Amongst the Melastoma

Melastoma malabathricum, the Singapore Rhododendron, is a

common shrub that grows aggressively in disturbed habitats such

as secondary forests and grasslands. Their fruits are oval and break

open to reveal purple black flesh dotted with pale seeds. The name

'melastoma' is Greek for 'black mouth'; the pulp stains! Birds,

monkeys and butterflies love them. A top customer is the common

Purple Duke. This one is a male.

For the past few weeks I have been visiting Mandai forest

because there is an abundance of melastoma bushes. Many forest

species that dwell in the treetops descend to feed when there are
fruits. This is a Lance Sergeant enjoying a sip of the astringent juice.

In the previous post, I talked about one member of the flos

butterflies, a family of rare forest gems. Out of the total four,

one, the BIfid Plushblue had eluded me completely. Yesterday

when I was in Mandai, I struck gold. Here is the female that I

managed to shoot; my first bifid.

The name 'bifid' comes from the dark bifid (split into two) marking

on the hindwing. It looks a little like an 'n'. 

That wraps up my collection of the flos family! Another flos that

was about was the Shining Plushblue, just as rare.

One of our more common forest butterflies, the Malayan Lascar

is extremely fond of the fruit. Almost every bush had one of these

delicate butterflies feeding away. They are generally skittish but

the juice from the fruits seems to intoxicate them, making them

more willing to stay for a shot or two.

Melastoma bushes are excellent butterfly magnets, luring them out

from their shady forest habitats. This makes photographing them

so much easier. Amongst the melestoma there are many surprises!

The Darky Plushblue

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilada! I usually would not be able to shoot
on a Tuesday but this one was a public holiday. I was in luck. I saw
all four species of our flos butterflies, a family I have become rather
obsessed with. The flos are a group of forest-dwelling lycaenids that 
have wonderful colours. All are skittish insects and are strong fliers. 
One of the species I encountered was the Darky Plushblue, the least 
common of the lot. This is a male.

The darky plushblue is deep umber underneath, with a series
of paler bands that are covered in metallic scales, reflecting
shades of blue and violet at certain angles. They are rarely
observed but are attracted to fruiting melestoma bushes. While
the termen (outer edge) of the forewing in the female is rounded,
the males' are straight.















I was fortunate enough to observe a few individuals, as opposed
to the usual single specimen. From afar, their brilliant colours are
actually inconspicuous and dull, only illuminating with the extra light 
from a camera flash. On top, they are even more spectacular. Even
the female, the often duller gender, has a glowing violet upperside.

My luck with shooting the fantastic uppersides ended with that 
female, who was basking in the cool morning air. As for the male, 
whose upperside is extensively ultramarine with a thin black border, 
I managed only this glimpse.

However, in flight, these colours are once again hidden. They
seem black when they fly and do not flash their gaudy wings. Perhaps
this is because the blue that we see is a result of the wing scales' 
micro structure and not pigment. As always, the most spectacular 
butterflies have to be the shyest. Here are some of the "record 
shots" I earned from hours of chasing them in the sweltering heat.

You can get a rough idea of its size by comparing it against
the fly. Here it is feeding on a melastoma fruit; a butterfly magnet.

This was the first time I had seen this lovely jewel. It is really
quite something to see a new species, as even though I have 
drooled over others' pictures of the darky plushblue, nothing 
comes close to actually seeing it. It seems to be doing well at
its colony at the moment and I hope the presence of their caterpillar
host plant keeps them around.

Pasir Ris in Dodgy Weather

With that, I declare my streaming examinations over! Freedom.

Now that I have more time on my hands, I will resume to watering 

this place weekly. Today I had my batteries charged up but the

weather was not so enthusiastic. There were passing showers and 

drizzles, none of which kept the butterflies away. The Pasir Ris 

kitchen garden was looking brilliant and the usual suspects were

around. This is the ever common, Common tit.

There were plenty of Plain and Glassy tigers fluttering around

the bidens flowers, which almost seem to have invaded the 

garden. With so many flying around, it was difficult to isolate

just one to zoom in on. Here is a plain tiger.

The false dill plant was flowering too, Blue Glassy Tigers were
swarming around it. 

Flying around non-stop were the leopards. They seemed to
prefer feeding at the top of the string bushes, which were 
tall and looking great. The leopards are always skittish and
fly erratically. I managed to get a single shot amongst the multiple 
failed attempts.

It felt good to be back shooting. During the exam period, I
came down with an awful virus (was it dengue?). I had terrible
headaches, fevers and aches. Some nasty hives appeared all over
me too. Thankfully the storm has blown over and there are only
clear skies ahead. ;)

Dinner with the Archduke

To be precise, dinner with the ArchdukeS. Figuratively of course;

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. 

(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.