PDA

View Full Version : +2 more today!



Common Rose
14-Jun-2004, 07:43 PM
Can't help myself but went down to AH again in the afternoon. Thot it was going to be a bad day as the water sprinklers were actively spraying water. :what:
However, came back with two new additions!

1. Common Mime Not a good one; overcooked, and the wings were blur.

http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/macrossx/3001-3500/3215.jpg


2. Male and Female Horaga syrinx maenala doing it. :kiss: They were performing a lot of patterns! :thinking: Big one female?

http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/macrossx/3001-3500/3224.jpg



An unofficial shot. This fellow landed on my hand, finger, .... Seems like another new species to me, but ... So close yet so far... :mad2: Well, next time ...

http://img48.photobucket.com/albums/v148/macrossx/3001-3500/3228.jpg

Sky Blue
14-Jun-2004, 10:20 PM
wah... u super fast man!
never see the Horaga syrinx maenala before, look very interesting. :thumbsup:

Common Rose
14-Jun-2004, 10:57 PM
wah... u super fast man!
never see the Horaga syrinx maenala before, look very interesting. :thumbsup:

Thanks! When I saw the Common Mime flying some dist away, somehow I knew that it was 'new'.

As for the pair of Horaga syrinx maenala, just happened to spot them near the walkway from the bus-stop. Pple are walking to and fro, and after five shots (which were not nice!), they flew away. I tried to find them, but to no success. So I crossed over to the other side of the walkway. Spotted a sailor, and then after some time, found these pair of Horaga syrinx maenala again! Before I could took any shots, they flew back to the other side! So I followed them again, this time managed another five shots from the walkway. You can see the bridge in the background. Don't know why, they kept turning and change patterns: straight-line, sharp V-shape, L-shape, parallel to each other, hanging on edge of leaf with body perpendicular to the horizontal, ... etc.

Cruiser
14-Jun-2004, 11:15 PM
Mating Horaga must be rare, lucy you :cheers: However, it looks more like a Horoga Onyx sardonyx (C&P4, Plate 45, pic. 20?) than the syrinx, do you have pic of the top side?

Any thought, Gan/Khew on the ID of the Horaga?

Common Rose
14-Jun-2004, 11:19 PM
I have not got the bible yet... I'll let u guys do the :hmmm: :thinking:

Cruiser
14-Jun-2004, 11:21 PM
The C&P4 is available for loan at Toa Pay Lib, just FYI.

Common Rose
14-Jun-2004, 11:31 PM
All the while, their wings were closed.

There is only Horaga syrinx maenala on the Singapore Butterfly Checklist.

:hmmm: the white spot looks somewhat bigger than the specimen provided by Khew...

Commander
15-Jun-2004, 01:13 AM
All the while, their wings were closed.

There is only Horaga syrinx maenala on the Singapore Butterfly Checklist.

:hmmm: the white spot looks somewhat bigger than the specimen provided by Khew...

Dunno. Not unless I get one specimen and check out the uppersides. The mystery of the 2nd Horaga remains. I've shot a specimen with a larger white spot before, and so did Ben Jin. Haven't concluded that it's the other Horaga before, and with such photos, it's still not certain. Interestingly, note that the male (probably the one on the right) does not even have any white on the hindwings. That's the first time I've seen one completely without any whites.

Common Rose
15-Jun-2004, 09:23 PM
Check this page: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~EY4Y-TKNM/Horagini-Phil/Horaga.html

Commander
15-Jun-2004, 09:57 PM
Check this page: http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~EY4Y-TKNM/Horagini-Phil/Horaga.html

Thanks. But unfortunately, cannot compare with non-Malaysian/Singaporean subspecies. The endemic subspecies often have very unique differentces which makes a positive ID unreliable.

One of these days, we will go to the Sentosa Butterfly Park, and we can take a look at the display of specimens in their collection. You will note that the variations in subspecies often make the species look almost like a totally different species! E.g. if you've seen the Black Veined Tiger (Danaus melanippus) from Kota Kinabalu, you'd think it's something else! It looks like our local species, but all the orange is absent, and the butterfly is black and white.

Even in Malaysia, the endemic species of the islands like Tioman, Perhentian, Aur, Besar, Pangkor and so on, often have their local subspecies which look different from the mainland species.

Rajah Brooke
16-Jun-2004, 10:24 PM
Thanks. But unfortunately, cannot compare with non-Malaysian/Singaporean subspecies. The endemic subspecies often have very unique differentces which makes a positive ID unreliable.

One of these days, we will go to the Sentosa Butterfly Park, and we can take a look at the display of specimens in their collection. You will note that the variations in subspecies often make the species look almost like a totally different species! E.g. if you've seen the Black Veined Tiger (Danaus melanippus) from Kota Kinabalu, you'd think it's something else! It looks like our local species, but all the orange is absent, and the butterfly is black and white.

Even in Malaysia, the endemic species of the islands like Tioman, Perhentian, Aur, Besar, Pangkor and so on, often have their local subspecies which look different from the mainland species.

Common Rose:
Good work, you keep on bringing well taken new additions of butts to the collection. You are also super patient in pursing your intended subject.
I tried chasing a mating pair of Common Posies without success.

Commander:
AH is not even a primary/secondary forest. Why are we getting a sudden appearance of new and rare species showing up at AH? Common Nawab, Common Birdwings, now this. I used to pursue these critters up North in Cameron Highlands eons ago. Planting host plants, cannot be a the single factor, right? :hmmm: :hmmm: :hmmm:

Common Rose
16-Jun-2004, 10:34 PM
Common Rose:
Good work, you keep on bringing well taken new additions of butts to the collection. You are also super patient in pursing your intended subject.
I tried chasing a mating pair of Common Posies without success.

Thanks Capricorn. In actual fact, you only see the success; u don't know how many failures there were behind ... :sweat:

Here's some mathematics to share. Let's say the success rate is 10%. That means 1 in 10, 10 in 100, 100 in 1000, ... So if you increase your frequency, u will be able to produce some better shots. ;-)

Rajah Brooke
16-Jun-2004, 10:45 PM
Thanks Capricorn. In actual fact, you only see the success; u don't know how many failures there were behind ... :sweat:

Here's some mathematics to share. Let's say the success rate is 10%. That means 1 in 10, 10 in 100, 100 in 1000, ... So if you increase your frequency, u will be able to produce some better shots. ;-)

Thanks sharing.

Commander
16-Jun-2004, 11:22 PM
Commander:
AH is not even a primary/secondary forest. Why are we getting a sudden appearance of new and rare species showing up at AH? Common Nawab, Common Birdwings, now this. I used to pursue these critters up North in Cameron Highlands eons ago. Planting host plants, cannot be a the single factor, right?

Lester, you sound like a veteran collector trapped in time! :-) AH's "hinterland" is Kent Ridge Park and Telok Blangah Hills Park. The existence of some of these species is not new. The Plain Nawab's cats feed on the common Saga leaves, whilst since we brought in the Aristolochia vines, the Common Birdwing and Common Rose appeared. These two species were more commonly found at the Botanic Gardens and the Singapore Zoo where the Aristolochias are cultivated.

AH is the best demonstration of plants being almost the primary factor in attracting these butterflies out here to the urban areas. We've created a habitat where they can live, eat, reproduce and that's why many of these species stay there. If, for example we conduct an experiment and destroy the Aristolochia vines. All the Birdwings and Common Roses will disappear overnight. Anyone wants to bet on that? ;-)

P/S If you had chased the Birdwing up at Cameron Highlands, it may not be the same Common Birdwing (Troides helena cerberus). There are 3 other species which you may have seen - Malayan Birdwing (Troides amphrysus ruficollis), Golden Birdwing (Troides aeacus thomsonii) and Troides cuneifer peninsulae. These species do not occur here in Singapore.
The Common Nawab (Polyura athamas athamas) does not occur in Singapore. What you see at AH is the Plain Nawab (Polyura hebe plautus)

Rajah Brooke
17-Jun-2004, 12:43 AM
Lester, you sound like a veteran collector trapped in time! :-) AH's "hinterland" is Kent Ridge Park and Telok Blangah Hills Park. The existence of some of these species is not new. The Plain Nawab's cats feed on the common Saga leaves, whilst since we brought in the Aristolochia vines, the Common Birdwing and Common Rose appeared. These two species were more commonly found at the Botanic Gardens and the Singapore Zoo where the Aristolochias are cultivated.

AH is the best demonstration of plants being almost the primary factor in attracting these butterflies out here to the urban areas. We've created a habitat where they can live, eat, reproduce and that's why many of these species stay there. If, for example we conduct an experiment and destroy the Aristolochia vines. All the Birdwings and Common Roses will disappear overnight. Anyone wants to bet on that? ;-)

P/S If you had chased the Birdwing up at Cameron Highlands, it may not be the same Common Birdwing (Troides helena cerberus). There are 3 other species which you may have seen - Malayan Birdwing (Troides amphrysus ruficollis), Golden Birdwing (Troides aeacus thomsonii) and Troides cuneifer peninsulae. These species do not occur here in Singapore.
The Common Nawab (Polyura athamas athamas) does not occur in Singapore. What you see at AH is the Plain Nawab (Polyura hebe plautus)


Hi Commander,
Thanks explanation, clarification & refreshing my mind on ecology. Now that you mentioned Golden Birdwing, it certainly jolts my memory :light: a little bit. That was my favourite of the 3.

Well got a lot more to catch up on and learn from you guys.

:cheers:

Commander
17-Jun-2004, 12:47 AM
Hi Commander,
Thanks explanation, clarification & refreshing my mind on ecology. Now that you mentioned Golden Birdwing, it certainly jolts my memory :light: a little bit. That was my favourite of the 3.

Well got a lot more to catch up on and learn from you guys.

:cheers:

Glad I refreshed some of your memory on the beauties up north. I spent quite a number of years collecting in Penang, Gunung Jerai, Ulu Gopeng, Kuala Woh, Taiping, Frasers Hill, Cameron Highlands, Ulu Kancing (Templar Park) and many other places from KL up to Langkawi. ;-) Seems like a long long time ago! :sweat:

Common Rose
24-Jun-2004, 09:14 PM
Borrowed C&P4 today. The smaller one looks quite similar to Horaga albimacula albistigmata (Plate 45, 24).

Green Baron
24-Jun-2004, 10:57 PM
Lester, you sound like a veteran collector trapped in time! :-) AH's "hinterland" is Kent Ridge Park and Telok Blangah Hills Park. Not forgetting that AH is not too far from Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (BTNR) and there is the Malayan Railway track linking AH to BTNR !



AH is the best demonstration of plants being almost the primary factor in attracting these butterflies out here to the urban areas. We've created a habitat where they can live, eat, reproduce and that's why many of these species stay there. I think we can bring even more species in particular the lycaenidae, if we put a concerted effort in introducing more host plants. Wait till the 3 species of Parsonsias matures and you will see even more Danainae !