The Butterfly Swayamvara

In the Sungai Realu ('Sungai' means 'River' in Malay) region of Taman Negra ('Taman' means 'park/garden' in Malay) was a small wet muddy patch by the road side that was infested with butterflies. With no flowers or other interesting vegetation around, the suddenly dense population of butterfly was surprising. We took a few pictures and continued our walk into the national park. Taking a short trail, about 550 mts long, we got the closest to the dense rain forest, picking up leeches from amidst tall trees and thick shrubs... On our way back to the chalet we had rented in the national park (for 50RM), reluctant to leave the hyperactive bunch of butterflies behind, I decided to spend half an hour more with them. This stay was more rewarding than I had imagined - I got to witness the courtship dance by a couple of Blue Tigers. It started with one of the butterflies instigating the other by continuously flapping its wings while sitting next to it, and then sporadically sending out jets of some liquid (which I learn could have been 'danaidone' from here - General Characteristics of Danaidae). It was a sight to be enjoyed! I now regret not having spent enough time observing them, and leaving the place of action, missing out on possible copulation.

Below is a small piece of video that I caught. Strain your eyes a bit and you will notice the liquid exuding out of the rear end of the fluttering butterfly's abdomen. (When the time reading on the video shows 0.06, 0.33 and 0.30)