I had never noticed the beauty of butterflies so closely until I visited Taman Negara and compiled this post. They are such elegant and fragile creatures which give so much joy! I really understood the challenges in taking photos of butterflies. Each butterfly had its own character and personality. Many times the butterflies would fly away just as I was about to take a shot, while some never stopped to rest. Still I persisted and enjoyed the experience.
We saw several butterflies on our treks, even a few moths! I have numbered each butterfly, so please do correct me if the species I’ve mentioned is wrong.
1. Another Manager of the resort, Mr. Sati, who was also a good friend we made (other than Mr Sabri whom I had mentioned earlier ) – told someone to knock on our room door and call us to see a moth…I could not believe my eyes! It was a Luna Moth(Acitas Luna) It was absolutely amazing- seeing one largest moths in the world!
(Please double click on each picture to see an enlarged photo)
Luna Moth
Acitas Luna
***
2. I wasn’t not sure if this was the Saturn (Zeuxidia amethystus). Lemon Tea Yi Kai from the facebook group, Butterflies of Singapore and Malaysia said that it was a Tufted Jungle King (Thauris aliris) male that is quite rare!
3. A Cycad Blue (Chilades pandava):
4. The Common Four Ring (Ypthima huebneri):
5. I thought this was a Smooth eyed Bushbrown ( Orsotriaena medus). But it appears to be the Mycalesis species.
6. I saw this Commander (Moduza procris) near the cascade at Lata Berkoh. Apparently, it is usually found near heavily forested areas which receive a lot of rainfall. Taman Negara is perfect for it!
7. My mother was very lucky as this Wavy Maplet( Chersonesia rahria ) stayed on her shoe for a long time.
8. This is a Royal Assyrian( Terinos terpander robertsia) It is quite a shy and rare butterfly. It was so pretty with its vibrant violet and orange color, but was difficult to get a perfect shot of it’s wings open!
9. Try chasing this Psyche( Leptosia nina) for a picture. It will give you a good workout!
10. This is the Archduke (Lexias) that we saw in the jungle trek through Jenut Muda from Bukit Terisek.
11. A Great-Egg Fly (Hypolimnas bolina) at the resort:
12. At the Orang Asli camp, we saw many butterflies! This one is the Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris)
13. This is the female Common Mormon (Papilio polytes)
14. 2 Striped Blue Crows (Euploea mulciber) :
15. This vividly colorful moth near the resort was irresistible to photograph! Do let me know if you know the species!
16.The Malay Sailor (Neptis duryodana nesia) at Lata Berkoh:
Lubuk Simpon, a lovely place along Sungei Tahan was where we saw so many butterflies together. I don’t know if they were feeding on something, but it seemed like a butterfly party to me! There were so many species all in one place. It was a visual treat! The butterflies we saw together were:
17. The Cruiser (Vindula arsinoe) loves to feed on dead animals and excrement. It rarely stopped flying!
18. The Pithura marsena :
19.The Common Nawab (Polyura athamas):
:
20. Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe) and Hill Grass Yellow (Eurema simulatrix) and Elbowed Pierrot ( Pycnophallium elna)
21. The picture includes- The Cruiser, two Common Grass Yellows, two Hill Grass Yellows, Pithuara Marsena( on the far left), and the Common Nawab. The striped butterfly is the Blue Pierrot (Discolampa Ethion).
The Cruiser and Common Nawab:
After researching on all the species and compiling the photos, I think I’ve learnt a lot about butterfly species. Please do correct me if the species’ names are wrong! It would be very helpful.
I referred to the following sources for the species common and scientific names:
1) “A Field Guide to the Butterflies of Singapore”- NATURE SOCIETY SINGAPORE
2) http://www.learnaboutbutterflies.com/– Website by Andrian Hoskins
3) Facebook page- Butterfly lover’s, Butterflies of Singapore and Malaysia.
Lavanya Prakash
Blog- https://mynatureexperiences.wordpress.com/
Twitter- https://twitter.com/MyNatureExp
Facebook page- Mynatureexperiences
Email- mynatureexperiences(at)hotmail.com
My Nature Experiences 
Hi there Lavanya. You have such a pretty name. I am glad you stopped in on my blog because I got to come visit you. You do beautiful nature photography and I did see a few of your posts. You also do a wonderful job of identifying them too. I find it hard to learn so many varieties of insects. The butterflies in your post are ones I only see at the Butterfly Conservatory in Canada. It is close to where I live in Niagara Falls, but I don’t get there as often as I should. I will follow your blog and watch you develop your craft. I hope you stick with it because you will do great things with it someday.
Hi Donna! Thank you so much for your kind words and encouragement. It really means a lot to me! I’ve visited Niagara Falls, but only as a baby- so I don’t remember anything! I hope to visit one day- It’s such a beautiful place! Yes, there are many unique and rare butterflies here in the tropics, but I haven’t seen any of the butterflies that are on your blog either! 🙂 Thanks for stopping by again!
Hi Lavanya — What an interesting compilation of butterfly/ moth sightings ! You are pretty good at butterfly identification … & obviously very patient at such things too.
MOTH
>> “15. This vividly colorful moth near the resort was irresistible to photograph! Do let me know if you know the species!”
Your photo shows a Dysphania subrepleta (Tiger Moth). It’s a day-flying Geometridae moth that is also native to S’pore.
* Photos: National Geographic Kids, Digital Moths of Asia, Foto Biodiversitas Indonesia
* Info & Photos: Moths of Borneo
* Native Range: Map
BUTTERFLIES
>> 1. “Luna Moth (Acitas Luna)” in the text & photo caption.
==> Note the typo in the genus epithet, should be: Actias luna. The species epithet should not be capitalized.
[Not sure if you can see the above italicized/ bold text on your email notification. By nomenclatural convention, the Latin/ Latinized parts of scientific names should be italicized. For some reason, certain HTML codes (eg. italics, bold, line break, etc.) aren’t translated correspondingly when comments are published on your blog.]
>> “2. I wasn’t not sure if this was the Saturn (Zeuxidia amethystus). Lemon Tea Yi Kai […] said that it was a Tufted Jungle King (Thauris aliris) male that is quite rare!”
==> Note the typo in the genus epithet, should be: Thauria aliris.
Your photo indeed shows a male Thauria aliris. Sample photos of male vs. female Thauria aliris. Note: If it is very active in puddling on sources of mineral salts, it is very likely to be male. (Female butterflies don’t really need to puddle, since they can obtain the salts from the males during the mating process.)
Zeuxidia amethystus has a broad iridescent-blue band on the upper side of its forewings, while its underside markings are not as distinct as those of Thauria aliris. Here’s a Malaysian postage stamp showing male (with blue bands) vs. femaleZeuxidia amethystus.
Comparison of dorsal & ventral wing morphology of: Thauria aliris vs. Zeuxidia amethystus.
>> “5. I thought this was a Smooth eyed Bushbrown ( Orsotriaena medus). But it appears to be the Mycalesis species.”
Your photo appears to show a female Mycalesis mineus macromalayana (Dark Brand Bush Brown). Sample photos: HK Lepidopterists’ Society, Wikipedia, Butterfly Circle.
>> “7. My mother was very lucky as this Wavy Maplet( Chersonesia rahria ) stayed on her shoe for a long time.”
Your photo appears to show a male Chersonesia rahria. It’s probably puddling on the dissolved salts found on your mum’s (damp) sports shoe. The females are slightly paler, with broader & more rounded wings.
>> “10. This is the Archduke (Lexias) that we saw in the jungle trek through Jenut Muda from Bukit Terisek.”
Your photo appears to show a male Lexias dirtea merguia (Black-Tipped Archduke). This is very similar to the male Lexias pardalis dirteana (Archduke), but the latter’s antennae have orange tips (when viewed from the top). Otherwise, the antenna undersides of both subspecies are orange.
>> “16.The Malay Sailor (Neptis duryodana nesia) at Lata Berkoh”
==> Note the typo in the species epithet, should be: Neptis duryodhana nesia.
>> “18. The Pithura marsena“
>> “21. The picture includes […] Pithuara Marsena (on the far left)”
==> Note the typo in the genus epithet, should be: Pithauria marsena (Banded Straw Ace). The species epithet shouldn’t be capitalized, & the entire scientific name should be italicized.
Thanks for all your comments! I just came back from another trip to Malaysia- and was thrilled to see your comment! Thank you so much for your corrections and for taking the time to give feedback and websites for reference. I really appreciate it! 🙂