Fraser's Hill, Malaysia. July 2011

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moloch05

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Greetings everyone,

I am back from a wonderful trip to Malaysia. I spent six weeks in June and July at several sites including Taman Negara in west Malaysia, the Maliau Basin in Sabah (east Malaysia, Borneo) and then Fraser's Hill (west Malaysia). My trip was prompted by an invitation to participate on a butterfly survey of the Maliau Basin. This reserve was largely unknown with regards to butterflies and a group of avid photographers from Singapore and Malaysia were able to organize the survey. I, of course, looked for reptiles, birds and mammmals while there. I did the same at all sites although I spent much of the time in pursuit of butterflies.

I will have three posts from this trip. Reptiles were hard going so unfortuantely I won't have many shots of these creatures. I will have many other natural history photos along with numerous shots of the butterflies. Malaysia is one of the top locations in the world for butterflies. The total list is on the order of 1400 species so the diversity and sheer numbers of butterflies at most sites was staggering. I had lots of fun searching for these and the other animals that live in the Malaysian rainforests.

Fraser's Hill is a lovely hill station located about 100 km northeast of Kuala Lumpur. The temperature in the mountains is much lower than in the hot, steamy lowlands so this is a popular retreat on the weekends. Weekdays were quiet and I usually had the roads and trails to myself. My wife and I stayed at the Pekan Bungalow as we did on our last visit.
PekanBungalo.jpg



Not far away was the town centre with this often photographed clock:
FrasersHill2.jpg



... and the restaurants where we ate. Food was cheap and my wife and I could usually buy a tasty, spicy dinner for less than $10 AUD for the two of us.
frasershill1.jpg



Here are shots of the rainforest near the little town of Fraser's hill or along the 8 km road down to the Gap.
habitat9.jpg

habitat8.jpg

habitat7.jpg



Mornings and evenings were often misty although not really all that cool. Temperatures usually hovered between 18C and 24C.
habitat12.jpg

habitat14.jpg



I visited the Jeriau Falls area a few kms from the hill on several afternoons. The sandy area along the creek above the falls was a great place for butterflies. I learned how to bait for butterflies with the butterfly photographers in Borneo. Shrimp paste (belachan) dissolved in water worked very well. The Malaysians use this smelly stuff in many of their dishes and the butterflies love it as well.
habitat4.jpg

habitat3.jpg



Snakes were hard to come by and I only found two live and one dead on the hill. The most impressive was the Malayan Rat Snake (Elaphe flavolineata). Wow, what a creature! I blocked it from crawling off the road one morning and it immediately flattened its neck, lifted into coils and attacked. I stood still expecting this to be a bluff. I was wrong and it shot up to me and bit my leg. I caught it and then moved it to a more open location for photos. Unfortunately, it settled fast so most of my shots were when it was only in a "half-hostile" emotional state.
snake3.jpg

snake9.jpg

snake1.jpg

snake6.jpg

snake10.jpg



I found this injured White-spotted Cat Snake (Boiga drapiezii) a little below the Gap. It was still alive but it had been hit by a car and was mortally injured. Its form was so much like Imantodes in the neotropics. I did not recognize it as a Boiga at all until I looked through the photo guide.
white-spottedcat-eyedsnake1.jpg

white-spottedcat-eyedsnake2.jpg

white-spottedcat-eyedsnake3.jpg



The third snake that I found was a flattened Malayan Banded Wolf Snake (Lycodon subcinctus). It was too damaged for photos. I would have been very wary about touching it at night since it looked much like a krait.



Geckos included what I think to be a Banded Slender-toed Gecko (Cyrtodactylus pulchellus). These were large, fast-running geckos that usually would race off the road before I could get back to them for photos.
bandedslender-toedgecko2.jpg

bandedslender-toedgecko3.jpg

bandedslender-toedgecko4.jpg



During the day, I saw several species of skinks but I don't have photos this year.


This is the burrow of one of the primitive trapdoor spiders, Liphistius sp. I passed a small stick across the door of the burrow and the spider absolutely exploded out of its burrow and hit the stick with considerable force. I involuntarily jumped back and this unfortunately flicked the girl onto the ground. She was highly defensive at first with front legs and fangs lifted but then after awhile, appeared frightened to be so exposed. I used a stick to lift her and place her next to her burrow. Hopefully, she found her way home.
spidertrapdoor2.jpg

spidertrapdoor3.jpg



This one popped out of its burrow when I was working with the spider above. It seemed to be watching to see the source of the commotion.
spidertrapdoor4.jpg



I found a few tarantula burrows along road cuts. These tarantulas were large with red legs and a navy blue body ... quite colourful. I was able to tempt this one to the edge of its burrow but it would not come all the way into the open.
tarantula1.jpg





Primates were numerous around Fraser's Hill. Long-tailed Macaques were the most common but this year, for the first time, I saw several troops of Pig-tailed Macaques. Here are a couple that I photographed along the road. I had to shot from inside the car since they always ran if I poked the camera out the window.
pig-tailedmacaque1.jpg

pig-tailedmacaque2.jpg



Dusky Leaf Monkeys were also fairly common.
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Here are shots of the butterflies. I will start with the Pierids and then others in subsequent updates to this post. Some of the pierids were so beautiful. Many of these were quite strange with colourful outer wings but rather dull black and white inner wings.

Here was one of the prettiest known as a Painted Jezebel (Delias kyparete):
DeliaskyparetePaintedJezebel.jpg

DeliaskyparetePaintedJezebel2.jpg




This is the beautiful Red-base Jezebel (Delias descombesi), a species that is the most numerous in the hills.
Deliasdescombesi1.jpg



The most common Jezebel by far was the Malayan Jezebel (Delias ninus). Unfortunately, all of those that I saw remained high overhead.
Deliasninus1.jpg



Here is one of the Gulls (Cepora nadina):
Ceporanadina1.jpg



Spotted Sawtooth (Prioneris thestylis): I saw one of these on most days. What a beauty!
Prioneristhestylis1.jpg



... a sawtooth mixed with Chocolate Albatross.
pierids1.jpg



Redspot Sawtooth (Prioneris philonome)
Prionerisphilonome2RedspotSawtooth3.jpg



an Albatross (Appias cardena)
Appiascardena1.jpg



White Albatross (Appias indra)
Appiasindra.jpg



Orange Albatross (Appias nero): one of the few entirely orange butterflies. The upperwings were brightly coloured so this was a lovely butterfly in flight.
Appiasnero1.jpg



Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida)
Appiaslyncidachocolatealbatross1b.jpg

Appiaslyncidachocolatealbatross2.jpg



Banded Puffin (Appias pandione): These had both white and yellow forms.
AppiaspandioneBandedPuffin1.jpg

AppiaspandioneBandedPuffin2.jpg




Dercas verhuelli
Dercasverhuelli3.jpg



Grass Yellow (Eurema simulatrix)
Euremasimulatrix.jpg



Grass Yellos (Eurema sp.)
Euremasp.jpg
 
Thanks very much!


Here are a few Nymphalids.

Black and white striped butterflies like this are fairly common. There are many species that look like this but with subtle variations. This one is Athyma cama
Athymacama1.jpg



Athyma selenophora
Athymaselenophora1.jpg



Map (Cyrestis maenalis)
Cyrestismaenalis1.jpg



Map (Cyrestis nivea)
Cyrestisnivea1.jpg



... one of the Casters (Ariadne merione)
AriadneariadneAngledCastor.jpg



Small Leopard (Philanta alcippe)
Philantaalcippe1SmallLeopard.jpg



Malay Yeoman (Cirrochroa malaya)
Cirrochroamalayamalayyeoman1.jpg



Banded Yeoman (Cirrochroa orissa)
Cirrochroaorissabandedyeoman1.jpg



Cirrochroa tyche
Cirrochroatyche2.jpg



Jester (Symbrenthia hypatia)
Symbrenthiahypatia1Jester.jpg



Autumn Leafwing (Doleschallia bisaltide)
Doleschalliabisaltide1.jpg

Doleschalliabisaltide2.jpg



Asian Leaf Butterfly (Kallima limborgii): What an amazing butterfly! This one was attracted to fermenting bananas. It allowed me to closely approach it for photos.
KallimalimborgiiAsianLeaf1.jpg



Tawny Rajah (Charaxes bernardus): This is a member of the genus that is so big in Africa. There are a fair number of species in Malaysia as well.
Charaxesbernardustawnyrajah1.jpg



Related to the Charaxes are these Polyura butterflies known as Nawabs.

Common Nawab (Polyura athamas)
PolyuraathamasCommonNawab2.jpg

PolyuraathamasCommonNawab4.jpg



Similar but much less common. Polyura moori
PolyurahebePlainNawab1.jpg



Similar but common. Plain Nawab (Polyura hebe):
PolyurahebePlainNawab2.jpg



Yellow Indian Nawab
PolyurajalysusYellowIndianNawab1.jpg



Wizzard (Rhinopalpa polynice)
Rhinopalpapolynicewizzard1.jpg

Rhinopalpapolynicewizzard4.jpg



Stibochiona nicea
Stibochionanicea2.jpg



Black-tipped Archduke (Lexias pardalis)
Lexiaspardalisarchduke1.jpg



Blue Admiral (Kaniska canace)
Kaniskacanaceblueknight1.jpg



I saw two of these gorgeous Constables (Dichorragia nesimachus). They both were attracted to shrimp paste bait. I think that they closely resemble in colour and behaviour the Hamadryas of the neotropics.
Dichorragianesimachus2.jpg



Royal Assyrian (Terinos terpander): these can be stunning in good light. This one was unfortunately quite worn.
Terinosterpanderroyalassyrian1.jpg



This butterfly is not colourful but it is a member of a rare species (Euthalia eriphylae)
EuthaliamoninaMalayBaron.jpg



Paduca fasciata
Paducafasciata1.jpg
 
Thanks, JFisher. I use a Canon 40D with a Tamron 180mm macro for most of the butterfly shots.

Shrimp paste was an effective bait for attracting butterflies. There weren't any butterflies sitting along the creek in the following photo until I poured out a little of the shrimp paste mixture.
groupnearRaubfalls.jpg



Common Three Ring (Ypthima pandocus)
Ypthima1.jpg

Ypthima2.jpg



Here are photos of a few swallowtails. Graphium is the abundant genus of swallowtails in the Asian tropics.

Graphium bathycles:
Graphiumbathycles1.jpg



Graphium evamon
Graphiumevamon1.jpg



Common Bluebottle ("Blue Triangle" in Australia) (Graphium sarpedon): This was the most common Graphium at the sites that I visited.
Graphiumsarpedonblue-bottle1.jpg



Red Helen (Papilio helenus): big and common
PapiliohelenusRedHelen2.jpg

PapiliohelenusRedHelen3.jpg



Great Mormom (Papilio memnon): even bigger than Red Helen and also common.
Papiliomemnongreatmormon1a.jpg



Four-bar Swallowtail (Pathysa agetes)
Pathysaagetesfour-barswallowtail1.jpg



Green Dragontail (Lamproptera meges): This swallowtail looks much like a long-tailed skipper.
LampropteramegesGreenDragontail1.jpg



Relatives of Monachs (Danainae subfamily of Nymphs) were abundant and some of the most conspicuous butterflies at Fraser's Hill. Most were brown with iridescent patches of blue or purple on the upper wings.

Malayan Crow (Euploea camaralzeman): this was one of the largest crows that I observed.
EuploeacamaralzemanMalayanCrow1.jpg



Blue-striped Crow (Euploea mulciber)
EuploeamulciberStripedBlueCrow2.jpg

EuploeamulciberStripedBlueCrow1.jpg



Purple-brand King Crow (Euploea eunice): another large species of crow
EuploeaeunicePurple-brandKingCrow1.jpg

EuploeaeunicePurple-brandKingCrow2.jpg



Magpie Crow (Euploea radamanthus): common near water.
Euploearadamanthusmagpiecrow2.jpg



Yellow Glassy Tiger (Parantica aspasia)
ParanticaaspasiaYellow-glassyTiger1.jpg



Chocolate Tiger (Parantica melaneus)
Paranticamelaneuschocolatetiger4.jpg

Paranticamelaneuschocolatetiger3.jpg



Dark Blue Tiger (Tirumala septentrionis)
TirumalaseptentrionisDarkBlueTiger.jpg



Common Tiger (Danaus genutia): looks much like a Monarch but not quite as large.
DanausmelanippusBlack-veinedTiger1.jpg




LYCAENIDAE

Blues were abundant and included butterflies with a range of colours and patterns.

Leaf Blue Leaf (Amblypodia narada)
Amblypodiaanitaforestblue1.jpg



Elbowed Pierrot (Caleta elna)
CaletaelnaElbowedPierrot.jpg



Malayan Sunbeam (Curetis santana)
CuretissantanaMalayanSunbeam2.jpg

CuretissantanaMalayanSunbeam1.jpg



Common Hedge Blue (Acytolepis puspa)
AcytolepispuspaCommonHedgeBlue.jpg



Fluffy Tit (Zeltus amasa)
ZeltusamasaFluffyTit1.jpg



RHIODINIDAE (Metalmarks)

Punchinello (Zemeros flegyas)
Zemerosflegyas1Punchinello.jpg

Zemerosflegyas2Punchinello.jpg



HESPERIIDAE (skippers)

Geographic Map (Odina hieroglyphica)
Odinahieroglyphica.jpg



Potanthus ganda
skipper1.jpg



Telicota colon
skipper3.jpg



Pithauria marsena
skipper2.jpg
 
Wow i went to malaysia :) I only saw a viper and cobra and a ton monkeys.
 
woah! very nice pics! They are some stunning butterflies and the cat snake was stunning i love boigas!
 
Now usually I glaze over when people show me pics of their holidays but damm they are amazing and not one boring pic of a person in front of a tourist spot waving stupidly! lol

You have a gift for photography and found some amazing subjects! I felt so sad for the little one about to die though :(

I hope you go on holiday soon so we can see more!
 
Awesome pics!
Like the Elaphe flavolineata.
Some cool looking Butterflies there, the Asian Leaf Butterfly looks interesting, and love the Green Dragontail but the Fluffy Tit Butterfly would have to be the most spunnout butterfly i've seen.
 
Thanks very much, everyone. Flippin', my wife thinks my photos are boring since I don't include people shots. Oh well ...

Here are a final few shots before I begin a post of Taman Negara photos.


Tailed Judy (Abisara neophron): a Rhiodinid
Abisaraneophrontailedjudy1.jpg



Common Faun (Faunis canens): Morphinae
FauniscanensCommonFaun.jpg



Lyssa Moth:
lyss1.jpg



Sphyinx:
sphyinx1.jpg



Cerambycid:
beetle1.jpg



Rhionceros Beetle: Not nearly as impressive as those at from Maliau Basin.
rhinobeetle1.jpg

rhinobeetle2.jpg


Orchid:
orchid1.jpg



... that is it!
 
Fantastic David!

When are you coming up to visit Holly and I again? You must be just about due for another FNQ trip?

I need you to I.D a few Butterfly shots that I took in Thailand and Singapore too.

Hope the family are well mate,

Cheers,
Nick
 
Hello Nick,

I did not recognize "viridis" but that is appropriate. I would love to get up there again. I may have a chance in early November but that depends on work.

I would love to see your shots from Thailand and Singapore.

Say hello to Holly and congrads!

Regards,
David
 
You did it again David,
I never actively go out searching for inverts, but always take the time to admire them when I find them. The butterflies are quite fascinating when they are magnified in a photo like that.
The Boiga did have a lot of qualities reminiscent of Imantodes lentiferus, the elongated head was the give away though.

Gotta love a fluffy tit.
 
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