Butterfly Photography at our Local Parks

Butterfly Photography and Watching at our Local Parks
Featuring : Alexandra Hospital Butterfly Trail



About Alexandra Hospital

Alexandra Hospital is a 400-bed hospital located in the West of Singapore. Nestled on an 11 Hectare site, the hospital is a picture of tranquil setting, lined with mostly colonial style buildings built since the late 1930’s. From its humble start in 1971 when it was handed over to the Government of Singapore, the hospital underwent various transformations and enhancements of its medical services to the public.

The hospital was restructured and became a member of the National Healthcare Group on 1 Oct 2000. Under the stewardship of the CEO Liak Teng Lit, the hospital became well known for its innovation and service excellence. Besides the initiatives on the medical and services fronts, the hospital grounds were also attractively landscaped and the colourful Canna bushes welcomed visitors to the grounds of Alexandra Hospital (or AH, as we all know it)

How It all Started

It started with an article which I wrote in the July 2001 issue of Gardenwise, the newsletter of the Singapore Botanic Gardens, featuring butterflies. CEO Liak, who was then a Board Member of the National Parks Board, read the article, and invited me to give a talk at AH during their Clean and Green Week in 2001. He wondered if it was possible for AH to feature more butterfly species than the Singapore Botanic Gardens!

One of his staff, Mrs Rosalind Tan, was assigned to start the butterfly trail at AH. With a little bit of help from some NSS enthusiasts, the landscaping for an open patch of green in the valley between the main blocks of AH and Alexandra Road began. Butterfly host plants as well as nectaring plants were planted in the valley, and paths created around the lush landscaping. With Rosalind's tireless enthusiasm, and her supportive other half, retired architect Tan Wee Lee, and the AH gardeners, the rest, as they say, is history.

After about 2 years, the landscaping with a myriad of butterfly host and nectaring plants worked wonderfully, and Singapore's first free-ranging butterfly trail was born!

Fast forward to 2008. After seven years, the AH Butterfly Trail is still lush, green and full of life. In April 2007, AH recorded its 100th species - a Chestnut Angle. The checklist for AH stands at 101 at the end of 2007. (Links to ButterflyCircle Forums. Please register an account)

Butterfly Photography at the AH Butterfly Trail

The AH Butterfly Trail is an excellent location for fledgling butterfly photographers. On a typical sunny day, there would often be at least 10 species to shoot. Amongst the more common ones are the Blue and Dark Glassy Tigers, as well as the attendant Common Palmfly and Chocolate Pansy. Often seen are the Emigrants - Lemon, Mottled and Orange, the Common Mormon, Lime Butterfly, and Baron. Over the years, the tally of 101 species includes some of the rare Lycaenids and Hesperiids which visit the trail occasionally.

With the host plant Aristolochia acuminata (formerly referred to as tagala), AH Butterfly Trail often features the two butterflies which feed on this plant - the Common Birdwing, and the Common Rose. A unique subspecies, possibly antiphus also flies at this trail. It is always breathtaking to see the large and spectacular black-and-yellow Common Birdwing fly around the trail, and during a good season, up to six individuals can be seen, gliding high above the trail.

The popular spots for butterfly photography are at the sunlit areas where the Common Snakeweed, Lantana and Indian Heliotrope grow. These flowering plants are the favourites for the Glassy Tigers, Grass Yellows and many Skippers.

In the shadier areas of the trail, one can often encounter Skippers like the Chocolate Demon, Paintbrush Swift and the Grass Demon. The flowers of Pagoda Flower, and many other flowering plants along the trail also attract a variety of butterflies to feed on them.

Besides butterflies, the Trail is also home to a rich biodiversity of flora and fauna, and it is not unusual to observe the Web of Life lessons at this trail, where predators and victims of all shapes and sizes inhabit the trail. An observant enthusiast can often see butterflies mating, laying eggs, and a variety of caterpillars in various instars on the host plants at the Trail.

Other Areas for Photography at AH

Beyond the Butterfly Trail, there are also areas which are good for macro photography. Amongst these are the Medicinal Garden, the Eco Pond and all around the lushly landscaped grounds of the hospital.

What the Future Holds

It has been seven years since the start of the Butterfly Trail, and till today, the Trail has its regular weekend photography visitors, each hoping to nail a better shot of a species of butterfly. Moving on, it is sad to note that AH will be moving north to Yishun where the new 550-bed Khoo Teck Puat Hospital is currently under construction. Expected to be completed and fully operational in early 2010, the KTPH will replace AH.

What will happen to the hospital grounds after AH is vacated? It is likely that the hospital will continue to be operational for a few more years thereafter, and beyond 2014, the premises are likely to be redeveloped for other uses. It would be sad to see the AH Butterfly Trail go, as for many butterfly photographers, the Trail was the start of many years of butterfly watching and shooting, having whetted the appetites and enthusiasm of many an avid butterfly photographer.

On the positive side, many other similar trails are being planned or already in existence. The experience and knowledge gained from the experiment with AH has been shared with the National Parks Board, and many parks, park connectors and gardens have been planted with butterfly-attracting plants to increase the butterfly biodiversity in our parks and gardens. One such successful example is the Butterfly Hill at Pulau Ubin. The new KTPH hospital at Yishun will also feature its own butterfly trail around the Yishun Pond. Work has started, and it will be a matter of time before the lush landscaping and tender loving care from Mrs Rosalind Tan and other enthusiasts will re-create a new butterfly trail at the new location.

How to Get There

Getting to the AH Butterfly Trail is quite easy, as it is just off the main road (Alexandra Road), and it is very accessible. Parking is chargeable if you drive, at the prevailing rates that the hospital charges. There is also a cafeteria at AH where you can stop for refreshments after a good session of shooting butterflies at the Trail.

Map of Alexandra Hospital


Text and Photos by Khew SK

Life History of the Narrow Spark

Life History of the Narrow Spark (Sinthusa nasaka amba)



Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Sinthusa Moore, 1884
Species: nasaka Horsfield, 1829
Subspecies: amba Kirby, 1878
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 25mm
Caterpillar Host Plants: Eurya acuminata (Theaceae)

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
The adults closely resemble adults of Common Tit, a larger and more common species. Above, the male is dark brown on the forewing with deep blue tinge at basal half, and the hindwing is mostly violet blue with a dark brown costal border. The female is dark brown with a white tornal area bearing black spots in the hindwing. Underneath for both sexes, the post-discal line of narrow ochreous brown stripes is mostly continued on the forewing, but broken on the hindwing. A black tornal spot is present in space 2 and another on the lobe of the hindwing, with the tornal area rather sparsely dusted with metallic green scales.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
This small species is rather uncommon in Singapore. Sightings have been localized to a few area within the Central Catchment Reserve Area. Encounters with the adults typically take place in dim lighting condition under forest canopy.

Early Stages:

The host plant, Eurya acuminata, is a small tree with lanceolate or ovate-oblong leaves of length 4-9cm. The leaf has finely toothed margin and net-like tertiary veins. The twigs are round and glabrous (finely hairy). The flowers are minute (less than 0.5cm across) and arranged in 2-5 flowered inflorescence, axillary or along leafless twigs. Juice extract of tender leaves is drunk in some parts of the world to relieve dysentery and diarrhoea. Locally, this plant can be found in secondary forest alongside trails within the Central Catchment Reserve Area.


The host plant, Eurya acuminata, pictured with one female Narrow Spark trying to oviposit on the leaf underside

Eggs are laid singly on the a flower bud or on the stem/leaf adjacent to the buds. Each egg is green in color, small (about 0.4-0.5mm in diameter) and circular with a slightly depressed micropylar. The surface is finely sculptured with intersecting ridges. The egg is almost identical to eggs of Rapala species described in the literatures.

A female Narrow Spark ovipositing near a flower bud of the host plant

An egg of the Narrow Spark, about 0.5mm in diameter.

Three days later, the egg hatches with the young caterpillar eating away the upper portion of the egg shell to emerge. Measured at a length of about 0.8-0.9mm, it is cylindrical in shape, sporting long setae (hairs), a large dark brown head capsule and overall pale yellow body.

Mature egg (left), empty egg shell (right)

1st instar caterpillar, newly hatched, length: about 0.8mm

The 1st instar caterpillar bores into a flower bud and eats the developing flower parts within it. It feeds with its head in first, keeping its rear end close to the entrance for ejecting frass outside the bud. Usually the presence of caterpillar "hidden" in a particular hole is given away by tuffs of fine hair at the hole entrance and the presence of frass nearby.

Left to right, a 1st instar caterpillar re-entering a flower bud for its feast, length: 1.2mm

After 2 days of growth and reaching a length of about 2mm, the caterpillar moults to the next instar. Some caterpillars actually moult within a flower bud. The second instar caterpillar has numerous tubercles covering its body with short fine hairs protruding from them. There are small dark brown spots set against a light brown base color. As the caterpillar grows larger, more and more of the posterior end of its body will remain outside the flower bud as it feeds on the goodies within.


2nd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length:4mm

The 2nd instar caterpillar reaches a length of about 4.5mm, and after 3 days in this stage, it moults again. Keeping a similar appearance as in previous instar, the 3rd instar caterpillar has more prominent dorsal markings with a brown dorsal line. Tubercles lining the body segments in the sub-dorsal and sub-spiracular locations have become enlarged with tuffs of protruding setae. The typical lycaenid nectary organs (both the dorsal nectary organ and tentacular organs) are now discernible. The 3rd instar takes 3 days to complete with the body length reaching about 8.5mm.


3rd instar caterpillar checking out a flower bud, length: 8mm

The 4th (and final) instar caterpillar still has the same dorsal markings as in earlier instars, but the white diamond-shaped prothoracic shield now has prominent black spots at its 4 corners. Initially the body base color is pale brown with the 1st thoracic segment and the anal plate yellowish green. As the caterpillar grows, as depicted in the 3 figures below, the base color changes to yellowish brown and finally to yellow in the first three days of this instar. The sub-dorsal and sub-spiracular rows of tubercles become translucent to transparent in appearance, with some of them assuming a bluish coloration. Furthermore, as the body base color changes to yellow, the 5th abdominal segment also becomes darkened from the sub-dorsal to sub-spiracular area.

4th instar caterpillar, day 1 of 5 in this stage, length: 10mm


4th instar caterpillar, day 2 of 5 late in this stage, 12mm

4th instar caterpillar, day 3 of 5 in this stage, 14mm

The dorsal nectary organ and the tentacular organs on the 7th and 8th abdominal segments respectively are rather prominent in the final instar caterpillar. On the last day of the final instar, copious amount of clear fluid was observed to be excreted from the nectary organs of the shortened and decolorized caterpillar. These functioning nectary organs suggest a strong caterpillar-ant association in the wild.

The anterior segments of a 4th instar caterpillar, the nectary organs are annotated.

After five days of growth and reaching a maximum length of around 14mm in the the final instar, the body of the caterpillar becomes shortened and decolorized caterpillar. Soon it chooses a spot on the leaf surface to remain stationary and becomes a pre-pupatary larva. At this site, it prepares for pupation by spinning a silk girdle and a silk pad to which it attaches itself via cremastral hooks.


A pre-pupa of the Narrow Spark, showing a finished silk girdle securing it to
the leaf surface, also visible is clear fluid from a final purge.

Pupation takes place after 1 day of the pre-pupa stage. The hairy pupa has a shape typical of most lycaenid species, and a length of about 7.5mm. It is light brown dotted with small dark brown specks.


Two views of a pupa of the Narrow Spark.

Seven days later, the pupa becomes darkened in color signaling the imminent emergence of the adult. The uppersides of the forewings become visible through the now transparent pupal skin, allowing one to tell the gender of the soon-to-appear adult. The next day the adult butterfly emerges from the mature pupa.


Two views of mature pupa of the Narrow Spark


A newly eclosed female Narrow Spark resting on a perch


A male Narrow Spark resting on a perch in CCA

Acknowledgments:

I would like to express my gratitude to Prof Hugh Tan of NUS DBS and Ali Ibrahim of Nparks for providing confirmation of the host plant species ID.


References:

• The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.
• The Butterflies of Hong Kong, M. Bascombe, G. Johnston, F. Bascombe, Princeton University Pres 1999

Text and Photos by Horace Tan

Butterfly of the Month - July 2008

BUTTERFLY OF THE MONTH - JULY 2008
The Branded Imperial (Eooxylides tharis distanti)

This pretty forest butterfly is always present to greet visitors to the nature reserves of Singapore, never failing to delight nature enthusiasts with its bright orange colouration and long white tails. It is often seen fluttering in the shady understorey and thick vegetation, and rarely moving out to bright sunny areas. The Branded Imperial is local in distribution, but is not uncommon. Frequently, a few individuals are observed, frolicking and chasing each other in shady vegetation.

The wings are blackish brown above, with a white tornal patch on the hindwing. The underside is a reddish orange, with an unmarked forewing, with the hindwings featuring large black submarginal spots on the white tornal area which is fringed by an irregular black line, separating the white tornal patch from the orange area of the hindwing.

The eyes are an opaque jet black, as are the antennae, whilst the butterfly has black-and-white banded legs. There are three pairs of tails on the hindwings, of which the one at vein 2 is the longest, often measuring about 1cm in length.

The Branded Imperial has a short skipping flight, as it flits from perch to perch at usually no more than a metre above the ground. As with many Lycaenidae, the tails and 'eyespots' on the hindwings are believed to function as illusionary decoy to fool predators into attacking the tails rather than the vital part of the butterfly. Indeed, if one is to observe the Branded Imperial at rest, individual sometimes move their hindwings up and down and their tails twirl and move in the light forest breeze, giving it an appearance that the combination of the hindwing eyespots and the tails are the head and antennae of the butterfly.

Occasionally, several individuals can be observed feeding on the sap of young shoots of various species of forest plants, where the butterflies are so busy feeding on the sugary-sweet sap that they even allow observers to touch them!

The Branded Imperial's early stages have been recorded on its preferred host plant, Smilax bracteata, a forest climber which is considered a "pest" and a threat to the trees and large bushes onto which the vine climbs and slowly suffocates.

Text by Khew SK ; Photos by Khew SK, Mark Wong and James Chia

Life History of the Hieroglyphic Flat

Life History of the Hieroglyphic Flat (Odina hieroglyphica ortina)


Butterfly Biodata:
Genus: Odina Mabille, 1891
Species: hieroglyphica Butler, 1780Sub species: ortina Evans, 1941
Wingspan of Adult Butterfly: 32mm
Caterpillar Host Plants: Erycibe tomentosa (Convolvulaceae)

Physical Description of Adult Butterfly:
Male is yellow-orange, with yellow-orange markings framed by thick black lines on both wings. Female is paler yellow. The underside markings are similar in pattern but paler. The abdomen of the butterfly is stripped in orange and black. The Hieroglyphic Flat is a very distinctive-looking skipper, with the cryptic patterns reminiscent of the camouflage paint of a German Messerschmitt fighter plane in World War II.

Field Observations of Butterfly Behaviour:
This species is rarely encountered in Singapore. Over the last few years, it has been sighted in a dozen times in various areas in the Central Catchment Area, Southern Ridges and in an abandoned farm land in the west. It is a fast-flyer and can only be observed when the adults stop to feed on flowers and bird dropping, or when the females are carrying out oviposition routines of leaf hopping. When resting, as with other "flat" skippers, the adults have the habit of perching on leaf undersides.


The Hieroglyphic Flat feeding on bird dropping on a board walk (left),
and taking nectar in an open wasteland (right).

Early Stages: The host plant, Erycibe tomentosa, is a woody climber, and locally can be found on hedges, edges of forests and sides of forest trails, in areas such as the Central Catchment Area and Southern Ridges. On one occasion, Sunny Chir, an active Buttercircle member, chanced upon a female laying eggs on the host plant at the edge of the nature reserve, close to a row of private houses.


Host plant : Erycibe tomentosa

The eggs are laid singly at the leaf tip of a young leaf or mid-age leaf. Each egg is white and almost spherical with vertical ridges, and has a diameter of 0.8mm. As with other "flat" (such as the Chestnut Angle) skippers, the mother rubs the tip of her abdomen over the freshly laid egg, resulting in the egg being concealed in a mess of fine brown hairs.


Two views of the hairy eggs of the Hieroglyphic Flat.


Empty egg shell of the Hieroglyphic Flat.

It takes 3 days for the egg to hatch. The young caterpillar eats just enough of the shell to emerge, and has a length of about 2mm. It has the typical cylindrical shape for skipper caterpillars. It body is yellowish orange with a transverse black line right behind a black bilobed head. After leaving the egg shell, the 1st instar caterpillar makes its way to the leaf edge to construct its first leaf shelter. It rests within the shelter and ventures out to eat the leaf surface nearby. The intake of this diet gives the caterpillar a greenish undertone.


1st instar caterpillar, length: 2mm

A view of the leaves of the host plant, showing the location of an
empty egg shell, and small leaf shelter for the 1st instar caterpillar.

As with some other skipper species, the Hieroglyphic Flat caterpillars have been observed to ballistically eject their somewhat sticky faecal pellets (frass) at speed. In a home breeding environment, this also results in a splatter of frass on the inner side of the container wall next to the leaf shelter.
After 3 days in 1st instar and reaching a length of about 4mm, the caterpillar moults to the next instar within the shelter. It still has the same light yellowish body with a green undertone, but now numerous tiny whitish speckles become apparent. It reaches a length of about 6mm after 5 days of growth in this instar.

2nd instar caterpillar, 4mm


2nd Instar caterpillar, 6mm.


A 2nd Instar caterpillar almost done with the cut of the leaf blade in the construction of its leaf shelter.

The 3rd instar caterpillar has a similar appearance as in the previous instar. The 3rd instar lasts about 3-4 days with the body length reaches 10-11mm. The leaf shelters for the larger caterpillars in 3rd and later instars are made from bringing two edges of the leaf together with sinuous cuts and silk threads, resulting in a ``curry puff'' appearance.

3rd instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 7mm


3rd instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 10mm
The 4th instar caterpillar looks similar to the earlier instars with the only visible difference being the much more distinctive speckle pattern on its body, and two rows of small black spots dorsally on the first seven abdominal segments, with two spots to each body segment. The 4th instar takes about 4 to 6 days to complete with the body length reaching 17-18mm.


4th instar caterpillar, early in this stage, length: 10mm


4th instar caterpillar, ready to moult to the next stage, length: 15mm.

The head capsule of the final and 5th instar caterpillar has a brown or dark brown base color with pale brown to orange patches. The surface of the head capsule is covered with a layer of short fine hairs. Growth in this stage is rather slow and it takes about 14-15 days to complete with the body length reaching about 24mm.
5th instar caterpillar, newly moulted to this stage, 15mm


5th instar caterpillar, late in this stage, length: 24mm

At the end of 5th instar, the body of the caterpillar gradually shrinks in length. Soon it becomes dormant in its leaf shelter and enters the prepupatory phase which lasts for one day.

Two views of a pre-pupatory larva of the Hieroglyphic Flat.

Pupation takes place within the leaf shelter. The pupa secures itself with its cremaster attached to a short transverse band on the leaf surface, and has a silk girdle. The pupa is mostly green in base colour. It has a short thorax, a rather long abdomen and a pointed rostrum. Length of pupae: 16-18mm.


Two views of a fresh pupa of the Hieroglyphic Flat.

After 9 days, the pupa becomes mostly black in color with the cryptic patterns on the forewing somewhat distinguishable through the now transparent pupal skin. Eclosion takes place the next day.


Two views of a mature pupa of Hieroglyphic Flat.


A newly eclosed Hieroglyphic Flat.

References:

• The Butterflies of The Malay Peninsula, A.S. Corbet and H.M. Pendlebury, 4th Edition, Malayan Nature Society.
• The Butterflies of Hong Kong, M. Bascombe, G. Johnston, F. Bascombe, Princeton University Pres 1999

Text and Photos by Horace Tan