ID for UFO

[Blue Nawab]

Observed this ufo flying around the crown flowers and seemed like trying to lay eggs into the flower bud of the crown flower as it was inserting a needle-like object from its tail abdomen into the flower bud.
Wonder if this is Cycad Blue?

[Commander]

From the position of the costal spot on the underside of the forewing (although in your shot, it's not quite exactly in the usual 'correct' position), this looks like a Forget-Me-Not (Catochrysops strabo strabo).

Any other shots of it? The perspective of the shot could have given a not so accurate representation of the costal spot.

[Silverstreak]

Observed this ufo flying around the crown flowers and seemed like trying to lay eggs into the flower bud of the crown flower as it was inserting a needle-like object from its tail abdomen into the flower bud.

Both the Catochrysops strabo strabo (Forget-me-not) and Catochrysops panormus exiguus (Silver Forget-me-not) lay their eggs through a needle like ovipositor, which is inserted into the folds of the flower bud /young shoot of their hostplants .

The Forget me not is the rarer of the two species. Two sites that used to have this species were Sentosa and Mandai area. The Sentosa site had been wiped out by development , the Mandai site is due to be developed soon.

Both species early stages have yet to be recorded .There should be more where you found it, since it was attempting to oviposit on its hostplant.

Retrieve from archives on the differences of the leading edge marking of the two species:

[Blue Nawab]

From the position of the costal spot on the underside of the forewing (although in your shot, it's not quite exactly in the usual 'correct' position), this looks like a Forget-Me-Not (Catochrysops strabo strabo).

Any other shots of it? The perspective of the shot could have given a not so accurate representation of the costal spot.

Thanks Khew for the prompt reply and the idea of the costal spot position. I suspect it is Forget-Me-Not, then again it could be a female Silver Forget-Me-Not, though not so pristine!

Both the Catochrysops strabo strabo (Forget-me-not) and Catochrysops panormus exiguus (Silver Forget-me-not) lay their eggs through a needle like ovipositor, which is inserted into the folds of the flower bud /young shoot of their hostplants .

The Forget me not is the rarer of the two species. Two sites that used to have this species were Sentosa and Mandai area. The Sentosa site had been wiped out by development , the Mandai site is due to be developed soon.

Both species early stages have yet to be recorded .There should be more where you found it, since it was attempting to oviposit on its hostplant.

Retrieve from archives on the differences of the leading edge marking of the two species:

Thanks Uncle Sunny for the info, I was surprised it oviposited on the bud of crown flowers.

Here's another shot of it.

[Psyche]

The two Catochrysops species are so confusingly similar that I did a comparison study of the two.
The observations are relevant only for our local races.

C. panormus.

ID certain if forewing costal spot touched/adjoined postdiscal band.
Forewing submarginal spots lunulate.
Hindwing submarginal spots sagittate in the male ; broaden in the female.
Eyespot in space 2 roundly triangular pointed inwards / like Ace of Spade.
Marginal spot in space 3 usually triangular and pointed.
Submarginal band in space 1b mostly dark with some orange shading.

C. strabo.

ID certain if forewing costal spot is midway between cellend bar & postdiscal band.
Forewing submarginal spots lunulate but may be bandlike.
Hindwing submarginal spots may be shallowly sagittate in male but often broad as in the female.
Eyespot in space 2 rounded or ovate.
Marginal spot in space 3 oval or domed.
Submarginal band in space 1b orange with some dark linings.

With closely allied & similar species, some crossings are expected. Such individuals would normally be subsumed in a large population, but with fragmentation into small colonies such variants become prominent.
The female in question, from the eyespot and the band in space 1b suggest C. panormus.

TL Seow

[Blue Nawab]

Thanks Seow for that detailed comparison, really learn a lot from your info.

[Silverstreak]

My feeble attempt to depict what Seow has described on the Silver-forget-me-not.

Will do the other when I have the time.

Seow , do let me know if there are mistakes

[Psyche]

Thanks Sunny. Great work again .

Note terms like lunulate (semi-crescentic ) or sagittate (arrowhead-like ) are pretty subjective here, one merging into the other.

TL Seow