More butterfly photos.

Occasionally, even with my cheapskate digital camera, I manage to capture some photos that are actually quite good. Being patient and finding a willing subject help tremendously in this quest.

The Pansy butterflies are quite common in this part of the country and can be found in abundance during dry sunny days in open areas, often sitting on bare ground. I have often observed them to be territorial, driving away other butterflies in the vicinity.

Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya wallacei)


Grey Pansy (Junonia atlites)

Notice the Eyespots found in the Pansy butterflies, these supposedly functions to divert the attention of predators from the more vital head region and also act as a deterrent to predators by mimicking eyes of a far bigger subject.

Club Silverline (Spindasis syama terana)

Another diverting technique can be seen on the Club Silverline, the difficult to differentiate head or tail cause ambushing predators to possibly approach from the wrong side and when attacked, less vital parts are damaged, allowing it time to escape.

But on the other hand, there are butterflies that are on the other end of the spectrum, appearing as dull as possible to avoid attracting potential predators, like the one below.

Species unidentified.

The Hibiscus Flower.

Some of you from the US, has written to me about wanting to see the Hibiscus flowers found in Malaysia. I have taken photos of the flower that I have come across in the last few days and I hope you find it interesting.


More than 200 species of hibiscus are known to exist.
The red five petal Hibiscus rosa sinensis is the national flower of Malaysia and grows in abundance all over the country.

It is common to find the Hibiscus plant as a popular household flowering plant and along roads and highways in Malaysia although it is not native and originates from China .

This constantly flowering garden shrub with its many colors and forms takes the place of the standard rose in many Malaysian gardens.

Hibiscus is from the Mallow family. Its flowers are bisexual.

It is one of the most common flowering plant you can find in Malaysia and over the years, many crossbreed species have become available.

Bangkok’s Sanam Chandra Palace.

With the opportunity to travel to Bangkok for the second time this year, I was intent on visiting the floating market and to at least one of the Royal Palace, which I missed on the first trip.
However, in the almost 2 weeks in Bangkok, I only got to visit the Sanam Chandral Palace due to time constraints with other more important commitments.
The Palace is indeed an impressive place, literally fit for a King.

The main architecture style being uniquely Thai with some unavoidable European influence on some buildings.
As a foreigner, the admittance fee is Baht 300, it’s free for Thais.

I was rather impressed with the Palace Guard’s unique marching style, where every two steps taken, the right hand is swing forward at a 90° angle.

Do take note that there are plenty of opportunists outside the palace area preying on innocent tourist. I fell for one scam where an old lady was giving packets of corn to feed pigeons, she will insist that you feed the pigeons with the packets of corn she insistently hands to you gesturing that it is ok with mannerism indicating it is free, even when you say no, but beware, immediately after emptying a packet of corns for the pigeons, her behavior changes abruptly and ask for money.

Photos of Butterflies I come across.

The photos are all taken in the vicinity of Bukit Larut foothills. There are actually a lot more species of butterflies that I have come across, these are just the ones I manage to take photos of. The identification of butterflies is not as easy as I thought and it is possible I may get some of them wrong.
The Dot-Dash Sergeant, Common Sergeant and Yellow Archduke would be a good case in point, they look almost alike and the differences is only noticed when you take a closer look at the wing markings.

Dot-Dash Sergeant (Athyma Kanwa)

Common sergeant (Athyma Perius)

Yellow Archduke (Lexias Canescens Pardalina)

Some of them really look majestic and comes with wing span of about 10 cm, a good example would be the Common Birdwing.

Common Birdwing (Troides Helena Cerberus)

And then there are dull looking butterflies with grayish or light brown shades of colors.

Common Three Ring (Ypthima Pandocus Corticaria)

Dingy Bush Brown (Mycalesis Perseus Cepheus)

There is also a specimen of a Yellow Glassy Tiger that is not native to this country that has somehow made its way here from Taiwan.

Yellow Glassy Tiger (Parantica Aspasia)

Another non-native that has made its way south from Thailand, the Lemon Pansy.

Lemon Pansy (Junonia Lemonias)

My favorite is this butterfly with the common name of Commander.

Commander (Moduza Procris Milonia)