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)

Lyssa zampa

A big bunch of insects greeted us as we stepped into the balcony of Nepenthes lodge overlooking the forest and the distant Peaks of Kinabalu. This moth here was the largest of them all, with wings spanning over 20cms.

These creatures are found in montane forests, at an altitude as high as 2600m. Although known to be a commoner at Mt. Kinabalu, this was the only one of its kind that I spotted.

Borneo hosts overs 4500 species of moths, most of which have been covered in an extensive work entitled "Moths of Borneo". Anatomical details of Lyssa zampa can me found here.

The Tropical Pitcher Plants - Nepenthes villosa

Our lodge in the Kinabalu National Park (East Malaysia - Sabah) was named after these carnivorous plants - 'Nepethes'.

The later part of the first day's climb up Mt. Kinabalu showed us a number of these pitchers. These plants are known to be found at an altitude of 9000-10300 feet on Mt. Kinabalu.




The lid on these bulbs are used to attract and lure insects into the pitchers, which itself functions as a trap to drown the prey in the plant's fluid contained within. The lip or the peristome of this pitcher is intricate in the villosa species also attracts the prey, but cheats it of its foot hold.

It is interesting that the pitcher is considered the modified leaf of the plant.