Sabah, March-April 2019

[Banded Yeoman]

Interesting that they're not as dimorphic as P. memnon

Maybe they are! These are the only images I can find of the female. There's not much mention of it from the books I've been reading after the trip too.

I'll be continuing with more of my favourite sightings from Sabah. These shots are very special to me.

One of the most memorable encounters was the extraordinary Rajah Brooke's Birdwing trogonoptera brookiana brookiana (Wallace, 1855). This is the nominate subspecies, the same one that was first described by Wallace from the forests of Borneo. Above the stream, they would soar along the clearing in the trees, patrolling the forest and flashing brilliant emerald whenever they danced into the sunlight. It's magical to think that this is likely similar to what Wallace saw all those years ago. On the last day, one landed right at my feet. I can still remember the adrenaline rush of watching it, fiery green and velvet-black, with shivering wings so that the colours changed with every wing-beat: a glittering piece of history.



This next species was only encountered once, in the afternoon, on the mossy forest trail. While trying to remove some bees from my frame, it suddenly got frightened and flew off into the treetops. The beautiful Bornean endemic:
The Bornean Sawtooth (Prioneris cornelia)



As with all the species in this post, this was my first time seeing this iconic forest butterfly. The blue bands on the upperside really stood out against the dark forest. This Bornean subspecies seems a bit duller on the underside, with a whiter forewing band.
The Blue Begum (Prothoe frank borneensis)



I didn't see as many lycaenids as I wanted - but this was expected - and the cloudy afternoons didn't help. On the first day, though, it was sunny all the way and this gave me a very rare species at 4pm. A small insect descend from the trees opposite the stream. I unfortunately only have a record shot of the underside (it's gorgeous), which confirms the ID.
The White-Craved Posy (Drupadia estella estella)



The last one is another iconic butterfly which I had previously only seen in the zoo. Seeing them fly in the wild was incredible. Uncle Khew mentioned that this Bornean subspecies is particularly large too, adding to the impressivenes. While naturally brown, their wings became beautiful greenish gradients when taken with flash.
The Bornean Oakleaf (Kallima buxtoni) (*from Dr Seow's post, this matches the description of the species, rather than K. inachus)