The Knight spotted at AH

I am still very puzzled by Knight shot by Ying Ling.:hmmm:
http://zookeeper.clubsnap.org/galler...0041208_05.jpg
Knight is a forest butterfly and it is unlikely that it can fly from the central catchments, Ubin or Telok Blangah Hill Park to AH. The only explanation I can think of is it is 'introduced' into AH through plants brought into AH. :thinking: I checked with Rosalind and she confirmed that her contractor brought in some Ixora recently.

I am not sure if you guys noticed but the Knight shot by Ying Ling is actually a Malaysian species ! Lebadea martha malayana and not our local species - Lebadea martha parkeri ! The AH contractor could have brought in the Ixora from Johor which explains why it is the Malaysian species.
Anyway, this is just my theory ... :-) and if my theory is correct, this will be the last we see a Knight at AH, unless we start an introduction program ;-)

A lot more of white on the hindwing (on the marginal border?).

hmm. just wonder: how many of the species was introduced "accidentally". Quite amazed by the number of species spotted in AHBT which is quite "far" from most reserves.

The hind wings of the Malaysian species are more brownish while the local species is more purplish, though we have seen quite a lot of in betweens in Ubin. C&P4 has photo of both. Take a look.

Quite an interesting insight Gan! Thanks for sharing.

p.s makes me wonder which are the species at AH that are truly accidental "visitors" and which are the ones which were inadvertently introduced. :thinking: But guess most of them should be visitors since forest-dwelling butterflies are rarely seen at AH.

i saw the Knight at AH yesterday noon as well :-)

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Originally Posted by Green Baron

Anyway, this is just my theory ... :-) and if my theory is correct, this will be the last we see a Knight at AH, unless we start an introduction program ;-)

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Maybe we happen to have a pair of couple and they like to start a new family in AH ...

Please take a record shot if you see the Knight. The one shot by YL is a female. If that is the only one then we will not see a population at AH. If however there is another male, then there might be a chance of Knight making AH its residence..

So Khew, should we record it as Lebadea martha malayana instead of Lebadea martha parkeri on AH checklist ?

C&P4 theorises that the two subspecies can interbreed, so if we transplant a male parkeri at AH to mate with the female malayana, we may have some cross-breeds occurring at AH.

The Knight is not necessarily a forest butt. In Langkawi and Kedah, they are found in public parks where there's Lantana as well.

Shots of some record specimens for comparison. During our surveys in Tekong, specimens which come close to malayana have been found at Tekong, flying side-by-side with the parkeri ones.

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Originally Posted by Green Baron

So Khew, should we record it as Lebadea martha malayana instead of Lebadea martha parkeri on AH checklist ?

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Hmm.... like you said, it could be an "alien" which should not rightfully be recorded. I was also thinking about Neo's earlier shot of the Striped Black Crow. I wonder if it exists at AH too.