Always Something New at AHBT !

Always Something New !

by Simon Chan
Jan 2007

unday 21st January : The sight and aromas of the Alexandra Hospital cafeteria bring good memories. Five years ago here, the first discussions were held with Mrs Rosalind Tan, a representative of the hospital. Their CEO wanted a lush, scenic garden where patients could relax and forget themselves amid fluttering butterflies.

Fast forward to this day. The NSS Butterfly Interest Group (BIG) is conducting its first official walk of 2007. Gan Cheong Weei and I needn’t have feared a poor turnout due to the bad weather — by the appointed time, over 30 people were present.

Gan (back to camera) showing members
an Orange Emigrant egg on a leaf at the Spice garden

Gan started with a brief introduction to BIG. Assisted by an array of plastic tanks each containing either pupae or caterpillars, he dazzled by rattling off little known facts about butterflies. Everyone got excited, especially the kids in the crowd. Raising the excitement, Rosalind and her husband, Wee Lee arrived with yet more plastic tanks filled with delightful creepy crawlies to whet the members’ appetite for knowledge!

After 30 minutes of show-and-tell, we were raring to hit the trail. First species of the day to be spotted was the Orange Emigrant (Catopsilia scylla cornelia). Three individuals were seen fluttering around clumps of Bushy Cassia (Cassia biflora) beside the car park. One was paler than the others. While explaining that this butterfly was most probably a female, confirmation came when it settled on a leaf and laid a tiny, yellow, spindled-shaped egg!


Grass Demon (Udaspes folus)

Next came the Demons: a Grass Demon (Udaspes folus) and two Chocolate Demons (Ancistroides nigrita maura) were frolicking among the herb plants in the spice garden.

Wriggling hurriedly past the entrance of the trail, a Grass Yellow (Eurema sp) disappeared into a tangle of passion fruit vines. In the same area, two male Chocolate Pansies (Junonia hedonia ida) jostled each other for dominance. The victor got to stay while the vanquished was unceremoniously chased away.

Aristolochia tagala seed pod

Suddenly, something cast a shadow on the ground.
Looking up, we saw a male, black-and-yellow Common Birdwing (Troides helena cerberus) swooping low overhead. It was heading for the Indian Birthwort (Aristolochia tagala), a host plant for its caterpillars, presumably looking for a mate.

The trail led us to a clump of Pagoda Flowers (Clerodendrum paniculatum). A lone male Common
Rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae asteris) with a broken
tail was feeding on the flowers. It looked very different from the ones we normally see — this butterfly had no white spots on its hind wings. Initially, Gan and I thought it was an aberrant form. However, spotting another with both tails intact led us to believe that it could be the Bornean subspecies antiphus, not the usual asteris. If that is the case, then this could be a new subspecies sighted in Singapore...

Flashing iridescent blue fore wings, a male Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber mulciber) hovered over the flowers of a Tylophora vine. Fluttering nearby too were female Dark Glassy Tigers (Parantica agleoides agleoides) and a few Blue Glassy Tigers (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina). All were busy laying eggs on the vine.


Plain Nawab protecting its turf

Settled comfortably on the leaves of a small Saga sapling (Adenanthera pavonina) were three medium-sized caterpillars of the Plain Nawab (Polyura hebe plautus). Their heads looked like green samurai helmets. The light and dark green of their bodies completed the magnificent camouflage. On our way back, we crossed a small bridge. Beside it was a tree, and on a leaf up high was an adult Plain Nawab sunning itself. It would come and go, flying to investigate if a passing object was really a competitor or just another butterfly. If it was human, I could have sworn it was politely sending us off, one by one!

A total of 29 species of butterflies were sighted during this walk