Of Sweaty Fingers and Double-Headed Butterfly

Participants gathered at the T3 Departure Hall

This is BIG's 2nd walk at the T3  Butterfly Garden and the group of 16 butterfly enthusiasts met in front  of the Departure Hall Information Counter. Clearing airport security proved tricky and

Collecting Visitor Passes at T3 Police Post

took about 45 minutes from registering at the police post to clearing the gantry.  Two persons were denied entry and had to re-register their particulars at the police post. It seemed both had sweaty fingers, a case of low tech bodily functions defeating sensitive high tech equipment?  
 

Going through security gantries

Notably, there were two significant differences this group had over the previous one. Firstly was the makeup, families with  young children dominated this where married couples and friends made up most of the first group. Secondly we had a one year old baby  among  us, born on New Year's Day!

Participants outside the T3 Butterfly Garden

About an hour after our entrance, butterfly activity achieved its fever pitch with quite a few seen mating and ovipositing. Spotting what looked like a double headed butterfly, a member asked the Butterfly Guys what it was. It turned out to be a mating pair of Great Mormons resting on a leaf with the female on top. 

Form polytes (top) and cyrus

A few Common Mormon females of the forms cyrus and polytes were seen busily laying eggs on citrus bushes. Fighting for the same patch of leaves were the females of the Lime Butterfly.

The highlight must be the eclosions of not just one but two female specimens of the rarest form of the Great Mormon in Singapore. In this form distantianus, the female has a tail on both its hindwings and it is a passable mimic of the Common Clubtail (Pachliopta coon doubledayi), a poisonous model not found here but very common in the northern parts of Peninsula Malaysia. We had the good fortune to see one in the wild at Bukit Timah Nature Reserve on 13th April 2002. From afar, it looked like a huge Common Rose but with a yellow abdomen.

Great Mormon female form distantianus (left) and esperi

The other female forms, esperi with whitened forewing tips and two red spots near the thorax is the commonest while form butlerianus similar to the former except for whitened forewing elbow is rarer. Both of these forms were seen in the enclosure.

Below are photos from the walk :

1. Simon waiting for participants in front of the Departure Hall Information Counter. 

2.The T3 Butterfly Garden

3. Giving an introduction to the T3 Butterfly Garden.
4. Entering the Butterfly Garden

5. Inside the butterfly garden :
View from ground level
 
View from the top.

Some of the butterflies seen at the garden :

6. Clockwise from top right : Great Eggfly (male), Tree Nymph, Clipper and Leopard Lacewing (male)
  
Photos by NSS member Kim Tee

7. L-R : Dark Blue Tiger (male) and Lime Butterfly 
Photos by NSS member Richard Ong

8.Clockwise from top right : Cruiser, Common Palmfly, Autumn Leaf (ssp australis) and Great Mormon (male)
 

Butterflies seen at T3 Butterfly Garden

Autumn Leaf (Doleschallia bisaltide pratipa)*& and australis Batik Lacewing (Cethosia biblis perakana)* Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina) Chocolate Soldier (Junonia iphita horsfieldi)* Clipper (Parthenos sylvia lilacinus)* Common Grass Yellow (Eurema hecabe contubernalis) Common Mormon (Papilio polytes romulus) Common Palmfly (Elymnias hypermnestra agina) Common Rose (Pachliopta aristolochiae asteris) Common Sailor (Neptis hylas papaja) Cruiser (Vindula dejone erotella) Dark Blue Tiger (Tirumala septentrionis septentrionis)* Great Eggfly (Hypolimnas bolina jacintha and bolina) Great Mormon (Papilio memnon agenor) Grey Pansy (Junonia atlites atlites) Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane euanthes) Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus malayanus) Tree Nymph (Idea leuconoe clara)*#

Keys
* species not found in Singapore
# Taiwan subspecies, Singapore subpecies is chersonesia
& Malaysian subspecies, Singapore subspecies is australis

Read the report from our first butterfly walk at T3 here.