Sabah, March-April 2019

[atronox]

What??! That is hardly pathetic at all!! I would love to see this sp. in the field someday. Apparently this ssp. is quite a lot larger than the other sspp.

Nice diversity of butterflies there

[Banded Yeoman]

What??! That is hardly pathetic at all!! I would love to see this sp. in the field someday. Apparently this ssp. is quite a lot larger than the other sspp.

Nice diversity of butterflies there

Aaron, the size difference is apparent enough for me to instantly suspect this species despite never having seen one before. Lemon confirmed it for me when I shared the photo with him that day.

By the way Aaron, we encountered several individuals of Kallima at the back of the lodge and in the waterfall area. I've been looking around on the web and I've found that Kallima buxtoni, commonly known as the Bornean Leafwing, occurs there. Is this an updated taxa? I read somewhere that it has been updated or kallima limborgii buxtoni. I have a photo which I will post later on once I've dug it out. Hopefully you have some insights on this matter.

Anyway, it's time for a short commercial break.

These cheerful Impatiens were planted around the entrance of the lodge. We also saw plenty of them dotting the sides of the road along the forest slopes on the drive in. Lemon mentioned that the beautiful and endemic Bornean Birdwing (Troides andromache andromache) made its lofty rounds around the place every day when he went in January. Unfortunately for us, this species wasn't flying during our stay. You bet I was hoping for one to swoop down from the sky to feed on the Impatiens. One species did come down to the flowers though, the Wanderer (Pareronia valeria lutescens). I didn't manage to get a good shot. Uncle Khew has a much better picture.



BOH tea and primary rainforest: the only way to start the day.



The sunlight pouring through our accommodation early in the morning.



Uncle Khew surveying the busy carpark for butterflies to shoot. This was on our first day of shooting, a Sunday, when the waterfall drew many visitors. See that puddle in the middle? Quite a number of species were taken there when they descended for a drink in the scorching weather.



Shoot! (Image courtesy of Uncle Khew)


Image courtesy of Mei Yee:


Take a break.



Beyond this bridge was a good place to find interesting species. Heliophorus kiana, Euripus nyctelius borneensis were amongst the better finds.


If you look closely at the picture, there is a gate in the distance and a fence bordering the forest edge. Along that fence and up the narrow slope (beyond what's shown here) was where I got my most important shot of the trip. It's not a particularly rare species there, but one that simply hasn't been photographed much before.

[Banded Yeoman]

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)?

[atronox]

Nice shots of the two caeruleans. J. zebra is quite rare

[Banded Yeoman]

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.

[atronox]

The Neptis should be N. leucoporos cresina.

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

[Psyche]

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.

[Banded Yeoman]

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.

[Banded Yeoman]

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!