaders are trying to keep the on-again off-again summit on track.

President Trump said in a Twitter post late on Friday: "We are having very productive talks about reinstating the Summit which, if it does happen, will likely remain in Singapore on the same date, June 12th, and, if necessary, will be extended beyond that date." And once again, Singapore may be put on the world map again, with this historic meeting in the making. It is probably quite chaotic for those who are involved in preparing for this US-North Korean summit, with the current diplomatic flip-flops, and we wonder if the meeting will really happen on our little island in the sun or not!

A female Common Posy showing its upperside

The other bit of news that caught a lot of people by surprise, was the results of the Malaysian General Elections. Having grown up in Malaysia, I would never have imagined that the "balanced scales" logo of the Barisan Nasional, the ruling political party in Malaysia, would no longer be associated with the Malaysian government. Helmed by the 92-year old former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir, the opposition coalition, Pakatan Harapan swept into power on 9 May 2018.

A newly eclosed Common Posy clinging on to its empty pupa case

This marked a historic defeat for the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, which had been the governing party of Malaysia and its predecessor state, Malaya, since the country's independence in 1957. The groundswell and unhappiness at the alleged unbridled corruption was underestimated by the ruling party and caught Prime Minister Najib Razak by surprise. More drama followed after investigations into the allegations of corruption and ill-gotten wealth were reopened. It has yet to be played out to a conclusion, and Malaysians from all walks of life will have to wait to see what will happen in the coming weeks or months.

A mating pair of Common Posy

Moving back to our more peaceful world of butterflies, we feature a pretty and colourful Lycaenid as our Butterfly of the Month for May 2018. The Common Posy (Drupadia ravindra moorei), a tailed Lycaenid, is a relatively common species that is mainly associated with Singapore's forested nature reserves. It is rarely seen in urban parks and gardens. The species prefers the forested environment in Singapore.

A Common Posy on the young shoot of the Bandicoot Berry

Where it occurs, the Common Posy can sometimes be common, where several individuals may be seen together, fluttering in the shady forest habitats. The species loves the young shoots of the forest shrub, Bandicoot Berry (Leea indica) where it feeds on the sugary sap of these young shoots.

The Common Posy has a weak hopping flight, usually stopping on the tops of leaves with its wings folded upright to rest. However, at certain times of the days in hot sunny weather, both the males and females of this species have been regularly observed to open their wings opened flat to sunbathe.

Upperside of the male (top) and female (bottom) Common Posy

The male Common Posy has a dark brown forewing on the upperside, and a bright blue hindwing. The female is a paler brown with traces of an orange discal patch on the forewing. The tornal area of the hindwing is bluish-grey with several black spots.

The underside of both sexes is a rich orange on the forewing with some dark bars. The white hindwing is marked with solid black bands and spots. The hindwing has three white tails at veins 1b, 2 and 3, of which the tail at vein 2 is the longest of the three. The tornal area of the hindwing features two black spots and a patch of iridescent blue scales.

Interestingly, the caterpillars of the Common Posy has been successfully bred on no fewer that five local host plants. Amongst these host plants are Saraca cauliflora, Desmos chinensis, Dimocarpus longan, Lithocarpus elegans and Agelaea macrophylla. It is highly likely that there may be more host plants that the caterpillars of this species feed on.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by May Chan, Federick Ho, Khew SK, Koh CH, Loke PF, Horace Tan, Anthony Wong, Mark Wong and Benjamin Yam

Festival of Biodiversity 2018!
Tampines Mall : 2-3 June 2018

It's that time of the year again! Now in its 7th instalment, the Festival of Biodiversity, which started in 2012 at the Singapore Botanic Gardens, proved to be even bigger and better with more and more new nature groups coming on board. For a start, the venue at the open field next to Tampines Mall on the eastern side of Singapore was much more spacious compared to 2017's FOB.

The pre-dawn thunderstorms cleared just before the start of FOB 2018 and did not dampen the mood of the volunteers and visitors

A good change from previous cramped FOBs, this year's event had more generous and wider spaces for all

An annual event organised by the National Parks Board (NParks) Singapore, in collaboration with the Biodiversity Roundtable, the Festival aims to create awareness and foster a sense of appreciation for Singapore's natural heritage. The festival showcases Singapore’s impressive and unique array of island biodiversity. This event celebrates Singapore’s natural heritage and in doing so, hopes to bring about greater awareness of the rich biodiversity that Singapore has.

The early 'bird' visitors to the booths

FOB 2018 was held at an urban mall again, with the objective of showcasing Singapore's nature to the heartlanders and mall visitors who may not have had a chance to enjoy Singapore's natural heritage. Held this year at a shopping mall in the eastern part of Singapore, this annual exhibition has travelled from a southern mall (VivoCity Mall) to a central mall (NEX Mall). Perhaps FOB 2019 should move to a western mall?

ButterflyCircle decided to take a hiatus from this year's FOB, after participating in 6 consecutive FOBs since its inauguration in 2012 until 2017. We felt that it was time to take a break and visit the exhibition this year as a visitor. Indeed, it was more fun when we didn't have the stress and burden of manning a booth at the exhibition. Perhaps next year, if FOB moves to the west...

FOB 2018 was hosted by Minister Desmond Lee, with Speaker of Parliament, Tan Chuan Jin as the guest of honour

FOB18 was hosted by Minister for Social and Family Development, Desmond Lee as with many previous FOBs. Minister Desmond is often seen as a champion of biodiversity and environmental conservation in Singapore. Indeed, he has won the respect and support of the green groups in Singapore for his tireless endeavours to conserve and protect the environment in his signature style of sincere and meaningful dialogue and balanced views. FOB 2018's Guest of Honour was our Speaker of Parliament, Tan Chuan Jin, who is another stalwart of nature conservation and an active supporter of the green community.

Speaker Tan Chuan Jin, a long-time supporter of nature conservation, giving some words of wisdom to the audience at the opening ceremony

In his speech, Speaker Tan had this to say "We must not miss the woods for the trees. In land scarce Singapore, there are real pressures and challenges but there has been amazing work done. Our biodiversity, our deepening understanding of our natural heritage is a testimony of the work done by all involved. There will be issues that we will disagree on and there will be encroachment issues but it should not negate the forward momentum of the work done."

A total of 602 species from various taxonomic groups were spotted during BioBlitz 2018 citizen science surveys organised by the National Parks Board

The VIPs then officially launched FOB 2018 with the announcement of the results from NParks' nation-wide BioBlitz 2018 citizen science surveys. The surveys netted some 602 species of terrestrial and marine fauna. Interestingly, as my good friend and veteran nature guide Subaraj quipped, "for the first time, I see more butterfly species recorded than bird species!"

Our VIPs visiting the booths and activity stations at FOB 2018

The rest of the morning and early part of the afternoon was spent catching up with old friends and networking with the nature community. It was heartwarming to see Minister Desmond Lee visiting every booth and interacting with the young and young-at-heart who were keen to share their expertise about their specific area of interest. Minister and the entourage spent a good part of more than 2 hours talking and interacting with the nature groups.

ButterflyCircle's contribution to FOB 2018 on the "Butterflies of Singapore" panel

The Harlequin, a critically endangered species in Singapore due to the very localised distribution of the species at a site that is slated for development

Of course, what's FOB without butterflies? ButterflyCircle contributed to the educational bit on the importance of butterflies in the pollination of flowers. Our efforts on the Harlequin species recovery project and studies to help with the translocation of the species from the site where the butterfly is found, was mentioned on the educational panel. The site at the western part of Singapore is under threat from future development, and we are working against time to try to ensure that this species continues to survive in Singapore.

Some of the new groups participating at the FOB

This FOB saw the emergence of several new and interesting groups - each with its specific area of interest. It was also encouraging to see many young talent taking on the challenge of nature conservation and the amount of energy and passion that they put into studying their subjects of interest. New groups like the Macaque Working Group, Freshwater Crabs Working Group, Raffles Banded Langur Working Group, Biodiversity Friends Forum and Otter Working Group joined the FOB this year.

A T-Rex lurked around the booths, ready to get everyone to love nature!

The more established groups like the Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore), ACRES, Herpetological Society Singapore, Wildlife Reserves Singapore and many other regulars made up the rest of the interested exhibits. There was even a T-Rex prowling around the exhibitions, ready to snap up anyone who didn't care for nature!

Dr Vilma Rozario holding the attention of the young ones

As with previous FOBs, the kids' activity booths featuring nature handicraft and storytelling, were popular with the young ones. There were skits put up by school children on the main stage throughout the day. It was a great day for family outings and parents who brought their children to FOB 2018 had an educational and entertaining tour of Singapore's biodiversity.

A number of NParks' Community engagement booths at the FOB 2018

Jo Teo and her volunteer students from Chung Cheng High School at the FOB

The annual FOBs should continue to create awareness and appreciation for Singapore's natural heritage, and to continue the neverending effort to educate and inform the young and old about our awesome biodiversity in Singapore. It is with this hope, that we can build and nurture our Biophilic City where humans and nature can co-exist in harmony.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Huang CJ

Butterfly Photography Series
Digital Post-Processing - Part 4 : Photo Retouching - Layer Mask

In her fourth and final part on digital post-processing tips and tricks, ButterflyCircle member Loh Mei Yee shares the use of layer mask in photo retouching to remove unwanted elements and distracting backgrounds in your shot.

In the previous article, you’ve learnt how to use the Clone Stamp Tool to remove distracting elements. In this final part of this series, we continue with the topic on photo retouching. I will cover what Layer Mask is, how it works and how to use it to make your photo retouching work an easier and enjoyable one.

How does Layer Mask work?

I’ve been asked “how do I protect areas that I don’t want to be affected during cloning?” Layer Mask is exactly what you need when it comes to removing unwanted elements that are touching or very close to the areas that you don’t want to photoshopped. Photo retouching will be a breeze after you’ve understood how Layer Mask works and you’ll be a Photoshop master in no time!

To let you have an easier understanding of what Layer Mask is, I’ll put it in a simple way. When you add a layer mask to a layer, it is shown as white. A layer mask that is white has no effect. When you fill the layer mask black, the layer becomes transparent, revealing the layer below it. Layer mask allows you to edit or delete images, with no permanent harm to the image.

Below is a short simple tutorial to show you how Layer Mask works. I will also cover how the Magic Wand works.

At the Toolbox, choose the magic wand or press ‘W’ on the keyboard. The Magic Wand selects pixels based on tone and colour.

By changing the number in Tolerance, you can determine the range of colour that the Magic Wand Tool selects.

Click on the area that you want to select. The lower the number, the lesser pixels of a similar colour will be selected.

Change the Tolerance to 30 and see what happens.

Click on the area same area that you have selected earlier, you can see that a bigger area is selected. It is because the higher the number, the more pixels of a similar colour will be selected.

While holding down ‘shift’ key, continue clicking until the whole background is selected.

Duplicate the ‘Background’ layer.

Add Layer Mask.

Hold ‘Alt’ (for PC) or ‘Opt ’ (for mac) and click on the Layer Mask. In the Layer Mask, the background is white and the butterfly and leaf is black, which means it is revealing the layer below it.

To go back to the layer, hold ‘Alt’ (for PC) or ‘Opt ’ (for mac) and click on the Layer Mask or click on the layer.

Now let’s start cleaning up the background. Set a sampling point and clone stamp until you get your desired look for the background.

To reveal the entire image, disable the Layer Mask by pressing shift + click on the Layer Mask.

To enable the Mask, press shift + click on the Mask or click on the layer. The black area on the Layer Mask reveals the layer below it, which shows the un-photoshopped areas.

I have made a video tutorial which included all that you’ve learned in this series on Digital Post-Processing. Please be reminded that this is the way I usually do my post-processing, you can use it as a reference and come up with your own method. I hope through practice you will find what works best for you!

Original photo

Post-processed photo

Here are 3 examples of what can be achieved with photo retouching in Photoshop, with the use of Layer Mask.

We have come to the end of the Digital Post Processing series. I hope that I have covered the basics of what you need to know for post-processing. By sharing the information, I hope that you can sharpen your skills and let go of the fear of using Photoshop and inspired you to start their post-processing journeys “Knowledge has a beginning but no end.” Till we meet again!

Text and Photos by Loh Mei Yee

Bioblitz Singapore
Citizen Science Biodiversity Surveys in Singapore

A group of butterfly watchers checking out some puddling Lycaenids along the Rail Corridor during the BioBlitz survey

A BioBlitz is a field biodiversity survey to record all the living species within a designated area, usually over a short period of time. Groups of trained scientists, naturalists, volunteers and members of the public conduct an intensive field study over a continuous time period - ranging from 24 hours to a week. The public component to many BioBlitzes is to encourage the 'unconverted' to participate in these biodiversity surveys and to cultivate an appreciation and respect for nature.

Boyi, our knowledgeable NParks facilitator for the BioBlitz survey, showing participants a butterfly caterpillar

The term “BioBlitz” was coined by Susan Rudy, a naturalist with the US National Park service, in 1996. A BioBlitz refers to a concerted effort by scientists and the community to record as many species of flora and fauna as possible within a specific location and timeframe. The initiative caught on, and today, BioBlitzes have been conducted around the world, including the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. Many BioBlitzes are conducted in urban and easily accessible areas to encourage the public to spot and identify the local biodiversity around them, literally in their "own backyards".

In Singapore, the NParks-Community In Nature BioBlitz surveys provide a unique opportunity for the community to learn from taxonomic experts, with the hope that such programmes will encourage stewardship of biodiversity amongst Singaporeans. The first BioBlitz surveys were started in 2016 at Pasir Ris Park and Pulau Ubin and in 2017 at Kent Ridge Park. NParks conducted its first nationwide BioBlitz programme over the course of seven days as part of the annual Biodiversity Week (20 to 28 May 2017). The Nationwide BioBlitz, the first of its kind on such a scale in Singapore, took place across around 90 sites in schools, parks, and gardens from 20 to 26 May 2017.

In 2018, NParks organised a suite of events and activities during Biodiversity Week (18 May to 3 June) to encourage the community to explore and encounter nature in Singapore. These programmes took place in schools, urban parks, gardens and nature areas, and involve partners from schools, research institutions, and nature-interest groups. The Nationwide BioBlitz surveys involved over 3300 citizen scientists surveyed around 80 sites across Singapore, including parks, gardens, nature areas and schools, and also for the first time, covered both terrestrial and marine sites.

Participants of the BioBlitz survey walking along the Rail Corridor

As part of the Nationwide BioBlitz week, which covered biodiversity surveys over no fewer that 33 parks and gardens in Singapore, ButterflyCircle members led a survey over a short stretch of the Rail Corridor starting at the Rail Mall. Concurrently, there were surveys on birds and dragonflies over the same stretch. Our butterfly survey took slightly over 3 hours and we recorded a total of 28 species of butterflies over that short stretch of the Rail Corridor.

Participants of the BioBlitz @ Rail Corridor, waiting for the butterfly and dragonfly surveys to start

After a quick briefing, the group was all set to start the survey!

The BioBlitz survey started at around 8:20am when the group of participants were assembled and all ready to go. Our group of 16, inclusive of 3 BC members and Boyi from NParks, started on the transect in rather cloudy weather and commenced counting all the butterflies that we were able to spot.

Map of our survey trail along the Rail Corridor

The stretch of the Rail Corridor can be considered quite 'green' and rich with biodiversity. The survey trail is immediately adjacent to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, which is a good catchment for butterflies and other animals. The trail is flanked on the western boundary by Upper Bukit Timah Road.

A group of participants from the dragonfly survey taking photos of dragonflies along the stream

A small stream alongside the trail provided the humidity and water habitat for other organisms like dragonflies, fishes and frogs. Along the main trail, the botanical diversity in terms of low bushes, wildflowers and host plants provided enough habitats for butterflies to flutter around in search of food.

Some puddling butterflies spotted at the BioBlitz survey

Parts of the footpath were open sandy and damp areas for some butterflies to puddle in search of various chemicals for nutrition and specific physiological and biological functions that they need these active ingredients for. Indeed, the group encountered several species of Lycaenids puddling at certain sandy spots. Several of these species were cooperative enough to even allow handphone shots of them.

A male Chocolate Albatross (this one's shot in Malaysia, where it is common) was spotted during our survey at the Rail Corridor

An interesting sighting was the Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida vasava) a seasonal migrant that usually appears during the months of March to May when the species is abundant up north in Malaysia. A male was spotted flying along the survey trail.

Participants looking at the butterfly ID sheets and scorecards

A Gram Blue that was spotted just before the survey started

It was an enjoyable outing, keeping a sharp eye out for butterflies and sharing useful information about butterflies' behaviour, the way they fly, and tips on how to ID them. Members of the public, including young children were enthusiastic and learned fast. Boyi created some visual checklists to help the volunteers ID the common species that can be found in urban parks and gardens.

A dedicated Butterfly Watch programme is also available for those who prefer to just record butterfly sightings in various nature areas in Singapore. The Butterfly Watch is a citizen science initiative, organised by NParks in collaboration with ButterflyCircle, to get Singaporeans involved in collecting valuable information about the butterflies in our parks and gardens.

All sorts of "biodiversity"during the surveys are game for a snapshot

With the data collected from many survey transects from the various parks around Singapore, the information will contribute towards better park management and conservation measures. So if you're passionate about nature and butterfly watching, do look out for the announcements on the NParks' Community In Nature initiatives like BioBlitz and Butterfly Watch and contribute to the conservation and protection of our natural heritage in Singapore!

Group shots of the Bird, Butterfly and Dragonfly BioBlitz teams at the Rail Corridor

Text by Khew SK and Zhou Boyi ; Photos by Huang CJ, Khew SK and Zhou Boyi.

Life History of the Banded Yeoman (Cirrochroa orissa orissa)

Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Cirrochroa Doubleday, 1847
Species: orissa C & R Felder, 1861
Sub-species:orissa C & R Felder, 1861
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 55-65mm
Caterpillar Local Host Plant: Ryparosa scortechinii (Achariaceae).

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
On the upperside, the wings are orchreous brown with a broad yellow post-discal band on the forewing. The apical area beyond the yellow band is dark brown to black. The hindwing has black marginal, submarginal and distal lines, and a series of black post-discal spots. On the underside, the wings are paler orcheous brown than the upperside and the broad discal band in the forewing is whitish. The broad apical area on the forewing has two white apical spots. The hindwing has white marginal, submarginal and distal bands, and the series of small black post-discal spots are embedded in larger orange spots. The female is paler than the male.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
The Banded Yeoman is moderately rare in Singapore, and has only been encountered at a few sites in the nature reserves. The adults are rapid in flight and not easy to photograph. Typically, photography opportunities arise when the males are puddling on wet ground, or when the females are taking breaks between oviposition runs. In flight, the Banded Yeoman can be mistaken for the Rustic (Cupha erymanthis lotis), which is the commoner of the two species in Singapore.

Early Stages:
Caterpillars of the Banded Yeoman have been observed to feed mainly on young to middle-aged leaves of the local host plant, Ryparosa scortechinii. This plant is found only at a few sites in the central catchment reserve. The scarcity of this plant confines the occurrence of the Banded Yeoman to the surrounding forested areas.

Local host plant: Ryparosa scortechinii.

A mating pair of the Banded Yeoman.

Eggs of the Banded Yeoman are laid singly or in small groups of 2 to 3 on the leaf underside or young shoots of the host plant. Sometimes eggs can be found laid on the cobweb or other plants in the vicinity.

A female Banded Yeoman laying an egg on the leaf underside of the host plant.

A female Banded Yeoman laying an egg on the stem of a vine in the vicinity of the host plant.

A number of eggs laid on a cobweb spun between stem, petiole and leaf of the host plant.

The whitish egg is somewhat globular in shape and its surface is marked with small rectangular to hexagonal pits. The micropylar sits atop the egg. Each tiny egg has a diameter of about 0.75-0.8mm, and a height of about 0.8-0.85mm.

Two views of an egg of the Banded Yeoman.

Two views of a maturing egg of the Banded Yeoman.

The egg takes about 2.5 to 3 days to hatch. The young caterpillar emerges by eating away part of the egg shell. The rest or part of the remaining egg shell becomes the first meal for the newly hatched which is about 2mm in length. It has a cylindrical and pale pinkish body covered with many small tubercles and long setae. The head capsule is coloured as per the body and has two large black lateral patches.

Two views of a newly hatched caterpillar of the Banded Yeoman, length: 2mm.

The 1st instar caterpillar feeds on the lamina of young leaves and between feeds, it typically rests on leaf underside against the midrib. The body colour takes on a pale yellowish green undertone as it grows. After reaching about 4-4.2mm in 1.5-2 days, the caterpillar moults to the 2nd instar.

Two views of a 1st instar caterpillar, length: 2.6mm.

The body of the 2nd instar caterpillar is yellowish green. Long processes, greyish in colour, run along the length of the body. Each process has a number of fine, black, lateral spines emanating from it. On each side of the body, there are three series of such processes: One series occurs dorso-laterally, another lateraly and the last sub-spiracularly. The head capsule is yellowish with two lateral black patches. This instar lasts about 1-1.5 day with the body length reaching about 6.5mm.

Two views of a newly moulted 2nd instar caterpillar.

Two views of a 2nd instar caterpillar, length: 6mm.

The 3rd instar caterpillar has the dorso-lateral and lateral processes proportionately longer and black in color. The body is yellowish with a green undertone in all segments except for the 3rd to 6th abdominal segments which are dark greenish to brownish. The head capsule is still yellow but now featuring four small, but prominent black patches. This instar takes about 1.5-2 days to complete with body length reaching about 11mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, length: 7mm.

Two views of a 3rd instar caterpillar, length: 9.5mm.

The 4th instar caterpillar closely resembles the 3rd instar caterpillar. It has proportionately longer processes when compared those in the 3rd instar. These processes are mostly white-tipped. Furthermore, the 3rd to 6th abdominal segments are now darker than they were in the 3rd instar, being in dark brown to black. This penultimate nstar lasts about 2 days with the body length reaching about 17mm.

Two views of a newly moulted 4th instar caterpillar.

Two views of a d 4th instar caterpillar, length: 13.5mm.

The 5th (and final) instar caterpillar bears close resemblance to the 4th instar caterpillar. Compared to those in the 4th instar, the white tips of the long processes are proportionately longer and more prominent.

An early 5th instar caterpillar of the Banded Yeoman.

Two views of a 5th instar caterpillar, length: 27mm.

Two 5th instar caterpillars sighted on the leaf underside in the field.

The 5th instar lasts for 3-4 days, and the body length reaches up to 29mm. On the last 0.5 day, the body shortens and decolorizes to pale beige brown in the 3rd to 6th abdominal segments. The caterpillar ceases feeding and wanders around. Eventually it stops at a spot on the underside of a leaf, and spins a silk pad from which it hangs vertically to take on the pre-pupatory pose.

Front view of the head capsule of a 5th instar caterpillar of the Banded Yeoman.

Two views of a pre-pupatory larva of the Banded Yeoman.

Pupation takes place about 0.5 days later. The pupa suspends itself from the silk pad via the cremaster attachment. It is almost entirely white and bears a few small, black patches dorsally. Dorso-laterally, along the body length, there are pairs of long, white, curled processes, one to each segment. Posterior pairs of these processes are orange basally and black below the tip. Length of pupae: 17-19mm.

Two views of a pupa of the Banded Yeoman.

Two views of a mature pupa of the Banded Yeoman.

After about 4 days of development, the pupal skin of the mature pupa turns translucent and the wing upperside become discernible as a result. The eclosion event takes place the next day.

The eclosion event of a Banded Yeoman.

A newly eclosed male Banded Yeoman resting on its pupal case.

References:

[C&P4] The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society, 1992.

Butterflies of Thailand, Pisuth Ek-Amnuay, 2nd Edition, 2012.

A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore, Khew S.K., Ink On Paper Communications, 2nd Edition, 2015.

Text by Horace Tan, Photos by L C Goh, Frederick Ho, Khew S K and Horace Tan
Special acknowledgement to Craig Williams of NParks, for providing the plant ID of the local host plant of the Banded Yeoman.

Butterfly of the Month - June 2018
The Gram Blue (Euchrysops cnejus cnejus)

A Gram Blue feeding on the flower of the Coat Button (Tridax procumbens)

Today is the last day of June, and we are theoretically just right in the middle of the year, with the other half of 2018 starting from tomorrow. The warm summer is already in full swing in the northern hemisphere, with several countries reporting temperatures in the high 30's. I was in Beijing in third week of the month, and the temperature was unbearably hot, hitting 35degC to 38degC. Coupled with a Relative Humidity of 17%, it felt a lot hotter and drier when outdoors.

The temperature range this far north in China is quite amazing, when one considers that just six months ago, in December when I was there, it was a bone-chilling -4degC! What was interesting in Beijing, was that in the three days that I spent there, the air quality was surprisingly good. Perhaps government intervention has finally reaped some positive results in terms of reducing the pollution in this capital city of China?

Any commentary on world news in the month of June surely cannot omit the historic summit between US President Donald Trump, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. For the first time, a sitting US President and a North Korean leader, representing two countries which have never seen eye to eye nor whose leaders ever met before, will meet face to face, and our little red dot island nation host this unprecedented meeting.

A mating pair of Gram Blues

With North Korea's denuclearisation on the cards, and primarily to avert a nuclear war in Asia, the stakes are high, as all eyes watched closely the meeting between two highly volatile and eccentric leaders. That the island nation of Singapore was chosen is testament to its efficiency, infrastructure and organisational competency.

Nevertheless, the government of Singapore and its agencies rose to the occasion and the summit went without a hitch - albeit with a negligible inconvenience to the routine lives of locals who went about their daily business. But the usual complaints and grouses were almost silenced, as most would understand the serious consequences should anything untoward happen to the summit as a result of organisational or logistical oversights!

What was amusing were the handful of 'wefies', courtesy of our own politicians - probably the first ever taken of Kim Jong Un, and then posted on social media. The North Korean security personnel stopped anyone close enough during Kim's evening walkabout in Singapore from taking photos of him, but were most likely caught unawares that Singapore's Ministers would be brazen enough to take wefies of their beloved President. No harm done, but another 'first' amongst firsts during this historical summit.

Closer to home, the new Malaysian government created certain surprises, one of which was the cancellation/deferment of the High Speed Rail system linking Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. Citing reasons of high costs and rising debt, Prime Minister Dr Mahathir's government reviewed several high-budget projects in Malaysia. He also raised 'long-buried' bilateral issues like the Pedra Branca islands and the supply of water to Singapore. Interesting times ahead for Singapore and our physically closest neighbour.

Back to our Butterfly of the Month for June 2018, we feature a relatively small and common species, the Gram Blue (Euchrysops cnejus cnejus). The Gram Blue is a widely distributed species, and is sometimes common in urban areas where its caterpillar host plants, Tropical Kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides) and Creole Bean (Vigna reflexopilosa) can be found. These common creepers usually appear in recently cleared road verges and newly planted areas.

The Gram Blue is usually found fluttering restlessly amongst low shrubbery along roadside greenery on hot sunny days. Where it occurs, it can sometimes be even abundant, with up to a dozen individuals - both males and females, fluttering around and frolicking in the sun.

Male Gram Blue (top) and female Gram Blue (bottom) with open wings showing the upper surfaces of their wings

The male of the Gram Blue is light purple blue above, whilst the female is heavily black-dusted, with the wing bases a pale shining blue. The underside is pale buff, with the usual dark grey striations and spots. The two prominent black spots on the costal area on the underside of the hindwing is quite consistent in many lookalike species like the Cycad Blue, Forget-Me-Not and Silver Forget-Me-Not, creating a bit of confusion when these species are observed in the field.

Note the two orange-crowned black tornal spots on the hindwing and the short tails of the Gram Blue

However, to distinguish the Gram Blue, look for the two orange-crowned black tornal spots on the underside of the hindwing. These spots are also edged with metallic green scaling. The tails of the Gram Blue are also shorter than its lookalike cousins and with these few diagnostic features, identifying the Gram Blue should be less of a challenge.

A Gram Blue feeding on the flower of its caterpillar host plant, Creole Bean (Vigna reflexopilosa)

At certain hours of the day, both the males and females of the Gram Blue may be seen opening their wings to sunbathe on leaves and blades of grasses in their usual habitats. Males also chase each other and when one is perched to rest, another individual may "attack" it and get it to fly off in an endless chase.

Gram Blues puddling

Males of the Gram Blue may also be observed to puddle at damp sandy footpaths and also decomposing organic matter. The caterpillars of the species are attended by ants, and the pupa attaches itself to the underside of leaves with a very thin silken girdle.

Text by Khew SK : Photos by Chng CK, Huang CJ, Khew SK, Michael Khor, Koh CH, Loke PF, Nelson Ong, Simon Sng, Jonathan Soong, Tan BJ and Anthony Wong

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