A Rediscovery and The Prime Minister - UBIN DAY

Pulau Ubin: An offshore island from Singapore and our last kampung. It's Singapore before all the tall buildings went up - natural, wild and rustic. Last Sunday, we had a celebration of all things Ubin - organised by the amazing Grant Pereira and Ria Tan, Ubin Day 2014 saw a huge range of activities to bring the public closer to the heritage and biodiversity of the little island. Here's something you don't often see on your way to Ubin, a traffic jam!

ButterflyCircle was there to show some registered participants around Butterfly Hill and to teach them about butterflies. I was attached to a really wonderful group of students and their enthusiastic teacher, who were there to learn more in order to set up a butterfly garden. We saw some pretty cool things: a Mottled Emigrant came to lay eggs just in front of us, we found a number of uncommon butterflies and I got them to get right up close with the butterflies that were willing. One of the rarer species around was this form-agenor female of the Great Mormon.

This stunning giant was laying eggs on the pomelo bush and caught everyone's attention. The great mormon is polymorphic, so the female occurs in many greatly differing forms, some of which have not been seen in years. Better still, my group got to see something extremely special - a rediscovery! A strikingly patterned butterfly was flitting incessantly around a tree trunk and I knew straight away that we had something new. And it was - a rediscovery for Singapore, the Malayan Nawab (polyura moori)! It has been suspected to still be extant here and now we have the proof. 

The excitement, however, didn't stop there. We were extremely honoured to have a different kind of visitor to the hill, The Prime Minister of Singapore. He - along with his troop of bodyguards, cameramen and the press - came to find out more about the hill and it's fluttering inhabitants. We took him around on a little tour and shared our knowledge of butterflies with him. What struck me was how willing he was to talk to us and hear our thoughts. Here's me sharing some of the places I love to go for butterflies.

Photo by Mr Loke PF

He was also incredibly friendly and down to earth so after having a short discussion about butterflies, we just had to take some pictures with him. Yes, by pictures, I mean we-fies. It's not everyday that you get to do this! There I am, beaming from the back. As you can see, height is something I don't have very much of...

Photo by Lemon TYK, whose in front

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong also announced at the opening of the event, several plans for Ubin which were mostly about preserving the rustic charm of Ubin and enhancing it. I think it is great that the government is getting involved in the conservation of natural places like Ubin. Hopefully, with events like Ubin Day, more people will understand and respect nature and maybe even get down to help in the race to conserve. I had an amazing time on Ubin Day, all thanks to Mr Khew for inviting me and of course, Mr Grant and Ria for their inexhaustible passion and energy. Here's to the wilderness!

Male Banded Flower Mantis in Singapore!

Continuing from my previous post about the tiger orchids, here is one of my most exciting non-butterfly encounters: a small, delicate insect found hiding behind the giant orchid blossoms - a mantis. I was combing the orchid plant for butterflies when I saw it staring right at me. Encountering a mantis is quite unusual for me so I decided to look closer and take a few pictures.

It was an inconspicuous insect, only around 2cm long and given its intricate patterns of pink and green with whitish bands, it was surprisingly hard to spot from afar when it moved off somewhere else. Until I reached home, the little creature stayed a pretty mantis and nothing more but that changed when Mr Kurt cleared its identity. It was a Theopropus elegans, The Banded Flower Mantis and it was a male.

The banded flower mantis is strictly a forest dependent species and in Singapore, it is very rare. There have been a few sightings in the past that mainly come from the central catchment nature reserves. Surprisingly, no male specimens have been encountered here as of 2008 and I an unaware of any more recent records - possibly making this one the first!

Ferocious predators, these mantids are known to hunt a wide range of insects - flies, moths, grasshoppers and even katydids. I suspect this male had been lured out from the adjacent Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, where there have been previous records of females, by the flowering orchids which attracted a great number of insect prey. The females are over twice the size of the males and their colour ranges from green to a stunning pink.

I am still in shock, having seen such a rare and beautiful creature. It was pure luck that I encountered it. Interestingly, a female was observed around the same time amongst tiger orchids at a different location. It is encouraging to know that this lovely mantis is still breeding in the depths of our small forest patches and hopefully we would be able to study it better in the future.  

I owe almost all my knowledge of the banded flower mantis to this fantastic report, published in 2008 by T.M. Leong and Npark's S.C. Teo. It documents previous sightings and also follows the rearing of the mantid's eggs. I believe it may also be the only comprehensive report on this species from our little island so give it a read!

On The Prowl: Tiger Orchids

There are tigers roaming in Singapore - well, almost. Recently, many nondescript fern-like plants all over the island have been set ablaze by thousands of fiery flowers. These huge plants, some two metres tall, are tiger orchids - and they're in bloom. 

This spectacle only happens every four or five years and lasts for up to two months when it does. Many of the tiger orchids planted in Singapore flowered last year in May: our first flowering season since they went extinct in the wild here a long time ago. I'm guessing that these plants in bloom now are the ones which did not flower last year. In an effort to reintroduce various orchid species in Singapore, tiger orchids have been planted in many locations, one of them being my favourite haunt, Dairy Farm Nature Park.

The tiger orchid (Grammatophyllum speciosum) is the world's largest orchid species, in terms of the entire plant's size. Some specimens span over three metres wide and weigh close to two thousand kilogrammes! It is distributed in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Myanmar and the Philippines, growing as an epiphyte (on trees - very strong ones given their weight) in lowland rainforests. However, they seem to do just as well growing on the ground. When not sporting metre-long inflorescences, they appear like ferns; their leaves are thin and strap like.

The flowers grow up to about ten centimetres wide and are yellow, with dazzling crimson spotting, and smell wonderful; soft and sticky-sweet, of ylang ylang and mangoes. It is no wonder there were so many bees swarming around the flowers purposefully. Quite a few joggers were drawn to take a whiff and admire the sheer number of flowers too. 

With the end of this flowering season, the tiger orchids will become adorned with dangling seed pods and hopefully a few of the billions of minuscule seeds released will drift in the wind and settle in a crevice on a strong tree, waiting to start a new generation of tiger orchids. And until the next flowering season, the orchids will be much quieter and plainer, dressed only in dull green leaves. 


PS: Over the next few posts, I'll share some of the (just as exciting) critters that the orchids attracted.

Banded Leaf Monkeys!

In Singapore, the word 'Monkey' often refers to the ever common Long Tailed Macaque. They are found in every corner of our forests and have now spread to urban areas too. Many of us forget that we actually have another species of monkey - the critically endangered Banded Leaf Monkey, which was at one point in time thought to be extinct in Singapore.

During the mid 1980s, the population of banded leaf monkeys hit a low of around 10 individuals; a single troop deep in the forests of the central catchment nature reserve. Their future seemed bleak. However, four years ago, National University of Singapore student Andie Ang found that the monkeys were hanging on and that the population had grown to about forty individuals. There was hope.

The banded leaf monkey is dark grey with with paler lips and a grey underside. Their tails are often even longer than their body length. it is an arboreal monkey and unlike the long tailed macaque, it rarely descends to the ground. Being very shy, they are hardly seen. I was exceedingly excited when I encountered this small group of about four monkeys passing through the forest. I initially thought they were the usual macaques, but when I looked up into the canopy, I saw black monkeys! The group seemed to be on the move in search of food.














It's a relief to know that they are still surviving. However, I think that there isn't enough awareness about their story. While research is quietly going on in the background to uncover more about them so as to conserve them, people need to know about them. The banded leaf monkey is Singapore's reminder that nature is fragile and needs to be respected.

References:
http://evolution.science.nus.edu.sg/monkey.html
http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/mammals/banded-leaf-monkey.htm

Two Surprises from Today

The haze is upon us and the drought isn't getting any better. Today I 
took a walk in upper seletar reservoir only to find a hopelessly dry 
and sparse forest. The health of our forests has been deteriorating 
over the past few years for one reason or the other but it is sad to 
see the extent of the damage. The first surprise was a new species 
for me; the lesser harlequin. 

The lesser harlequin is a small little butterfly from the Riodinidae
family; the metalmarks. This family is very well represented in
Central and South America, where they have a huge diversity of
fantastical metalmarks. The five species we have in Singapore 
are no less beautiful. The lesser harlequin is brick red underneath,
adorned with black and metallic blue spots. This is a female. 
Males are all black on top.

It stayed close to the ground and had a weak hopping flight. Each 
time it landed, it would pivot around a few times before hopping on
to the next leaf. I followed it in the undergrowth for a good half an
hour to get these pictures. I was not expecting to see it in such a

degraded part of the forest as it is supposed to live in much denser
growth.

I walked by the second surprise many times so I was shocked to 
find out it was actually there. Singapore does not have many
native mammals roaming our forests. One of them is the ever 
common wild boar and another is the Colugo. The Flying Lemur.

I only noticed the colugo hanging on to the tree on the umpteenth
time I walked past it. It was very well camouflaged in the dappled
vegetation. Colugos grow to about 40cm in length. They are the 
most capable mammal gliders on the planet and their membrane of
skin that joins the tip of the fingers to the tip of the toes allows
them to glide for great distances (up to 70m) between trees. They
are herbivores and eat largly leaves. This is my second time seeing 
one wild. Despite the depressed forest, today wasn't all that bad.

After the drizzle @ Upper Seletar

Yesterday it drizzled and drizzled. I needed a break from school 

work badly but the weather did not seem to agree with me; neither

did the butterflies. It was only after an hour or so that the sky 

cleared a little, letting some light in. This pristine common faun 

was the first to cross my path.

The common faun is always a familiar sight in our forests, often 

flying very close to ground and disappearing upon landing. While

it may not seem to be a very interesting butterfly due to its drab 

colours and abundance, its eyes are a burst of colour. The upperside,

too, is rather bright, being a rusty orange that flashes as it flies.

The sun finally decided to poke out from behind the clouds. A female

purple duke was fluttering around the ground. At first glance, she 

appeared to be puddling; a behavior not commonly associated with 

females. However it turned out that she was feeding on minerals on the leaves.

I was scouring a hedge line for anything interesting when I noticed 

something resting on a leaf. Longish shape, black, some yellow... 

definitely not a butterfly. It was cicada; a black and golden cicada. 

When it took off, it revealed a yellow abdomen, which it also 

exposes when calling.

The day was certainly getting brighter. I was shocked when a malay

lacewing glided out of the forest and onto the grass. It was unmistakable;

with its stunning combination of metallic black, white and glowing

sunset orange. This one was a male. The female sports a paler orange. 

The malay lacewing was arguably the highlight of the day. It came to

feed on some ixora blooms as well, but it was very active and 

I was unable to get any good shots. The underside is even more 
dazzling, with patterns of golden brown, red, black and white. It 
is one of our most colourful butterflies, and was a joy to watch.

Many other butterflies were seen, but only in glimpses and flashes.

Back to reality, my shots have really deteriated. It's obvious. I bet I'm

just out of practice. While I would love to shoot more, this year was 

destined to be a busy one. While my exams have recently passed, they

are nearly on me again. I think I will cease the self- pity here. Thanks

for reading!

Survey @ the Singapore Zoo

Last Saturday, ButterflyCircle conducted a smashing butterfly

survey at the Singapore Zoo. The species encountered would

be used as a baseline for further conservation efforts! That day,

our group of 12, spotted a total of 42 different species! One of

the most common butterflies was the Chocolate Demon.

They were attracted by the numerous Torch Gingers.

ButterflyCircle previously collaborated with the zoo to

transplant the torch gingers from the (now closed) Mandai

Orchid Garden. This was an amazing effort to save a rare

species, the Metallic Caerulean.

We were excited to spot this lovely metallic caerulean there,

as it proved that the efforts had paid off! Another beautiful

butterfly had been saved. Hopefully these jamides butterflies

will continue to strive there! Below is a much more common

relative, which was spotted as well, the Common Caerulean.

Among the wild grassy patches, a few speedy skippers

were spotted. One of them was the caltoris bromus, a new

addition for Singapore's check-list, where its presence here

was confirmed by our fantastic butterfly breeder, Mr. Horace Tan,

who first bred the caterpillars. This is another skipper that was seen,

the Yellow Grass Dart.

Another butterfly that was spotted many times that day

was this Peacock Pansy. It has beautiful orange wings, and was

very conspicuous.

With many rare species encountered, the survey was

a total success. I was very happy to be part of this wonderful

event, and I hope that I can participate in even more surveys

next time. I am still settling in to Secondary school life, but I

think I am doing all right. Kudos to ButterflyCircle for this super

conservation effort!

The End.

A quick walk at SBG

Today, after the Biodiversity Festival and the launch of

the amazing new caterpillar book by ButterflyCircle's Mr Horace

Tan and Mr Khew Sin Khoon, I finally felt the urge to get back out to

shoot. We decided to check out the newly completed side of SBG at

the Botanics MRT station. Not far from the entrance, we spotted a

group of bamboo tree browns at the bamboo clumps.

They were so hard to track, flying in and out of the thick bamboo

growths then landing deep in the undergrowth, and even harder

to photograph. The bamboo tree brown is an uncommon species

here. When I was trying to nail them, there were many

common palmflies that 'distracted' me. This is a male.

The most surprising encounter, however was this common

duffer. Contrary to what the name suggests, the duffer is very

rare here. I was shocked to see it there, and even more surprised

to see how large it was, since this was the first time I spotted one.

This is my pathetic record shot.

It was tattered and skittish but I was still really happy

to see this magnificent butterfly.

The End.

Back to USR

On Saturday we went back to USR. Now that the exams
are over, I am freeee! I met Uncle Cher Hern and Uncle
Federick there. :) In a clearing of the forest, there were
lots of yamflies, and one big orange butterfly! The colonel!
It was the first time I had seen it and it is really skittish!

I will try to get better shots next time, but these are
just for the record. The colonel will come down to low
levels and be less alert around the early hours from 8am-10am.

The semanga was there, but it flew off too quickly.
But there were still many yamflies to shoot. Here is a
half-tail-gone yamfly.

At the grassy area behind the toilets, this yellow grass
dart was zipping around. It is one of the similar looking
skippers and this one is moderately common.

Well, that's all I have, so... ...


The End and please comment.

Sime Forest Birthday outing

This was my very first trip to Sime forest. I met
Liyana, Anthony and Uncle Chern hern there.
Here is a fresh stink horn. In fact, it smelt rather
pleasing; like banana cake. I havn't quite nailed
down what species it is, due to the strange cap.

The first butterfly spotted was a male archduke,
which I didn't manage to shoot. But I got this
Small branded Swift resting on a fern.

At the puddling ground, there were already many

butterflies waiting for us. The photo below shows

two blue jays. ( butterflies, not birds )

Two or three of these brightly-coloured Cruisers

were puddling on the mud, opening and closing

their wings slowly. Cruisers are very approachable

when puddling, making them easy to shoot.

This was the first time I encountered the lovely

Five bar Swordtail. Sadly, this one was a five bar

no tail. :( It should have two long 'swords' on the

hindwing.

Around that same patch of mud, the tailed jay also came

to visit. It was quick, and only stayed for a few

seconds. Luckily I managed a decent shot.

The highlight of the day was definitely the common

bluebottles. there were say five of them zipping

around. They are my favourite butterflies, and

that is why I call myself 'Bluebottle'. The bottles

were hard to approach though...

Sometimes a single blue jay would join in the

congregations.

The best shot of the day, for me, was this Chocolate

grass Yellow. Sharp from head to tail, and creamy

back ground.

This cute Malayan Sunbeam was puddling on a

plastic bag at first, but later flew up to a leaf.

Liyana and I took turns to shoot it.

Finally, on the way back, this small butterfly called

the Common line Blue was spotted puddling on a red

pebble.

The end.

Please comment.