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Thread: Sabah, March-April 2019

  1. #21
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    Jamides were common around the lodge and forested areas. Many were deep shining blue and often fluttered across the path in the waterfall trail. While very few stopped for photographs, I managed to shoot the following two while they were busy feeding. I have a few more record shots of unidentified species which I'll post later on.

    Jamides elpis pseudelpis? Upperside was bright shining blue, paler than most encountered.



    Jamides zebra zebra? Upperside hindwing markings indicated this is a female, colour is almost white.



    Along the waterfall trail, these Malayan White Flats (Seseria affinis kirmana) were often seen singly, puddling on the damp ground.





    The Banded Angle (Odontoptilum pygela ragupta) was a delight to see. This small and beautifully patterned skipper was very frequently encountered. These two species of flat were a very nice change to the usual Tagiades flats I'm accustomed to back in Singapore.



    Another Hesperiid that was seen several times was the Yellow Banded Awl (Hasora schoenherr chuza), a charming species that appeared early in the morning. We even found them buzzing around our accommodation. I told myself not to waste my time with species that I could easily find back in Singapore - but Hasora are just too cute to resist!



    One group of butterflies I have always wanted to see is the red harlequins. I remember on the second day, I saw my first one. Much larger than I expected - and even more vibrant than I could imagine. It was perched on a shrub on the steep forest slope, above my eye-level. I climbed the slope and chased it further and further up, getting only a poor record shot. Over the next few days, they turned out to be very numerous in the area! These shots were taken very near to the entrance of the trail. The first is a male, followed by a female. Aaron, Dr Seow, are they both the Malay Red Harlequin (Paralaxita damajanti lola)?


    Last edited by Banded Yeoman; 28-Apr-2019 at 02:20 AM.
    cheers
    Jonathan

  2. #22
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    Nice shots of the two caeruleans. J. zebra is quite rare
    Aaron Soh

  3. #23
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    Sailors were a frequent sight but I mostly ignored them to focus on the more showy or unique species. This was shot in the early morning. On the underside, the FW cellbar and cell-end streak are largely conjoined. Which Neptis species is this?



    The Courtesan (Euripus nyctelius borneensis) was only encountered once, along a grassy path. It was attracted by a pile of dog poop. This is a male.





    Tawny Rajahs (Charaxes bernardus repetitus) were very often seen flying rapidly along the stream in bright sunshine. They were huge and a joy to photograph.






    Only encountered once during the trip: The Graceful Faun (Faunis gracilis).



    Mycalesis pitana was a beautiful species (it has glowing orange dorsals) that was numerous around our lodge. Every morning, they would flutter along the stream and bask on low shrubs by the banks. They were often seen flying high amongst the mid canopy for the rest of the day. A very cheerful species!
    cheers
    Jonathan

  4. #24
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    Quote Originally Posted by atronox View Post
    Nice shots of the two caeruleans. J. zebra is quite rare
    Thanks Aaron! I thought you'd appreciate them. I didn't get the chance to see as many Lycaenidae as I hoped. There are some awesome endemics there. I did, however, find the gorgeous Bornean subspecies of Ticherra acte staudingeri. It was identified from a photo of its SHADOW (that's all I got, along with another awful shot showing unmarked, orange forewings). I'll post that later to get your opinion.
    Here are some of the swallowtails sighted:

    The Red Helen (Papilio helenus enganius) was very common. These large butterflies came in groups to puddle at the waterfall.





    I quite like the Borneo subspecies of the Lesser Zebra (Graphium macareus macaristus) with its reduced hindwing markings. This species was only seen once - and briefly



    The Black Rose (Pachliopta antiphus) was seen on the first 2 days. A very simple and beautiful species.
    Last edited by Banded Yeoman; 28-Apr-2019 at 07:01 PM.
    cheers
    Jonathan

  5. #25
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    The Neptis should be N. leucoporos cresina.

    You might have two different Charaxes spp. but i'll let Dr Seow confirm that
    Aaron Soh

  6. #26
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    Quote Originally Posted by atronox View Post
    The Neptis should be N. leucoporos cresina.

    You might have two different Charaxes spp. but i'll let Dr Seow confirm that
    It looks to be one species.
    No match for C. harmodius or borneensis.
    Also none for surrounding species ie. C. bupalus, bajula & plateni, Palawan , C. amycus,Philippines.; C affinis ,C. nitebis, & C. mars ,Sulawesi.

    TL Seow: Cheers.
    Last edited by Psyche; 28-Apr-2019 at 03:46 PM.

  7. #27
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    Quote Originally Posted by atronox View Post
    The Neptis should be N. leucoporos cresina
    Argh! I was all the way in Borneo and I ended up shooting one of the most common forest butterflies in Singapore. Its even the same subspecies. Bummer.
    cheers
    Jonathan

  8. #28
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    Quote Originally Posted by Psyche View Post
    It looks to be one species.
    No match for C. harmodius or borneensis.
    Also none for surrounding species ie. C. bupalus, bajula & plateni, Palawan , C. amycus, affinis ,Philippines.,C. nitebis, & C. mars ,Sulawesi.

    TL Seow: Cheers.
    Thanks for the clarification, Dr Seow. I shot several other Charaxes and I highly suspect they are all the same species too.
    Last edited by Banded Yeoman; 28-Apr-2019 at 02:19 PM.
    cheers
    Jonathan

  9. #29
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    Quote Originally Posted by Banded Yeoman View Post
    Thanks for the clarification, Dr Seow. I shot several other Charaxes and I highly suspect they are all the same species too.
    I look through the whole thing a 2nd time and there may be a point in Aaron's suspicion.

    At one time C. bernardus was said to range into PNG, but this complex has been divided into several species.

    The upperside of C affinis have large FW black discal spots & large HW submarginal spots.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charax...isMUpUnAC1.jpg
    The underside HW may have a more prominent marginal band.
    https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...nis%281%29.JPG

    The 1st & 2nd pix of the same Charaxes in post 23 (note broken right HW tail) shows the upperside very similar to C. affinis.

    Typical C. bernardus have small discal spots & the HW submarginal spots small.
    P.Malaysia.
    https://www.learnaboutbutterflies.co...n%20Negara.jpg

    Typical C. bernardus Sabah.
    https://www.jamiun.com/wp-content/up...rmarksmall.jpg

    This would suggest there are two forms in Sabah one typical C. bernardus & on resembling C. affinis.

    As they are sympatric (occurring in same area) this suggest two species.

    However, the Sumatran form labelled as C. bernardus have large FW discal spots & prominent HW submarginal spots( as in C. affinis)
    Sumatra ,labelled as C. bernardus.
    http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-DT-cqAVeet...+indonesia.jpg
    http://potokito-myshot.blogspot.com/...-charaxes.html

    Also an Indian C. bernardus with HW marginal band.
    http://wildeyesbutterflying.com/wp-c...awny-Rajah.jpg

    This complicate the whole picture & thus current pix are best left as C. bernardus for the moment.


    TL Seow: Cheers.
    Last edited by Psyche; 28-Apr-2019 at 06:22 PM.

  10. #30
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    Dr Seow, thanks for looking over it. C. bernardus is an extremely variable species. I'll leave them as this one for now.


    I'm getting into my most important shots / sightings now. After seeing Lemon's gorgeous photos of the Bornean Sapphire (Heliophorus kiana), I knew I needed to hunt that species down. Unfortunately, they didn't appear as frequently as Lemon had encountered. I only saw a few individuals, all badly tattered besides one female which stayed very high up. They were seen individually along the stream, basking on the low shrubs at the banks. So, the photos I got are nothing like what Lemon achieved - but at least I saw it! It was the only endemic lycaenid I saw. That just means there's a great reason to go back! This is a male.


    Last edited by Banded Yeoman; 28-Apr-2019 at 10:32 PM.
    cheers
    Jonathan

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