Butterfly photos from Fraser's Hill, July 2011

[Painted Jezebel]

David, you must have had one hell of an Asian trip. You have come across so many species, in Taman Negara, Maliau and Fraser's Hill.

I am very, very jealous. I will be following in your footsteps.

[Psyche]

2. Darpa sriata

4. Potanthus ganda (P. omaha have distinctly dark veins across hindwing band & all along periphery of both wings )
Note no strong black edgings to bands; veins not/or just lightly darkened; solid costal-cellular orange patch. A common species.

5. Telicota colon
(Strong greenish yellow tinge; band distinct with black spots; forewing spots with comma-shaped black inner margins )

6. Pithauria marsena is correct.

TL Seow

[moloch]

David, you must have had one hell of an Asian trip. You have come across so many species, in Taman Negara, Maliau and Fraser's Hill.

I am very, very jealous. I will be following in your footsteps.

It was a fantastic trip and I had great time.


Thanks again, Seow, for your help with the identifications.


That is it for the butterflies from Fraser's Hill. I will add a few more photos of other animals to the post.

[moloch]

I found this lovely creature while walking the Telecom Loop one morning. It is a Black-copper Rat Snake (Elaphe flavolineata). When I stepped in front of it to block its escape, it immediately became defensive. The snake flattened its neck, opened its mouth and crawled towards me. I was curious to see if it was bluffing so stood still. The snake crawled right up to me and then bit my leg ... it was serious and wanted to be left alone! I ended up being bitten again when I moved it to a better area for photos. I was bleeding when I finished with the photos. Unfortunately, it settled and did not look quite as impressive when compared to the initial response to my presence.







I went on night drives to look for some of the nocturnals. I did not see much but did find this injured White-spotted Cat Snake (Boiga drapiezii) below the Gap. These seem to be ecological equivalents to Imantodes in the neotropics. Both are vine-like and rear fanged.

[moloch]

I found a road-killed Malayan Banded Wolf Snake (Lycodon subcinctus) near the waterfall between the Gap and Kuala Kubu Bharu. It was too damaged for photos. In life, I would have been wary of it since it looked much like a Banded Krait.


I saw a few of these geckos near the Gap. I think that they were Banded Slender-toed Geckos (Cyrtodactylus pulchellus). The geckos were fast and usually raced off the road before I could get back for photos.






This tarantula just would not come out of its burrow. I saw photos of another by Nelson(?) earlier this year and hoped to have a better view of it.


The primitive trap doors were incredible spiders. I stopped at this burrow one night and lightly brushed a small stick across the door. The spider absolutely exploded out of the hole and hit the stick with considerable force. The speed of the attack just amazed me and I could not help but jump back.




I often have seen Long-tailed Macaques near Fraser's/Gap but this was the first trip when I also observed Pig-tailed Macaques.




That is all from my trip to Fraser's Hill. It is such an excellent place. I hope to get back again for a few days next March. That trip will be with birding friends but I will take some time to chase butterflies as well.

[moloch]

... forgot to post the bird list from this year. I was not actively birding but always carried the binoculars to have a look at what moved along the road. The telecom loop was quite productive.

• Crested Serpent-Eagle (Spilornis cheela) seen twice near Jeriau Falls
• Crested Goshawk (Accipiter trivirgatus) one near the Gap
• Blyth's Hawk-Eagle (Spizaetus alboniger) one below the Gap along road to Kuala Kabu Bharu
• Bar-backed Partridge (Arborophila brunneopectus) heard along Telecom Loop
• Spotted Dove (Streptopelia chinensis) a few below the Gap
• Little Cuckoo-Dove (Macropygia ruficeps) common on Telecom Loop
• Mountain Imperial-Pigeon (Ducula badia) a few along Telecom Loop
• Green-billed Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus tristis) two along Telecom Loop
• Raffles's Malkoha (Phaenicophaeus chlorophaeus) a few near the Gap
• Mountain Scops-Owl (Otus spilocephalus) nightly at Fraser's
• Brown Wood-Owl (Strix leptogrammica) one near accommodation
• Collared Owlet (Glaucidium brodiei) one on Telecom Loop
• Glossy Swiftlet (Collocalia esculenta) a few along Telecom Loop
• Black-nest Swiftlet (Aerodramus maximus) daily
• House Swift (Apus nipalensis) daily
• Red-headed Trogon (Harpactes erythrocephalus) a few heard along Telecom Loop
• Fire-tufted Barbet (Psilopogon pyrolophus) daily
• Gold-whiskered Barbet (Megalaima chrysopogon) daily
• Red-throated Barbet (Megalaima mystacophanos) heard often near the Gap
• Black-browed Barbet (Megalaima oorti) daily
• Yellow-crowned Barbet (Megalaima henricii) a few heard near the Gap
• Blue-eared Barbet (Megalaima australis) heard near the Gap
• Lesser Yellownape (Picus chlorolophus) seen occasionally along Telecom Loop
• Banded Broadbill (Eurylaimus javanicus) heard near the Gap
• Black-and-yellow Broadbill (Eurylaimus ochromalus) heard near the Gap
• Rusty-naped Pitta (Pitta oatesi) heard on a single afternoon along the Telecom Loop
• Pacific Swallow (Hirundo tahitica) common
• Large Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina macei) a few along Telecom Loop
• Black-crested Bulbul (Pycnonotus melanicterus) a few near the Gap
• Orange-bellied Leafbird (Chloropsis hardwickii) daily
• Lesser Shortwing (Brachypteryx leucophrys) heard daily along Telecom Loop
• Yellow-bellied Prinia (Prinia flaviventris) a few near the Gap
• Mountain Tailorbird (Orthotomus cuculatus) daily
• Chestnut-crowned Warbler (Seicercus castaniceps) daily
• Rufous-browed Flycatcher (Ficedula solitaris) daily
• Little Pied Flycatcher (Ficedula westermanni) twice along Telecom Loop
• Verditer Flycatcher (Eumyias thalassina) once along Telecom Loop
• Large Niltava (Niltava grandis) one or two daily
• Gray-headed Canary-flycatcher (Culicicapa ceylonensis) heard daily along Telecom Loop
• Oriental Magpie-Robin (Copsychus saularis) daily
• Chestnut-naped Forktail (Enicurus ruficapillus) once observed near waterfall 4 km below the Gap
• Slaty-backed Forktail (Enicurus schistaceus) numerous at Jeriau Falls and along small creeks at Fraser's Hill
• White-throated Fantail (Rhipidura albicollis) a few along Telecom Loop
• Black Laughingthrush (Garrulax lugubris) a small flock found once at the highest point along the Telecom Loop
• Chestnut-capped Laughingthrush (Garrulax mitratus) common
• Chestnut-crowned Laughingthrush (Garrulax erythrocephalus) a few each day
• Buff-breasted Babbler (Pellorneum tickelli) a few each day
• Pygmy Wren-Babbler (Pnoepyga pusilla) heard most days
• Golden Babbler (Stachyris chrysaea) daily
• Grey-throated Babbler (Stachyris nigriceps) daily
• Silver-eared Mesia (Leiothrix argentauris) daily
• White-browed Shrike-Babbler (Pteruthius flaviscapis) daily
• Blue-winged Minla (Minla cyanouroptera) daily
• Mountain Fulvetta (Alcippe peracensis) daily
• Long-tailed Sibia (Heterophasia picaoides) daily
• Sultan Tit (Melanochlora sultanea) flock of 20 on once occasion
• Black-throated Sunbird (Aethopyga saturata) a few times at gardens.
• Streaked Spiderhunter (Arachnothera flavigaster) daily
• Fire-breasted Flowerpecker (Prionochilus maculatus) daily
• Everett's White-eye (Zosterops everetti) small flock near Jeriau Falls and along Telecom Loop
• Asian Fairy-bluebird (Irena puella) near the Gap
• Bronzed Drongo (Dicrurus aeneus) a few along Telecom Loop
• Lesser Racket-tailed Drongo (Dicrurus remifer) daily
• Eurasian Tree Sparrow (Passer montanus) near accommodation

[Psyche]

Another oopsie to correct, David. This should be the last.

The little lycaenid in post 61 is Udara dilecta. The underside is just too white & there are little differences in the spots.
This should be the last.

TL Seow

[moloch]

Thanks for the update, Seow. I changed the text.

[moloch]

I had a look through my Fraser's Hill photos again and realized that I have overlooked one of the more interesting swallowtails.

This swallowtail was puddling in the same area where I had photographed Red Helens earlier in the day near Jeriau Falls. The white was more extensive and it had blue markings on the outer hind wings. I mistakenly thought that it was another Red Helen and only took a couple of quick shots. I believe that this was a Great Helen (Papilio iswara), correct?

[Commander]

Yup. You got a Great Helen there...

They rarely puddle over here in Singapore