Tuesday 30 August 2011

Semanga superba deliciosa

Hi guys, in this blog post I'd like to share a little about
the butterfly 'semanga superba deliciosa'. It is rare and
quite local here in Singapore. The females are more often
observed as they tend to come out to forest clearings. The
elusive males stay deep inside the forest reserves.

Sightings of the adults are usually confined to the Central
Catchment forests and the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. Both
the males and females like to hide in between leaves or deep in
a bush, out of reach from predators. But this also makes them
hard to shoot! The flight is weak and fluttery and they never
like the sun - you are more likely to see one where there is
plenty of shade.
The female semanga is brilliant purple on top, with a broad
black border on the forewing. It is much more bluish than
the male, that has thinner black borders. The underside is
buff with a lovely pattern of blue, black, red and orange on
the hindwing. The male is duller and darker, and has only 2
pairs of tails, whereas the female has 3.
It is a small lycaenid, and has a wingspan of say,27mm.
Despite being rare it has many host plants! Here is a list:

. melastoma malabathricum
. macrosolen cochinchinensis
. mallotus paniculatus
. saraca cauliflora
. bridelia tormentosa
. kopsia fruticosa
. trema tormentosa

Well, that's all for now.
The End.

Saturday 27 August 2011

Potanthus Mingo !!!

A month or two ago, I found this strange looking skipper
deep inside the central catchment forests. The dark shading on
the edges of the orange spots was unusual so I decided to chase it.
After I got home, Uncle Seow, the butterfly ID expert told me it
was the potanthus mingo. - A new record for Singapore!
The identity was confirmed by this shot showing the
upperside. However, even more recently, a few old
potanthus shots that some butterflycircle members dug up
also showed p. mingo! In fact, p. mingo had all along occurred
in Singapore. Perhaps the early researchers overlooked them.
Now, there are at least 3 more 'new' potanthus species
identified from old shots! As common or normal they may
seem, these butterflies should be documented in detail
and I'm sure there are many more out there waiting to
be seen or dug up. :)


The End