August 2012 Fraser's Hill

[Bluebottle]

Thanks Khew and Shirley for organizing the trip, Irene for preparing our delicious breakfast, lunch and dinner which gave us enough energy for hunting butterfly out in the field, Patrick, Sunny and Chng for the great company and Chng for the transport. It has been a fun and eventful trip, from saman (my bad ;P ), long jam at the checkpoint, black out and star gazing at the resort, and learn a few tips on eating steak;P .

We headed north to Ipoh first on 8th August and made a pit stop at Gua Tempurung. It was a pleasant surprise seeing Cher Hern and Teo at Gua Tempurong though we knew about their trip. Unfortunately all of us were too engrossed in chasing butterfly and forgot to take a group photo. Soon we parted our ways. After that we continued our journey to Ipoh. Dinner was at the famous Lou-Wong bean-sprout chicken. Breakfast on 9th Aug was the delicious dim-sum at Ming-Kok before we headed south to Fraser's Hill.

Ok, some photos first. Guys,feel free to post your photos in any sequence, I am just being long-winded.

. Ipoh bean sprout
. Lou-Wong bean sprout chicken
. French hotel where we stayed

[Bluebottle]

Some photos from Gua Tempurong.

L1. Libythea-myrrha-hecura (Club Beak)
L2. Libythea-myrrha-hecura (Club Beak)
L3. Appias indra plana
L4. Phalanta alcippe alcesta (Small Leopard)
L5. You should be able to tell who is the owner of the lens. What is he shooting?
TBC...

[Commander]

Here are some shots of the puddlers...

#1 : Club Beak
#2 : Tawny Rajah
#3 : ??? :thinking:

Seow, what Lethe sp is the last one? I can't seem to nail an ID on it from C&P4. :hmmm:

[Commander]

A pristine Orange Albatross, and the two well-hunted Dragontails, the White and Green (not blue!) Dragontails! :bsmile:

[Leopard Lacewing]

Nice shots from Loke and Khew... Looking forward to see more pics :thumbsup:

Cheers! :cheers:

[MinuteMaid]

very beautiful pictures, i like the small leopard most!

[Commander]

Here comes more shots...

#1 : Red Spot Sawtooth
#2 : Branded Yeoman
#3 : Jewel Nawab

[Bluebottle]

Beautiful shots, Khew :thumbsup:
So, you manage to nail the Red Spot Sawtooth too. Chasing this skittish fella and trying to get a good shot, this guy literally made Sunny and I rolling on the sand :sweat: :bsmile:

[Commander]

Beautiful shots, Khew :thumbsup:
So, you manage to nail the Red Spot Sawtooth too. Chasing this skittish fella and trying to get a good shot, this guy literally made Sunny and I rolling on the sand :sweat: :bsmile:

Thanks. This was shot with the Chocolate Albatross just taking off in the background and cropped off. Actually, both of you had great opportunities, if not for the Chocolate Albatrosses that kept blocking the Sawtooth! Sunny wanted to :aan: :shoot1: :nunu: that bugger!

[Bluebottle]

Continue....
L6. +2 , nailing the Painted Jezebel and Glorious Begum :) . Nothing compare to meet face to face and a firm handshake. Nice meeting Les, LC and LC's friend Dennis.
L7. Hehe, at least the 'rolling' is not wasted ;P , Red Spot Sawtooth (Prioneris philonome themana)
L8. Graphium agamemnon agamemnon (Tailed Jay)
L9. Euploea mulciber male
L10. Tawny Rajah

[The Plane]

Another wonderful butterfly trip for me. Thanks to Khew and Shirley for the arrangement to make this trip possible and I enjoyed all the nice food cooked by Irene - simply delicious ;P. It was also a great pleasure to finally meet LC and Les in person. Starting with some field shots first :

[The Plane]

Just 4 shots for now. Will post more when I return from Taiwan this weekend. :cheers:

a) Club Beak (Libythea-myrrha-hecura)
b) Indian Yellow Nawab (Polyura jalysus jalysus)
c) Sunbeam on Sunny's finger, not sure ID
d) Dark Yellow-Banded Flat (Celaenorrhinus aurivittatus cameroni)

[MinuteMaid]

i like the shot of sunny with a cigarette and camera in his hands. :)

[Painted Jezebel]

Many thanks to LC for inviting me down to FH, a place that I had been wanting to visit for 5 years. It was also a delight to meet Khew and Sunny again, and finally meet Loke and Chng for the first time.

I have not processed any photos yet, but, post #12, pic 4, the flat, is Celaenorrhinus aurivittatus cameroni. Yes, it is a bit of a mouthful, even for me, so, for those who prefer the common name, it is a Dark Yellow-banded Flat.

If I see another Chocolate Albatross I'll scream, and the male Rajah Brooke's are soooo boring now!!!:grin2: (not really).

[Psyche]

Here are some shots of the puddlers...


#3 : ??? :thinking:

Seow, what Lethe sp is the last one? I can't seem to nail an ID on it from C&P4. :hmmm:

The Lethe spp. are really tough. I initially thought it was Coelites euptychioides. Thankfully I checked it out first.

It is Lethe minerva male.

Post 10, L9.
Euploea mulciber male.

Post 12.
c. Curetis sperthis sperthis male. Black dots (faint) ; upperisde like santana; underside forewing band parallel to termen.
d. Celaenorrhinus aurivittatus.

TL Seow:cheers:

[WillFolsom]

All: What a great, fun adventure! Just sorry I could not be there! So many terrific images! william

[Commander]

i like the shot of sunny with a cigarette and camera in his hands. :)

It's called the "smoking gun" shooting pose. :bsmile:


The Lethe spp. are really tough. I initially thought it was Coelites euptychioides. Thankfully I checked it out first.

It is Lethe minerva male.

Thanks, Seow. That was helpful. :cheers: I'd earlier eliminated the two Coelites after checking my own specimens. That left me with the Lethe but the pictures in C&P4 doesn't show the undersides.

[Painted Jezebel]

#2 : Branded Yeoman


I believe it is the Little Banded Yeoman, no 'r'!

[Bluebottle]

L.11 Jewel Nawab
L.12 Orange Albatross,
L.13 Pathysa antiphates itamputi (Five Bar Swordtail)
L.14 Malaysian Albatross (Saletara liberia) (previously wrongly id asCatopsilia-pomona-pomona)

[Commander]

I believe it is the Little Banded Yeoman, no 'r'!

Actually, that's where I would differ from the Thai book and depend on Markku Savela's list (http://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/papilionoidea/nymphalidae/heliconiinae/algia/index.html)which refers to Paduca fasciata as the Branded Yeoman, with 'r'. :)

The butt has a pair of "brands" on the upperside of the forewings near the apical area which lends some credibility to the name "Branded".

[Commander]

Excellent shots, Loke! :cheers: I believe that last one that is super skittish is the Malaysian Albatross (Saletara liberia) with the yellow undersides. :thinking:

[Glorious Begum]

Very nice shots Loke, Chng and Khew.

3 shots here. Do I have

P. athamas

http://www.pbase.com/lcgoh/image/145381717.jpg

P. hebe ?

http://www.pbase.com/lcgoh/image/145381715.jpg

P. moori ?

http://www.pbase.com/lcgoh/image/145381714.jpg

[Bluebottle]

Thanks Seow and Khew for the ID :cheers:

[Bluebottle]

L15 Jewel Nawab
L16 Indian Yellow Nawab (Polyura jalysus jalysus)
L17 Lethe minerva, male
L18 Appias lyncida vasava (Chocolate Albatross)
L19 Banded Angle (Odontoptilum pygela pygela)

[bluefin]

Beautiful pictures from all. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

:cheers: :drinks::cheers: :drinks:



ps. no pictures to post can only put more emoji icons. :bsmile:

[Psyche]

Very nice shots Loke, Chng and Khew.


P. moori ?

http://www.pbase.com/lcgoh/image/145381714.jpg

Yes it is Polyura moori.

TL Seow:cheers:

[MinuteMaid]

the jewel nawab looks like they are mating! timely and well composed!

[Green Imperial]

:gbounce:
i am turning into greeeeen eye monster.
All of your shots are so beautiful. I also want mating shots of Jewel Nawab. :cry:

[Silverstreak]

Arrived home after staying two more nites to drink some beer at KL .....just 3 shots first !:)

C1
Delias ninus ninus ( The Malayan Jezebel )
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_0796-1.jpg

C2
Jewel Nawab
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_0394-1.jpg

C3
Orange Albatross
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_0463.jpg

[WillFolsom]

...and better... and better. Awesome work, guys. Just great! William

[Painted Jezebel]

L19 Odontoptilum angulata angulata (Banded Angle)

Loke, it is the Banded Angle (Odontoptilum pygela pygela)

Khew, re the Yeoman, I had wondered whether Pisuth had got it wrong again. However, whatever its common name, it is most definitely Paduca fasciata fasciata.

[Leopard Lacewing]

Wow! Nice shots from everyone! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

[Painted Jezebel]

This is where the standard of photos falls down, my shots!

The first lot from Chilling.

PJ1 - A highly cropped partial upperside of Polyura delphis concha (Jewel Nawab - male.
PJ2 - An Allotinus species, smaller than I usually see for A. unicolor. UPDATE-It is A. unicolor:thumbsdow
PJ3 - Anthene licates dusuntua. I did a search of this species and was suprised to find only one previous entry, and that was from Sulawesi!
PJ4 - I may be clutching at straws here, but this one looked a bit different from the usual Palm King. Could this be Amathusia friderici utana? UPDATE - Amathusia perakana perakana:thumbsup: Thanks Seow.
PJ5 - Is this Eurema ada iona? If so, I think it completes my local Eurema species. (This is what I was shooting in the photo of me squatting down shown earlier)

[Silverstreak]

In nature gay is ban.....both are puddling males.:)


:gbounce:
i am turning into greeeeen eye monster.
All of your shots are so beautiful. I also want mating shots of Jewel Nawab. :cry:

[Psyche]

Post 33

PJ2. It is Allotinus unicolor. Spot 6 (biggest spot) on the hindwing lies well to the inside of spot 7.

PJ3. Note the subspecific name. Dusun tua, Malay for old orchard , after the Sungai(or spelt Sungei) Tua (River Old) area.

PJ4. A wonderful find. Amathusia perakana perakana.
This is easily ID'ed as the hindwing pale subdiscal band is broken & its upper end is an isolated spot.

PJ4. Eurema ida iona is right. Two cell spots; rounded forewing; note hindwing black streak in space 7 is in line & joins the cellend bar, as in E. andersonii.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Thank you. I did not look at A. perakana. Your explanation made it so obvious. I had thought that my luck for finding the unusual had eluded me on this trip, but this is great.

[Painted Jezebel]

The last few of mine from Chilling before we start on Fraser's Hill itself.

PJ6) Would not have shown this, but the forewing underside markings in space 1b appear odd. UPDATE - Nacaduba calauria malayica
PJ7) This has got me confused, I thought it was a Jamides celeno, but the striae on the hindwing are wrong, as is the orange patch, which is much smaller than usual. A Nacaduba sp?:hmmm: UPDATE - Nacaduba sanaya elioti
PJ8) Polyura hebe chersonesa.

[Silverstreak]

Sunrise at Fraser's Hill... using Tamron 180 !:prrr: ;P

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_0697.jpg

[Psyche]

PJ6. This is highly unusual as the wings are darkened & the striae are brownish. The markings do occur in 6-line blues.
The large marginal spots indicates this should be a male N. calauria.

PJ7. A male Nacaduba sanaya.

PJ8. Polyura hebe. In P. moori the width of the green area at the hindwing costa is twice that of the marginal area.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Silverstreak]

On the North-South Highway
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/042.jpg

Gua Tempurung
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/018.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/008.jpg

White Dragontail
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/004.jpg


Via country road to Ipoh
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/009.jpg

He better maintain visual , his GPS map was on Norway!!
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/021.jpg

[Silverstreak]

The Famous " Bean Sprout + Chiken " Corner
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/033.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/034.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/026.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/027.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/030.jpg

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/029.jpg

[Silverstreak]

First stop ...Puddling Ground.
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/053.jpg

The Magnificient Seven at Frasers Jezebel ground
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/066.jpg
Left to right: LC, Chng, Dennis, Khew. Les, Loke , Sunny.

Dinner at Old Smoke House
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/072.jpg
Left front to back: LC, Dennis, Les , Chng, Loke. Right : Sunny , Irene. Khew, Shirley, Patrick.

http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/085.jpg

How a medium rare steak should be .....
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/Bin/091.jpg

[Commander]

Nice "environmental" shots, Sunny. :cheers: Good memories on this trip. :)

[Bluebottle]

Loke, it is the Banded Angle (Odontoptilum pygela pygela)

Thanks, Les :cheers:

[Silverstreak]

C4
The Banded Angle ( Odontoptilum pygela pygela )
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_1233.jpg

C5
Club Beak (Libythea-myrrha-hecura)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_1326.jpg

C6
Tawny Rajah ( Charaxes bernardus crepax )
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_1193.jpg

C7
The White Dragontail ( Lamproptera curius curius)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_1453.jpg

C8
Lethe minerva
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_1097.jpg

C9
Red Spot Sawtooth (Prioneris philonome themana)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_0667.jpg

[Bluebottle]

Beautiful "environmental shots" Sunny :thumbsup:

Sharing some record shots of those skittish fellas from the Hill. We needed Les to pray for divine intervention and cooperative butts :bsmile:
Not quite sure about some of the ID though.

L20 Les.
L21 Delias ninus ninus (Malayan Jezebel)
L22 Delias ninus ninus (Malayan Jezebel)
L23 Abisara neophron (Tailed Judy)
L24, 25 Cepora nadina andersoni (The Lesser Gull)

[Bluebottle]

L26, L27 Ixias pyrene alticola (Yellow Orange Tip)
L28 Appias pandione lagela
L29 Troides brookiana albescens (Rajah Brooke's Birdwings), Female
L30 Opps, not a butt ;P . ID is appreciated.

[Silverstreak]

last one from me ...........phew this took me an hour to process!;P

Delias ninus ninus (Malayan Jezebel)
http://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a288/SunnyChir/EOS-1D-Mark-III_0811.jpg

[Painted Jezebel]

L24 & 25 - Cepora nadina nadina (Lesser Gull)
L26 & 27 - Ixias pyrene alticola (Yellow Orange Tip)
L28 - Appias pandione lagela (Banded Puffin)

[Painted Jezebel]

PJ6. This is highly unusual as the wings are darkened & the striae are brownish. The markings do occur in 6-line blues.
The large marginal spots indicates this should be a male N. calauria.

PJ7. A male Nacaduba sanaya.

PJ8. Polyura hebe. In P. moori the width of the green area at the hindwing costa is twice that of the marginal area.

TL Seow:cheers:

Thank you. All new to me!

[Painted Jezebel]

My first lot from the Hill, itself.

PJ9 & 10) Hasora mus pahanga ( found at our hotel)
PJ11 & 12) Ideopsis gaura perakana (Small Wood Nymph)
PJ13) Parantica sita ethologa (Chestnut Tiger) - Male
PJ14) Trogonoptera brookiana albescens - Female underside

[Painted Jezebel]

My last ones!

PJ15) Delias baracasa dives (Yellow Jezebel)
PJ16) Delias decombersi eranthos (Red-spot Jezebel)
PJ17) Rapala nissa pahangana (Common Flash)? A guess, but seems most likely!
PJ18) Stiboges nymphidia nymphidia (Columbine)
PJ19) Poritia phama rajata.

A highly successful and enjoyable trip, with 26 species seen which were new to me. Now to update my website!

[Commander]

PJ13) Parantica sita ethologa (Chestnut Tiger) - Female

I'd always thought that the specialised scales (dark patch) at the tornal area of the hindwing of Danainae means that it's a male? Not in this case?
:thinking:

[Painted Jezebel]

I'd always thought that the specialised scales (dark patch) at the tornal area of the hindwing of Danainae means that it's a male? Not in this case?
:thinking:

Yes! Oops!!!:embrass: Changed.

[Bluebottle]

Two Curetis for ID:

1. Curetis santana malayica (Malayan Sunbeam)
2. Curetis bulis stigmata

[Bluebottle]

Some 'environmental shots'

1. From left to right: Loke, Khew, Sunny, Chng
2. Shooting the breeze and waiting for the sun to come out
3. Getting the perfect shot.
4. Cleaning up the gears after a day of hard work in the field. You would not believe how much sands had stuck in the camera and lens :what:
5. Shooting the 'rare one'
6. Going home...

[Psyche]

Two Curetis for ID:

1. Curetis santana malayica (Malayan Sunbeam)?
2. Curetis santana malayica (Malayan Sunbeam)?

1 is correct.
You can see the band is totally dislocated on the hindwing.

2. is Curetis bulis stigmata.
The band continues from the forewing apex through the hindwing cellend mark to the tornus.
The black border at the upper part of the hindwing is broader than in santana and it broadens much more downwards.
Interestingly the legs are banded brown whereas that of santana are banded red. If constant, would be a useful ID feature.

TL Seow:cheers:

[WillFolsom]

Nice to see the 'premium team' members in action! Wished I could have joined you. Did some reading about Fraser's Hill on Google. Sound cool and inviting.
William

[Bluebottle]

Sharing a video:

Trying to isolate one of these skittish Chocolate Albatross will make you go mad. Worse still, they keep disturbing other puddling butterflies. May be you can hear Sunny *&%$% at the background :bsmile:

jsgBgiJEJSg

[Bluebottle]

This is probably one of the most majestic butterflies I have ever shoot. There were a least 5 or 6 of them on that day. After a few round of shootings, there was no more photographer queuing up to shoot them and I am able to take my time to shoot a short video of this beauty.

Jewel Nawab
YnSDhRIPrzQ

[Glorious Begum]

L24 & 25 - Cepora nadina nadina (Lesser Gull)


Les, there is no C. nadina nadina in C&P4. Could it be Cepora nadina andersoni ?

[Glorious Begum]

I guess I got this last one to post.

Ixias pyrene alticola (Yellow Orange Tip) - female

http://www.pbase.com/lcgoh/image/145434807.jpg

[Psyche]

I guess I got this last one to post.

Ixias pyrene alticola (Yellow Orange Tip) - female


Eliot had actually elevated alticola to full species status as Ixias alticola.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Les, there is no C. nadina nadina in C&P4. Could it be Cepora nadina andersoni ?

Apologies, I had thought we had the same ssp. It appears that the Malay ssp. does not reach the Thai border, nor does the Thai ssp. reach Malaysia. C. nadina andersoni it is. Damnation, never bothered to photo it!!:thumbsdow

[Painted Jezebel]

Eliot had actually elevated alticola to full species status as Ixias alticola.

TL Seow:cheers:

Is this now fully accepted? I knew that there was great debate about this, but was not aware it had been resolved. C&P4 mentions this and intimates that it could be a separate sp. but retained it as a ssp. of I. pyrene.

[The Plane]

Some record shots from me : :cheers:

e) Dwarf Crow (Euploea tullioulus ledereri)
f) Jamides talingad
g) Yellow Orange-Tip (Ixias pyrene) - Pic was heavily cropped
h) Poritia phama rajata
i) Five Bar Swordtail (Pathysa antiphates itamputi)

[The Plane]

j) Orange Albatross
k) White Dragontails
l) Green (not blue) Dragontails
m) Pithauris marsena
n) Jewel Nawab
o) Prosotas pia pia

[The Plane]

p) Red Spot Sawtooth (Prioneris philonome themana)
q) Straight Pierrot
r) Red-spot Jezebel (Delias decombersi eranthos)
s) Charaxes harmodius martinus

:cheers:

[Silverstreak]

Chng ,

Beautiful shots!:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:


:cheers:

[Commander]

Ooooo BLUE Dragontail! :bsmile:

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Psyche]

Is this now fully accepted? I knew that there was great debate about this, but was not aware it had been resolved. C&P4 mentions this and intimates that it could be a separate sp. but retained it as a ssp. of I. pyrene.

In Malayan Nature Journal vol 58 Oct. 2006.
Eliot's explanation is that there are no intermediates, given some altitudinal overlap is inevitable, and there are no other known subspecies of I. pyrene in which the male is white.
Taxon alticola is endemic to peninsular Malaysia.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

Post 66. f.
Jamides talinga.
Forewing elpis group, postdiscal band broken at vein 6; hindwing sub-basal band broken.
The ID mark is the 2 white dashes/dots above the forewing cellend bar.

Post 67/m Pithauris marsena.
Post 67/o Prosotas pia pia. Note submarginal spots much faded.

Post 68. The colour is wrong for C. bernardus which is a steely greyish-brown.(as in the other pix.)

The colour is that of Charaxes harmodius martinus, which is a deep purple brown. They are almost identical on the underside except that the upper submarginal white spots in space 6 & 7 on the hindwing tend to be more prominent in this species.

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. Since your Green Dragontail & Jewel Nawab are also overly blue, the excessive blue tone may have cause the Rajah to be purplish, in which case it is still the Tawny Rajah.

[The Plane]

Thanks Les and Dr Seow for your ID help.... :mad2: means I missed the Tawny Rajah as I thought I had it already after shooting the Charaxes harmodius martinus on the 2nd day :-(


Ooooo BLUE Dragontail! :bsmile:

Still think the name Blue Dragontail is more appropriate :bsmile:


Chng ,

Beautiful shots!:cheers:

Thanks Sunny ! :cheers:

[Psyche]

I did some checking on this and it should be C. harmodius martinus after all.

Even if there is excessive blue tone, & if this removed it would not show the steely grey tone of C. bernardus.

Here are examples of C. harmodius this probably from Thailand.
In particular, note the shape of the hindwing submarginal markings.
http://www.insect-sale.com/photo/insect_insects_butterfly_butterflies/Charaxes-harmodius-martinus.jpg
Here is one from Java. You can see the hindwing upper white spots are variable. & smaller here.
http://www.fobi.web.id/fbi/d/32014-2/Charaxes-harmodius_Baluran_IT.jpg

Your shot matches these well especially the submarginal markings in pic 1.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Bluebottle]

Last batch of photos...

Lily bud flower
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq342/pfloke/Butterfly/July12/IMG_7671.jpg?t=1345208489

Sunrise
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq342/pfloke/Butterfly/July12/IMG_7635.jpg?t=1345208491

Ant
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq342/pfloke/Butterfly/July12/IMG_7670.jpg?t=1345208480

Morning dew
http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq342/pfloke/Butterfly/July12/IMG_7868wb2.jpg?t=1345208503


http://i462.photobucket.com/albums/qq342/pfloke/Butterfly/July12/IMG_7866wb.jpg?t=1345208497

[The Plane]

Thanks again for checking, Dr Seow. And also for letting me know my shots has got a blue tint. I checked all my shots taken in this trip and indeed some of them has already got the blue tint in camera raw format, eg the Red Spot Jezebel I posted below. I wonder why :thinking: :hmmm:


I did some checking on this and it should be C. harmodius martinus after all.

Even if there is excessive blue tone, & if this removed it would not show the steely grey tone of C. bernardus.

Here are examples of C. harmodius this probably from Thailand.
In particular, note the shape of the hindwing submarginal markings.
http://www.insect-sale.com/photo/insect_insects_butterfly_butterflies/Charaxes-harmodius-martinus.jpg
Here is one from Java. You can see the hindwing upper white spots are variable. & smaller here.
http://www.fobi.web.id/fbi/d/32014-2/Charaxes-harmodius_Baluran_IT.jpg

Your shot matches these well especially the submarginal markings in pic 1.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Painted Jezebel]

Here are examples of C. harmodius this probably from Thailand.


Interesting. I was not aware that C. harmodius was found in Thailand. Ek-Amnuay does not mention it in his 1st edition, nor is it on the list of species to be in the 2nd as yet unpublished edition. However, I see that Yutaka does show a specimen from Ranong labelled C. harmodius ssp.

Ranong is not that far from me, so I had better pay more attention to the specimens of C. bernadus crepax I see!

[Commander]

That submarginal whitish thin band on the forewing underside appears to be different in Chng's shot compared to those that Sunny and I shot of the Tawny Rajah.

I've taken the liberty of posting Lemon's shot for comparison as well - also shot elsewhere on Fraser's Hill over the same period.

[MinuteMaid]

That submarginal whitish thin band on the forewing underside appears to be different in Chng's shot compared to those that Sunny and I shot of the Tawny Rajah.

I've taken the liberty of posting Lemon's shot for comparison as well - also shot elsewhere on Fraser's Hill over the same period.

here's another shot of that same tawny rajah with different settings, without flash. was quite curious as to why this one had that black band marked so strongly on the hindwing..as well as the white edge on the forewing.

http://i860.photobucket.com/albums/ab169/rustysocute123/Screenshot2012-08-18atPM102550.png

just curious, how come some tawny rajah's are steely grey while some are more orangey-brown. are all these also just variations?

[Silverstreak]

Here is another Tawny Rajah ( Charaxes bernardus crepax ) taken at same location as Chng's in Feb 2011

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/1DMK3----0482---28_02_2011.jpg

[MinuteMaid]

Here is another Tawny Rajah ( Charaxes bernardus crepax ) taken at same location as Chng's in Feb 2011

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d156/Schir/1DMK3----0482---28_02_2011.jpg

Sunny, this rajah is colored so differently! it looks like the one khew shot and posted. the steely grey with the green tinge. have not seen this color before.

are they variants? i like this color!

[teotp]

In Malayan Nature Journal vol 58 Oct. 2006.
Eliot's explanation is that there are no intermediates, given some altitudinal overlap is inevitable, and there are no other known subspecies of I. pyrene in which the male is white.
Taxon alticola is endemic to peninsular Malaysia.

TL Seow:cheers:

In: Malayan Nature Journal volume 59, page 6 (para 4), 2006 or volume 58?
I missed something from my collection of MNJ?

Teo T P

[Psyche]

Lemon's shot is an eyeopener. It shows the hindwing white spots can be identical in both species. However, I do noticed some of the blue & black dots to the outside of the white spots are a bit elongate as in Ch'ng's shot.

The forewing white band is also seen in C. bernardus, but is useful as most bernardus do not have it.

I have seen a fair number of the males of C. bernardus & they are all steely greyish brown, quite an unusual colour.

I am quite confident Lemon's individual is another example of C. harmodius martinus.
TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

In: Malayan Nature Journal volume 59, page 6 (para 4), 2006 or volume 58?
I missed something from my collection of MNJ?

Teo T P

Oops. it is volume 59.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

These two species can get very confusing.
Here is Fderick's shot of C bernardus from Panti.
It appears brown although you can still see grey shading & tint over both wings.The broad black border of the upperside confirmed it is C. bernardus.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_0EK80AsaR7g/TQTJn4zT-FI/AAAAAAAADv0/CHnHRWLS8kQ/s400/DSC7719Charaxes%2Bbernardus%2Bcrepax%2528Tawny%2BR ajah%2529.jpg

TL Seow:cheers:
PS. other examples of malayan C. bernardus crepax by LC.
http://i.pbase.com/o6/25/686825/1/86807944.IxERhFV5.Charaxesbernarduscrepax.jpg
http://i.pbase.com/o6/25/686825/1/82617846.eFQh3uVn.Charaxesbernarduscrepaxcopy.jpg

[Psyche]

Chng, Lemon,
Do you guys have other shots of your Rajahs that show a bit of the upperside, ie a bit of the costal (forward) margin or the the tornus (lower angle) of the forewing.

Les' Charaxes series have certainly bring forth some doubts.

TL Seow:cheers:

[MinuteMaid]

Dr Seow,

unfortunately no. thought all of them were tawny rajah with the steely grey/greenish ones being color variants.

[The Plane]

Dr Seow, unfortunately I do not have any upperside shot too :-(

[Commander]

Here are two sequence shots just as the Tawny Rajah that I was shooting took off. Doesn't help much I suppose. :embrass:

[Psyche]

Thanks anyway guys, but I don't mean an obvious upper shot.
Have a look at Sunny's shot of C. bernardus.
The opposite wings can just be seen ; the forewing tornal margin is black proving it is bernardus.
http://www.butterflycircle.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=19374&d=1345297823

Yutaka's series show all forms of C. bernardus in mainland southern Thailand have the steely grey tint.
This appeared as a purplish-grey wash in the images (too much red).
http://yutaka.it-n.jp/cha/60180020.html

There are no record of 2 forms of C. bernardus, but since these two resembles the forms of C. bernardus in Ko Samui, it would be great to confirm the ID beyond doubt.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Psyche]

Here are two sequence shots just as the Tawny Rajah that I was shooting took off. Doesn't help much I suppose. :embrass:

Thanks Khew, it does proved beyond any doubt the one with the steely grey underside is C. bernardus crepax.

TL Seow:cheers:

[Commander]

Just to add to the confusion, I have this one shot at the Penang Butterfly Farm back in 2009. They were breeding C. bernardus, and there were quite a few on the rotting bananas on the feeding shelves. Other that the submarginal white band, the colour is more brownish than those we shot at Frasers recently. :thinking:

[Psyche]

Just to add to the confusion, I have this one shot at the Penang Butterfly Farm back in 2009. They were breeding C. bernardus, and there were quite a few on the rotting bananas on the feeding shelves. Other that the submarginal white band, the colour is more brownish than those we shot at Frasers recently. :thinking:

The problem is there is a lot of confusion with the ID of with these brown Rajahs on the web.
Thankfully your shot shows the upper part of the costal margin to the apex, and the tawny orange almost to the tip showed it is not C. bernardus.

A lot of butterfly farms take their stock from other established farms throughtout the world creating a lot of confusion & headache.

TL Seow:cheers:

[moloch]

What a fantasitc trip you guys had! As usual, you have excellent shots of many species. The Lethe looked very interesting and I don't recall seeing photos of this one before. Someday, I hope to go along on one of these trips to Fraser's Hill and meet the other BC members.

I did not see a response to the eagle identification but on first glance, it looked like a Changeable Hawk-Eagle to me. I don't have my field guides here to confirm the id.

Tonight, I fly to Costa Rica so hopefully will have some exotic shots to post before too long. It will be the wet season so will not be ideal conditions for butterflies. Hopefully, there will be a few that are active. Should be good, though, for amphibians and reptiles.

Regards,

[Commander]

Forgot to post this last one after a bit of PS'ing. Loke will remember that I had to get down real low on the ground to shoot this fella perched on the leaf. ;P

Branded Yamfly (Yasoda pita dohertyi)

[Bluebottle]

Yes, I remembered. It was a very awkward shooting position. It will make it to one of the top ten shooting postures if a sniper was around :bsmile:
The butterfly soon took off after that :cry: