Koh Chang Butterflies and Moths

Malaysian Blue Clipper (potanthus pava)

Image: David Vinot

Last Observed: February 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: David Vinot

The Clipper (Parthenos sylvia) is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in South and South-East Asia, mostly in forested areas. The Clipper is a fast flying butterfly and has a habit of flying with its wings flapping stiffly between the horizontal position and a few degrees below the horizontal. It may glide between spurts of flapping.
Male and female. Upperside : ground-colour a bright purple, the subhyaline white spots near the apex of cell in the fore wing more opaque, the broad discal band of large white spots proportionately more basal further from the termen and very irregular, the spots, especially towards the hinder part of the wing, more widely separated, the spot in interspace 5 more acutely triangular and smaller, the two spots above shifted obliquely inwards towards the costa, making the outer margin of the discal band angulate at interspaces 5 and 6. Hind wing: the postdiscal and sub-terminal markings broader and more diffuse than in P. gambrisius, giving a dark shade to the whole of the apical half of the wing.

Underside pale greenish grey. Fore wing: the spots and markings except the basal black streaks as on the upperside, the groundcolour fading to an ashy grey towards the terminal margin. Hind wing similar to the underside of hind wing of P. gambrisius, but the discal transverse sinuous black line very broken and incomplete, the postdiscal, subterminal and terminal black markings somewhat better denned. Antennae black; head, thorax and abdomen bronze green, barred with black above ; beneath whitish

Malaysian Blue Clipper Wikipedia

Pava Dart (potanthus pava)

Image Copyright Michael Erik Maria Finder

Last Observed: April 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Michael Erik Maria Finder

Potanthus pava, commonly known as the Pava dart, is a butterfly belonging to the family Hesperiidae. It is found from southern India to central China, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Sulawesi, Indonesia.

Pava Dart Wikipedia

Lemon Pansy (Junonia lemonias)

Image Copyright Michael Erik Maria Finder

Last Observed: April 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Michael Erik Maria Finder

Junonia lemonias, the lemon pansy, is a common nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia. It is found in gardens, fallow land, and open wooded areas.

It is brown with numerous eye-spots as well as black and lemon-yellow spots and lines on the upperside of the wings. The underside is a dull brown, with a number of wavy lines and spots in varying shades of brown and black. There is also an eyespot on the lower side of the forewing. The wet and dry season forms differ considerably in coloration and even shape. In the wet season form the markings are distinct and vivid and the wing shape is a little more rounded. In the dry season form the markings are obscure and pale especially on the underside and the wing margin is more angular and jagged. This helps it camouflage in the dried leaf-litter. The lemon pansy is a very active butterfly and can be seen basking with its wings open facing the sun. It sits very low to the ground and can be approached easily. It feeds with its wings half open. It is a fairly strong flier and flies close to the ground with rapid wingbeats and often returns to settle back in the same spots.

Lemon Pansy Wikipedia

Yellow Orange Tip (Ixius pyrene)

Image Copyright Michael Eric Maria Finder

Last Observed: April 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Michael Erik Maria Finder

The species wingspan is between 50 and 55 mm.

Dry-season brood: Male upperside: deep sulphur-yellow. Forewing: base and basal half of costa thickly irrorated with black scales; apical half of the wing black, with an enclosed, large, irregularly triangular, orange-coloured patch, the apex of which is more or less broadly rounded and blunt; the orange colour extends into the apex of the cell but is interrupted there by a black discocellular spot that spreads diffusely inwards and joins the black oblique bar which forms the base of the orange patch; veins that traverse this latter, black. Hindwing: uniform with a little black scaling at extreme base; termen with a dusky-black somewhat narrow border (sometimes entirely absent) which decreases in width posteriorly.

Underside: a darker yellow, sparsely irrorated (sprinkled) with fusco-ferruginous short strigae and minute spots. Forewing: base and posterior area broadly, with a whitish pale virescent (greenish) tint; the strigae and minute spots most numerous towards the apex and along the termen; interspaces 4, 5, 6 and 8 with a curved sub-apical series of small, rounded, dull ferruginous spots and a similar spot on the discocellulars. Hindwing also with a ferruginous spot on the discocellulars, followed by a postdiscal series of similar spots in interspaces 3 to 8, all or most of them centred with white; the spots in interspaces 5, 6 and 8 the largest, those in 5 and 6 often coalescent. Antennae and thorax anteriorly dull ferruginous, thorax posteriorly and abdomen above fuscous black; head, thorax and abdomen beneath yellow.
IxiasPyreneSeitz.jpg
Dry-season brood, female at Hodal in Faridabad district of Haryana, India

Female upperside: white faintly tinged with yellow. Forewing: apical half black, with an enclosed, irregular, broad, oblique patch of the ground colour that extends into the upper apex of the cell, on the inner side of this the black is reduced to a short oblique bar broadened at the lower apex of the cell, from whence it is continued as a somewhat slender diffuse oblique streak to the tornus, where it broadens again abruptly and meets the black on the termen; the outer margin of the oblique white patch is irregularly crenulate, sometimes trisinuate; the black colour on the apex often forms a right angle on vein 4; on the white patch posteriorly there is a black spot in interspace 2 and another in interspace 3. Hindwing: uniform, a few subobsolete slender, fuscous, transverse strigae posteriorly; the terminal margin sometimes with (more often without) a narrow dusky black edging, broadened anteriorly at the apices of the veins.

Underside: similar to that in the male, with similar markings, the ground colour a dark dull ochraceous, the fusco-ferruginous strigae more numerous. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in the male.[1]
Wet-season form in Hyderabad, India

Wet-season brood: Upperside in both male and female differs in the broader, more pronounced, black terminal edging to the hindwing, which is often remarkably broad, and in the female by the ground colour which is pale yellow. Underside: the fusco-ferruginous strigae and spots often subobsolete, occasionally entirely absent in the male.

Yellow Orange Tip Wikipedia

Dysphania Subrepleta

Image Copyright Paul Dunn

Last Observed: April 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Paul Dunn

Dysphania subrepleta is a brilliantly coloured moth of the genus Dysphania. They all look pretty similar and there’s not much about this particular species to be found. Tell you what though – we know that it lives on Koh Chang.

Dysphania is a genus of colourful moths in the family Geometridae. With a typical wingspan of 5–8.5 centimetres (2.0–3.3 in), they are relatively large compared to most members of this family. Most Dysphania are day-flying, but there are also nocturnal species. They are found in northeast Australia, Melanesia, and south, east and southeast Asia.

Dysphania Wikipedia

Leopard Lacewing (Euploea core)

Image Copyright Michael Erik Maria Finder

Last Observed: April 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Michael Erik Maria Finder

The Leopard Lacewing (Cethosia cyane) is a species of heliconiine butterfly found from India to southern China (southern Yunnan), and Indochina. Its range has expanded in the last few decades, and its arrival in the southern part of the Malay Peninsula, including Singapore, is relatively recent.

The Animal Pictured is a Female
Similar to the male in markings, but the tawny groundcolour replaced by pale greenish white, somewhat brownish on the upperside of fore wing, the extent of black on this wing larger. Underside with all the markings paler than in the male the red at the base of the wings replaced by brownish yellow on the fore, white on the hind wing. Antennae, head and thorax dusky brown; abdomen dusky above, white beneath.

Leopard Lacewing Wikipedia

Common Crow (Euploea core)

Image Copyright Michael Erik Maria Finder

Last Observed: July 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Michael Erik Maria Finder

The common crow (Euploea core) is a common butterfly found in South Asia and Australia. In India it is also sometimes referred to as the common Indian crow, and in Australia as the Australian crow. It belongs to the crows and tigers subfamily Danainae (Danaini tribe).

E. core is a glossy black, medium-sized 85–95 millimetres (3.3–3.7 in) butterfly with rows of white spots on the margins of its wings. Euploea core is a slow, steady flier. Due to its unpalatability it is usually observed gliding through the air with a minimum of effort. As caterpillars, this species sequesters toxins from its foodplant which are passed on from larva to pupa to the adult. While feeding, it is a very bold butterfly, taking a long time at each bunch of flowers. It can also be found mud puddling with others of its species and often in mixed groups. The males of this species visit plants like Crotalaria, Heliotropium to replenish pheromone stocks which are used to attract a mate during courtship.

The common crow is the most common representative of its genus Euploea. Like the tigers (genus Danaus), the crows are inedible and thus mimicked by other Indian butterflies (see Batesian mimicry). In addition, the Indian species of the Euploea genus shows another kind of mimicry, Müllerian mimicry. Accordingly, this species has been studied in greater detail than other members of its genus in India.

Common Crow Wikipedia

Painted Jezebel (Delias Hyparete)

Image Copyright Michael Erik Maria Finder

Last Observed: April 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Michael Erik Maria Finder

The painted Jezebel, is a medium-sized butterfly of the family Pieridae, found in South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Instead of the usual uneducated stuff I put in here let’s just, for once, list the massive level of detail that Wikipedia gives on this species and marvel in gratitude at the level of devotion and expertise of true butterfly fanciers.

This species closely resembles Delias eucharis but can be distinguished as follows: Male upper forewing has the black margins to the veins more diffuse; the transverse postdiscal band diffuse, ill-defined, oblique, not parallel to termen in its lower portion but terminated at apex of vein 2; the apical portion of the wing beyond the fascia more or less so thickly shaded with black scales as to leave the white lanceolate (lance-shaped) spaces between the veins (so prominent in D. eucharis) ill defined and obscure. Hindwing white, the black venation and terminal narrow black border as well as the sub-terminal vermilion-red spots between the veins on the underside show through by transparency. Underside: forewing as in D. eucharis, but the black margins to the veins much broader and the postdiscal transverse fascia as on the upperside oblique but broader. Hindwing differs from that of D. eucharis in the much deeper chrome-yellow tint of the ground colour, the postdiscal black curved band that in D. eucharis separates the yellow from the subterminal vermilion-red spots entirely wanting, the red spots themselves pointed inwardly, not subcordate, they conspicuously increase in size posteriorly. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen similar to those of D. eucharis. Female differs from the female of D. eucharis on the upperside by the very much darker shading, especially on the forewing, and by the postdiscal transverse band which is as in the D. eucharis oblique but broader. Hindwing also more darkly shaded, the postdiscal transverse curved black baud entirely absent. Underside as in the female but darker, the forewing especially more thickly shaded with black scaling, the preapical interspaces tinged with yellow. Antennae, thorax and abdomen similar to those in D. eucharis.
Delias hyparete metarete female, upperside

Subspecies D. h. metarete, Butler (Southern Myanmar; extending to Java and Sumatra) differs from D. h. hierta as follows: Male upperside has the ground colour a much purer white; apical half of forewing in contrast with the white on basal half densely shaded with black scales. Underside: the colours clearer and purer, the chrome yellow on the hindwing confined to the base and posterior half of the wing, the apical half of the cell and the anterior interspaces within the line of the vermilion-red spots pure white; the anterior two or three subterminal red spots margined interiorly with diffuse black scaling. Female differs less from the 2 of D. h. hierta, but on the underside of the hindwing the yellow colour is as restricted as it is in the male; the subterrninal red spots are of a richer vermilion than in D. h. hierta, and the anterior two or three as in the d have an interior narrow margin of diffuse black scales. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen as in D. h. hierta, but the thorax and abdomen shaded slightly darker with a bluish-grey appearance.

Subspecies D. h. ethire, Doherty (Madras; Orissa; Lower Bengal) differs from typical D. h. hierta as follows: Male upperside very pure white. Forewing has the black margins to the veins very narrow, the oblique postdiscal band ill defined, scarcely any irroration of black scales on the apical half of the wing. Hindwing pure white, the colours of the underside seen through by transparency as in D. h. hierta. Underside differs from D. h. hierta principally in the brighter tint of the yellow on the hindwing, and in the more clearly defined, less diffuse black margins of the veins. Female differs less from female D. h. hierta than does the male from the corresponding sex of the same insect. Upperside has the interspaces beyond the postdiscal oblique band on forewing and the cell and basal halves of the interspaces beyond the cell on the hindwing distinctly tinged with yellow. Underside: all the markings more neatly and clearly defined than in D. h. hierta, the interspaces beyond the oblique postdiscal band on the forewing bright lemon-yellow. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen in both sexes as in D. h. hierta.

Painted Jezebel Wikipedia

Common Pierrot (Castalius rosimon)

Image Copyright Michael Erik Maria Finder

Last Observed: April 2016 – Koh Chang
Last Observed By: Michael Erik Maria Finder

The Common Pierrot is presumably named after the creepy and rather unpleasant Italian clowns of the same name. It’s black and white you see.

It actually has a really attractive pattern though with all kinds of leopard-like spots on a white background.

It is a South Asian native butterfly that is a member of the lycaenid family of butterflies.

Common Pierrot Wikipedia