this is still essentially a nature blog, so do not expect to see me at
a feast with Austrian royals. In the butterfly world, archdukes are
large and robust species from the genus of lexias. Singapore is
home to three species. This is the most common, lexias paradalis.
home to three species. This is the most common, lexias paradalis.
(In English, The Archduke)
In the late afternoon, most butterflies retire and settle under leaves
for the night. By 5pm, the forests are usually quiet. Apart from the
skittish branded imperial hopping around, probably the only
butterflies that still active are the archdukes. The second species
is the Black Tipped Archduke, l. dirtea. This species is distinguished
by sporting entirely black antennae. This is a female.
Archdukes are forest butterflies, and are often seen zigzaging
through the undergrowth. They tend to land on the leaf litter but
I have seen startled individuals scoot off into the trees. Males are
velvety black with a lovely blue marginal band. While the male and
female differ in the earlier two, they look the same for our last
species; lexias canescens, the Yellow Archduke. It is the rarest
of the lot.
They aren't easy to shoot either. Being extremely wary to the
slightest movements, they often race away before I spot them.
Of course this might sound like a cheap excuse to explain the
terrible pictures but I am being honest. In fact, most of my shots
look like this:
Ugh... Worst still, the dark conditions they frequent need flash to
illuminate. The result is terrible colour reproduction. The wonderful
blues of the male that our eyes perceive (and that I have not shown
you yet) are diluted into a milky colour. Yes, this is the upperside of
the male.
Sometimes pictures cannot do justice to the butterflies. Therefore I
present this blogs first video! My hands were shaky in the low light
but I am really happy with how the colours look. Plus, this is truly
the next best thing to going out into the dim jungle and seeing it
yourself. Ladies and gentlemen, the Archduke.
With that I'll end off my little babble about the archdukes.
With that I'll end off my little babble about the archdukes.