Butterflies of Batanes II

I have long been attempting to post this second part of the Batanes Butterflies, but something seems to be more urgent always. I have uploaded the first few, and i have forgotten all about it. Now i am trying to fill the gap. This trip in Batanes is purposely to look for butterflies, exploratory, and we wouldn't have seen them if we did not courageously decided on a traverse hike from one seashore to another seashore of Sabtang Island through the mountain range. This hike was posted HERE earlier while the first post on butterflies is HERE.

We were almost disappointed at the residential areas near the seashores because it is too windy, the breeze has salt contents and we only saw the tiny blues. In the mountains, it is a different story.

 Top and Bottom: WHITE TIGER

Danaus melanippus edmondii Lesson 1837 

Nymphalidae; Danainae; Danaini

White Tigers are a bit common in that area of the mountain. We saw a few individuals although they are not very cooperative. At least we were able to get these shots.

BUSHBROWN
Mycalesis igoleta igoleta C. & R. Felder 1863
Nymphalidae; Satyrinae

BUSHBROWN

Mycalesis igoleta igoleta C. & R. Felder 1863 (extreme dry season form)

Nymphalidae; Satyrinae

We have lots of this in our area in the province. However, my first look here says it is a different species. Later confirmation by our butterfly expert says it is the same Bushbrown, although the very less discernible spots on both upper and lower wings say it is an extreme dry season form. I have seen Dry Season Forms in my area during this hot conditions, and there still are bigger spots compared to this one. 

LESSER CRUISER
Vindula dejone dejone Erichson 1834 

Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Heliconiini

This was so high up on trees and didn't give us more chances for pictures. This shot only give us a few details to identify it. It was a worn-out one though, but this is the only one we met on the way. 

DARK CERULEAN
Jamides bochus pulchrior Grose-Smith 1895
Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Polyommatini

 Top and Bottom 2: LIME BLUE

Chilades lajus athena C. & R. Felder 1865

Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Polyommatini

Lime Blue is a lifer for me. My buddy went ahead to the nook as it was already very hot outside, we are bathing in sweat. When this butterfly arrives giving me some difficulty. But despite the heat and itchy feelings from the weeds, i was able to take some photos. It is my first time to see this, a lifer, ; eventually, the Philippine Lepidoptera Group administrator said Batanes is a new location for this find. I am glad i persisted on it and ignored the heat.

 Top and Bottom:  GREAT ORANGE TIP
Hebomoia glaucippe philippensis Wallace 1863
Pieridae; Pierinae

This Orange Tip also gave me a difficult time. It flips and leaves so quickly from a perch that a lot of photos did not give me much descent ones. Moreover, the 2nd perch is so far from the previous spot that it was difficult to follow. I even wonder if the flitting seconds already gave it the chance to get some nectar!

 GREAT ORANGE TIP
Hebomoia glaucippe philippensis Wallace 1863
Pieridae; Pierinae

COMMON MORMON
Menelaides polytes ledebouria
Papilionidae, Papilioninae, Papilionini

One funny thing about our traverse climb is the presence of this Common Mormon all throughout our hike. It has been there from the beginning and didn't leave us till we were back to where we started. Actually, there are a few of them, and they exchange roles in being on our path. They just fly low and alight low on the weeds. They just seem to be always on our line of sight, and that gave it the title "Guide", our little pet on the way. Sometimes it was gone for a few minutes, then when it appeared again we both said "hi guide".  We even kiddingly said goodbye to it as we leave the mountain and approach the area of humans. 

 Idea leuconoe larva

We also saw lots of paperkites, Idea leuconoe. But they are mostly on top of trees or flying high on areas on the cliffs. They always have the characteristic-dainty-flying white butterflies, but they are mostly in too difficult places for us to photograph. We just content ourselves watching them, and at least we knew they are found in Sabtang, Batanes. 

Autumn Leaf larvae on Pseuderanthemum reticulatum
Doleschallia bisaltide philippensis Fruhstorfer 1899
Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Nymphaliini

Camera Critters

Chasing Butterflies in Between Takes

We were out of town for Review and Evaluation of our funded research projects. It is scheduled for a 3-day stay in Tagaytay City, a few hours from our city office. This is a lovely tourist area specifically because of the colder temperatures, proximity to Manila, and the beautiful views of Taal Volcano and Taal Lake. In the last few years, the area expanded catering to the tourists and visitors; including hotels, lodging houses, restaurants, malls and rising condo units. At least our venue is at the back of the more congested areas.

In the morning before breakfast, i go out early to look for anything that might be nice with the camera. But my main purpose is actually to photograph butterflies. I entered a subdivision with more grasses and flowering grasses on the side street. There are butterflies, but as usual they are so flighty, and do not cooperate with me. Here are some of my camera loot.

The sky that morning is almost clear, that the sun is shining brightly,  and at 7 a.m. the heat is already a bit biting to our melanized skin. 

The banaba (Lagerstroemia speciosa) flowers are in full bloom, somehow i expected insects and butterflies nectaring on them, but i didn't see any. I just realized it is not attractive for them. 

This striped albatross (STRIPED ALBATROSS♂  (Appias olferna peducaea) is wandering inside the thick grasses, it seldom leaves the thicket, but i was able to get a better shot.

 TINY GRASS BLUE
Zizula hylax pygmaea Snellen 1876, Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Polyommatini

WASP MOTH, Amata s.

The above butterflies are seen in the morning on the open areas. The next are moths which are seen at night around the terrace of the hotel. When most people are already resting, while a few are in the bar getting some drinks, i was trying to capture the moths and other insects with my camera. 

Atteva sp. Yponomeutoidea: Attevidae

The above moth i posted in the Philippine Lepidoptera site in FB and an authority identified it, with further information that it is not illustrated yet among the 8 species in the country, so its species is not yet known, or probably known but not yet illustrated.

Aloa cardinalis Butler 1875 (syn. Amsacta cardinalis)  Arctiidae; Arctiinae 

 TUSSOCK MOTH

TUSSOCK MOTH

 PLUME MOTH

Left: lacewing; Right: moth

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Butterfly Chase Part II

The previous post of this Butterfly Chase is posted HERE.

Part II location of our butterfly chasing and photography is in Bangkong Kahoy, Dolores, Quezon. It is about 2,158 masl or 7,080 fasl. Our group consists not only of butterfly hobbyists, but also birders, and native tree enthusiasts. The BK Valley is located in between two mountains, Mt Cristobal and Mt. Banahaw. Despite the intermittent drizzles, we also had long hours of walking and looking for moths and butterflies. Aside from seeing our intended targets, we enjoyed the fun, camaraderie and good laughter.

We left late in the afternoon back to the big city. Everyone had a fulfilled day and will have a good night sleep. Although one of our friends was still going a long way to the North, spend 6 hours of sleep in a bus and reach her home after midnight. The next days are spent reviewing our photos, posting them in FB group site, and appreciating everyone's documentation of what transpired that Saturday. We actually didn't only have lepidopterans, we had all the creatures we saw in that visit, including the lovely landscape.

 Mt. Cristobal

Mt. Banahaw slopes, main mountain is covered with clouds

COMMON MAPWING

Cyrestis maenalis maenalis Erichson 1834

Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Cyrestini 

COMMON MORMON 

 Menelaides polytes ledebouria Eschscholtz 1821

Papilionidae; Papilioninae; Papilionini

RED HELEN

Menelaides helenus lyspaspes C. & R. Felder 1862

Papilionidae; Papilioninae; Papilionini

BUSHBROWN

MMydosama ita ita C. & R. Felder 1863

Nymphalidae; Satyrinae

TRANSPARENT SIX-LINE BLUE

Nacaduba kurava kurava Moore 1858

Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Polyommatini

SCALLOPED GRASS YELLOW

Eurema alitha Fruhstorfer 1910

Pieridae; Coliadinae

VAGRANT

Vagrans sinha sinha Kollar 1844

Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Heliconiini

Nyctemera lustuosa
Erebidae; Arctiinae; Arctiini

Luxiaria sp. 
Geometridae; Ennominae; Eutoeini

Taractrocera luzonensis

also a disabled moth with wings not dried properly

Azota heliconia philippina (sorry its right wing is deformed, another disabled moth)

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Butterfly Chase

The first week of May was a self-declared holiday for me. I joined a group of Butterfly Watchers in the country called Philippine Lepidoptera. It was an informal Facebook Group of butterfly hobbyists trying to formally document all the Lepitoptera, meaning butterflies and moths, in the Philippines. The three administrative members invited me to join them to three locations, The Makiling Botanical Gardens in Laguna; Bangkong Kahoy in Dolores, Quezon; and Subic Bay in Zambales. All the three sites are also resort areas visited by local and foreign tourists. They also include protected forest domains.

This is the first time i personally met them, so photographing butterflies and moths in the wild also served as our bonding moments. We also have a guest member, whom we consider as the most professional entomologist in the group. His Masters and PhD degrees are on butterflies of the country, done in the US. In one of the places, another groups of enthusiasts joined us, the native trees group and some birders. I will be showing you some of my finds.

PART I: Makiling Botanical Gardens, University of the Philippines Los Baños, Laguna

 Common Five Ring

 a moth found in the grasses

a skipper is considered a butterfly

LUZON GRASS DART

Taractrocera luzonensis luzonensis Stadnger 1889

Hesperiidae; Hesperiinae

ORANGE GULL 
Cepora aspasia olga Eschoscholtz 1821
Pieridae; Pierinae

BROWN PANSY or BROWN SOLDIER
Junonia hedonia ida Cramer 1775
Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Nymphaliini

TINY GRASS BLUE or GAIKA BLUE
Zizula hylax pygmaea Snellen 1876
Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Polyommatin

COMMON INE BLUE
Prosotas nora semperi Fruhstorfer 1916
Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Polyommatini

   COUNT♀

Tanaecia calliphorus calliphorus C.; R. Felder 1863

Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Limenitidini

 ABERRANT BUSHBLUE
Arhopala abseus amphea C. & R. Felder 1865
Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Theclini

FOREST QUAKER
Pithecops corvus corax Fruhstorfer 19919
Lycaenidae; Lycaeninae; Polyommatini

COMMON MAPWING
Cyrestis maenalis maenalis Erichson 1834
Nymphalidae; Nymphalinae; Cyrestini

GREEN DRAGONTAIL

Lamproptera meges decius C.; R. Felder 1862

Papilionidae; Papilioninae; Leptocirchini

We were all thrilled spotting the green dragontail, it is seen only mostly when there are brooks or creeks as they love to puddle in mud.  Some of my companions went down the creek, but i opted to stay in higher grounds. Fortunately, the dragontail privileged me to take its photo. It alighted near me on the bushes. 

I hope the butterfly enthusiasts will appreciate my posts. There are other finds that i was not able to photograph. I will continue the other finds from other areas in the next posts. 

Thank you so much!

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