Image: David Vinot
Last Observed: December 2015, Koh Chang
Observed By: David Vinot, Jean-Pierre Odet
The scarlet skimmer is a bright red coloured member of the Dragonfly family that is common to Koh Chang and ranges throughout east and southeast Asia.
They are a common delicacy in China and may well also be available in some of the Thai fried insect stands.
Image Copyright Jean-Pierre Odet
Image Copyright Tijl Adriaen
Last Observed: 2015, Koh Chang
Observed By: Tijl Adriaen
This moth has an impressive yellow and reddish brown-two tone coat.
It would only be useful for camouflage if the moth landed specifically halfway between yellow and reddish-brown backgrounds. Perhaps that’s what it does.
Ricanula stigmatica at natureloveyou.sg
Image Copyright David Hinchliffe
Last Observed: 2011, Koh Chang
Observed By: David Hinchliffe
The most striking feature of this small tawny couloured moth is it’s brightly coloured red eye. It seems a strange evolutionary selection to reveal the eye so clearly when so many other animals go to elaborate lengths to conceal their vulnerable eyes.
If anyone knows why this is the case then we’d love to know.
Rounded palm-redeye ifoundbutterflies.org
Last Observed: February 2015, Koh Chang
Observed By: David Vinot
A long name for a small, but brightly coloured animal. The Saffron-Faced Blue Dart is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae that is found in many tropical Asian countries.
Saffron-Faced Blue Dart Wikipedia
Image Copyright Loukpud Shinkhem
Last Observed: December 2015, Koh Chang
Observed By: Loukpud Shinkhem, Heli Pohjolainen, Dave Hinchliffe
Phyllium siccifolium is a leaf insect from the family Phillidae. these insect mimic leaves to a truly remarkable extent. They are found from South and Southeast Asia through to Australia.
Phyllium Siccifolium ourbreathingplanet.com
Image Copyright Heli Pohjolainen
Image Copyright Dave Hinchliffe
Image Copyright 2015 Hans-Henrik Hansen
Last Observed: 2015, Koh Chang
Observed By: Hans-Henrik Hansen
Phalera reya is a brilliant imitator. When perched with its wings folded it looks exactly like a small twig. The level of detail is impressive, there is even a patch of ‘lichen’ featured on each wing.
Last Observed: 2010, Koh Chang
Observed By: Dave Hinchliffe
Poor old Peridrome orbicularis. It doesn’t seem to have a common name – just the Latin one. You would think that some moth-spotter somewhere would have considered it beautiful enough to merit its own common name – even if it was something as prosaic as “Black-spotted orange moth”.
Maybe it has a name somewhere and we just haven’t found it yet.
Until then, at least on Koh Chang Nature, it shall be known as the Tequila Sunset Moth.
Image Copyright 2005 David Hinchliffe
Last Observed: November 2005, White Sand Beach – Koh Chang
Observed By: Dave Hinchliffe
This astonishing looking caterpillar is in fact the juvenile form of the Day-Flying Moth. It also goes by the more appropriate name of Drury’s Jewel. It is covered in yellow coloured protrusions with just six that are red in colour.
Surprisingly the moth that it eventually transforms into is a simple black and white colour. Where all that colour goes is anybody’s guess.
Image Copyright 2011 David Hinchliffe
Last Observed: July 2011, Pearl Beach – Koh Chang
Observed By: Dave Hinchliffe
There’s something about Koh Chang that seems to attract the largest of any kind of animal. This is the case with the mighty Caucasus Beetle which is a member of the Rhinocerous beetle family. These huge creatures can actually fly, not very well, but getting all that weight off the ground is an achievement in itself.
The large horns are a feature of the male of the species and they use them in displays of beetle machismo to fight each other and impress the female of the species.
The individual pictured was over five inches in length.
Image Copyright 2011 David Hinchliffe
Image Copyright 2011 David Hinchliffe
Image Copyright 2015 David Vinot
Last Observed: February 2015, Koh Chang
Observed By: David Vinot, Iris Gerardi
The huge Atlas Moth is the second largest of the world’s moth species with the larger female of the species achieving a wingspan of up to 25cm. They are a reasonably common sight on koh Chang and have a very distinctive wing pattern.
Image Copyright Iris Gerardi
