Great Mormon at USR

First encounter of the Great Mormon at USR, managed to take a shot of her laying eggs.
http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5171/...697418_z_d.jpg

Does this specimen have rather extensive red markings on the underside hindwing, compared to normal?

The Great Mormon females f-esperi that are found in Singapore tend to have extensive white on the forewings as compared to the Malaysian forms. I've discussed this earlier on some thread. This is a phenomenon that appears rather consistently amongst the examples that we see here.

The model for the female f-esperi to mimic, Atrophaneura nox, is no longer found in Singapore, and this could be one of the reasons why any form of aposematic mimicry is no longer effective for this species.

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Originally Posted by Commander

The model for the female f-esperi to mimic, Atrophaneura nox, is no longer found in Singapore, and this could be one of the reasons why any form of aposematic mimicry is no longer effective for this species.

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It is a pity that the Malayan Batwing A. nox have become so rare in the peninsula that no-one have been able to shoot one yet. The female is very vulnerable to capture as she flies slowly and low among the forest undergrowths.
In the dim forest light the whitened wingtips appear like a pair of white moths in synchronised flight. A truly remarkable sight.

TL Seow:cheers:

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Originally Posted by Psyche

It is a pity that the Malayan Batwing A. nox have become so rare in the peninsula that no-one have been able to shoot one yet. The female is very vulnerable to capture as she flies slowly and low among the forest undergrowths.
In the dim forest light the whitened wingtips appear like a pair of white moths in synchronised flight. A truly remarkable sight.

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Yes, the Malayan Batwing was common during my schooldays when I was studying in Petaling Jaya. Often encountered the species, particularly the females, at Gasing Hill (the poor hill is surrounded by residential development now and is a shadow of its former glory).

We also had some discussions before on f-esperi on our forums here with more pics of the female. Over the past few years BC members have seen A. nox (or its newer genus name, Parides nox) at Bunker Trail and also at Fraser's Hill. But very few good shots of it.

Interestingly, Penang Butterfly Farm has been breeding Parides varuna, and I've regularly seen the species whenever I go back to visit PBF.

Parides nox is supposed to be as common as P. varuna here in my home Province. However, I have not seen a single specimen of it, either on Samui, or on the Mainland. A varuna is, however, very common on Samui.

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Originally Posted by Commander

Yes, the Malayan Batwing was common during my schooldays when I was studying in Petaling Jaya. Often encountered the species, particularly the females, at Gasing Hill (the poor hill is surrounded by residential development now and is a shadow of its former glory)

Interestingly, Penang Butterfly Farm has been breeding Parides varuna, and I've regularly seen the species whenever I go back to visit PBF.

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Originally Posted by Painted Jezebel

Parides nox is supposed to be as common as P. varuna here in my home Province. However, I have not seen a single specimen of it, either on Samui, or on the Mainland. A varuna is, however, very common on Samui.

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Gasing Hill, a former rubber land is now gazetted as an educational forest, but is abused by would-be gardeners, and machete artists. It does have the three spp. of Troides ie. aeacus, helena, & amphrysus.

A. varuna is uncommon in the southern half of the peninsula for some reason. The only good chance of seeing it is when the Bauhinia intergritifolia is in bloom.
The same goes for L. coon, which seems to be dubtfully present in Johor.

TL Seow:cheers:

This form seems to resemble one of the Javanese ssp; ssp anceus