Nakhon Si Thammarat Province has a diverse range of habitats, from lowland plains, near the coast and to the south-west of the province, to central mountain ranges, which includes Khao Luang which, at 1835m. in height, is the highest point in Thailand south of Bangkok. It has been in these central mountains and their foothills where I have concentrated my searches, as it is there where one can find the best rainforests.

I have not been disappointed! The star of the show was this Delias singhapura singhapura (Lion Jezebel).

Delias singhapura singhapura – male

This is one of the rarest species in Thailand, and the subspecies can only be found in Southern Thailand and in West Malaysia, where it is equally rare. Owing to this, I can not, unfortunately, reveal the exact location of the finding. We found a small colony, which I had not found during my previous visits to the location a few years back. However, they were breeding, as can be seen in the photo of the female, who, with her abdomen raised, is saying that she had already mated, and therefore did not want to be bothered with a male that was fluttering, hopefully, close by.

Unwilling female, with suitor flying around

I will be keeping a close watch on this colony in the future in the hope that it may expand in size, and also be found in other locations nearby.

Locations we visited where I can reveal which species we found include Karom Waterfall. There is a quite short nature trail there, and below are a couple of the species we saw there.

Arhopala ariel. A rare species of the ganesa subgroup of this huge genus.

Pirdana hyela rudolphii

At the Krung Ching Waterfall trail (about 4Km.long) we have seen many species. Near the start of the trail, there is a short steep climb, and at the end, near the very beautiful waterfall, a long, steep and slippery drop, which could be dangerous with the wrong soles on your shoes. The species include:

Choaspes stigmatus caudatus. A late afternoon species.

Deramas livens evansi. All members of this genus are very rare.

Sithon nedymond ismarus – male

Arhopala ammonides ammonides. Another member of the ganesa subgroup, but with an additional costal white spot.

Idea lynceus lynceus

Kallima limborgi. The famous Leaf Butterfly, a species I had always wanted to find.

Symbrenthia hypatia chersonesia

Zeuxidia doubledayi doubledayi – male. A rare upperside shot.

Isma bononoides. A very rare species distinguished by having the hyaline spots yellowish.

Yong Waterfall National Park was the southernmost area I visited. Again, there is a short nature trail away from the main waterfall which is very popular with locals, and, once more, I came across some new species to me.

Britomartis cleoboides cleoboides

Losaria neptunus neptunus

These are just three of the places we visited on our trips, and there are many more locations that can be investigated in this varied and beautful province, a large part of which, I am pleased to say, is made up of protected areas.

This is an interesting location as it is situated just north of the supposed divide between the Sundaland fauna (South), and Indo-Burmese fauna (North). I was therefore hopeful that I would come across a few species not seen on or near my Samui home. I was not disappointed.

The park is the third largest in Thailand, situated on the southern border of Thailand and Myanmar (Burma), and home to many of the larger mammals of Thailand. We stayed at a small resort just outside the Park boundary, and it is used primarily by bird-watchers, as this park is a well-known mecca for this activity.

The park office is about 15Km inside the boundary, and the road to it starts of paved, but halfway along reverts to the more normal dirt track. At the office, there is also a restaurant, and camping facilities. To travel further, there are strict times when vehicles are allowed either up or down. This is because after 3Km. the road is single track, very steep in places and with no passing areas. Only 4-wheel drive vehicles are allowed after the 3km point. As a group, we did not venture past that point, but before my friends from Singapore and Malaysia arrived, Antonio and I did venture up to the top of the mountain (1035m). It gave very pretty views, but was not rewarding, butterfly-wise.

The best areas for butterflies were 3 areas where the road from the office to the 3Km. point were crossed by small streams. I have never seen so many puddling butterflies in such a small area in my life. It certainly never seems to happen further south on the peninsular. The pictures below can only give a poor idea of the true numbers seen at these locations at any one time.

Puddlers disturbed!

Group puddling

These huge conglomerations made it difficult to isolate single specimens to get decent photos, but we still managed it to our satisfaction, though some species seen were never co-operative. In fact, there were so many that I missed several species which, although previously photographed by me were of a different subspecies, which I had not come across before. There was one species which I had dismissed for the first couple of days as Papilio memnon, common on Samui, and so had ignored it. Only on the third day did I discover that the undersides were different and it was a new species for me, The Spangle (Papilio protenor euprotenor).

Papilio protenor euprotenor (The Spangle)

One of our main objectives had been to photograph the Great Nawab (Charaxes (Polyura) eudamippus eudamippus), and a few happily turned up. This species is one of many that we saw that are at close to the southernmost part of their range.

Charaxes (Polyura) eudamippus eudamippus (Great Nawab)

Another of the species, which only appeared on the first day, so Ellen, Nelson and LC all missed it, was this Blue-striped Mime (Papilio slateri slateri).

Papilio slateri slateri (Blue-striped Mime

A true jewel of the forest is the Paris Peacock (Papilio paris paris), which was seen on most days, it is stunning! It is also not found further south.

Papilio paris paris (Paris Peacock)

I had hoped that I might find a species, the Blue Helen (Papilio prexaspes andamanicus) known once from Samui, but for which I am still lacking a photo. The species was there, but it was the wrong subspecies, P. prexaspes pitmani, which immediately told me that I would not find my goal here as two subspecies can not live in the same area.

Papilio prexaspes pitmani (Blue Helen)

Below are other species found in the open, near the road, which were new to me. As far as I can see, some of these photos may increase the known range of the species southwards.

Athyma ranga obsolescens (Black-veined Sergeant)

Graphium xenocles lindos (Great Zebra)

Seseria strigata (Evan’s White Flat)

Ctenoptilum vasava vasava (Tawny Angle)

Symbrenthia lilaea luciana (Common Jester)

Libythea narina rohini (White-spot Beak)

There are a few short trails off the main ‘road’, and these produced different species, which prefer to stay in the undergrowth.

Tagiades lavatus (Plain Snow Flat)

Zographetus satwa (Purple and Gold Flitter)

Sinthusa nasaka amba (Narrow Spark)

Because of the overwhelming number of butterflies around, I spent little time looking for other forms of insects, but we did come across this particularly beautiful Long-horn Beetle.

Thysia wallichi tonkinensis

This National Park is a wonderful place to visit at any time of the year, though the road up to the mountain is closed during the rainy season for safety reasons. However, it is very remote, the nearest petrol stations and ATMs are about 30Km. away and credit cards are not universally accepted! Be warned.

For all the species and subspecies new to me from this trip, please go the ‘Expeditions’ section and click on Thailand-Mainland.

Fraser’s Hill is famous as a bird watcher’s paradise, though it was originally built as a hill station by British colonialists in the early 1900′s, as a cooling summer retreat from the hot and humid towns in the lowlands. It stands at approximately 1500m above sea level. As its name suggests, the terrain is generally very hilly, making treking in the area quite arduous.

Both on the way there, and back, we stopped at a small riverbank near the reservoir at Chilling. Puddling butterflies were plentiful, and if I ever see another Chocolate Albatross (Appias lyncida), I will scream, they were everywhere, disturbing shots I wanted to take of other species. Despite their constant intrusions, I was delighted to get an upperwing shot of the Jewel Nawab (Polyura delphis concha), as I already had underside shots of that species.

Polyura delphis concha

One rarity I came across there was Amathusia perakana perakana. This is very much like the very common PalmKing, which can be found anywhere there are coconuts, and its identification was only confirmed after my return home.

Amathusia perakana perakana

Owing to the altitude of FH, I was hopeful of seeing some of the more montane species to be found in Malaysia, especially  some Delias. I was not disappointed getting three Delias species into my camera, together with a few other montane species which were new to me.

Delias baracasa dives

Delias descombesi eranthos

Abisara neophron chelina

Stiboges nymphidia nymphidia

Poritia phama rajata

Rapala nissa pahangana

On the way back, after the Chilling stop, we also stopped at Sungei Tua Nature Reserve, and found a couple of interesting species, but only one was condescending enough to act as a good model.

Dacalana vidura azyada

To be perfectly honest, FH does not have many attractions except for nature lovers, and more than a couple of days stay there may not be appropriate if travelling with a young family as there is little to do there, apart from playing on the oldest golf course in Malaysia, and very few shops except restaurants for tourists.

To see all the Malaysian species found during my travels, go to the West Malaysia section of ‘Expeditions’.

Things got off to a bad start when our plane from Singapore to Manado was delayed for 2 1/2 hours. To make matters worse, whilst going through immigration at Manado, I could see my things going round waiting to be collected. When I say my things, I mean my suitcase contents! My suitcase had been ripped in two some time between check-in and arrival. I have still to be recompensed, as I had to buy an emergency ruck-sack to keep everything in. SILK AIR, YOUR CUSTOMER SERVICE IS CRAP!!!!!

Now to the better part, we had a seven hour ‘road’ trip to make from the airport to our first location, Bogani Nani Wartabone National Park, and we arrived just after midnight. I will never complain about the roads on Samui again! Our accomodation, just outside the park was described as basic, and it was…..very. However, the charming lady of the house proved to be a wonderful cook, and I had glorious local food there.

Our first morning saw us taken to the Park, which, apparently does not get many visitors, the last being at least one month beforehand.  Our arrival gave us our first view of a species which can only be found on Sulawesi (endemic), Papilio gigon gigon . This is part of the demolion group of swallowtails and was quite similar to that found on Samui, but much larger.

Papilio gigon gigon

Our path into the forest involved us taking a very short ferry trip acorss a river. This ferry was made of few bamboo trunks, tied together, with a board on top to kneel down on. Having safely made our way across, we entered the jungle. The path was narrow, and we had to keep to it and follow our park ranger, who really did not know what we were looking for, or how to react when seeing a butterfly, he is more used to leading bird-watching expeditions.

The walk was rather disappointing, in that we did not see as many species as we had expected, but there were still enough new ones, usualy endemic species, for us to photograph.

Lohora opthalmicus

Faunis menado menado

The afternoon was also scheduled to be in the Park, but we asked our guide for the first 1/2 of the trip if he knew of any areas which might have been more profitable for us. After a couple of tries, we finaly arrived at an area, outside the park, that was eminently suitable, with a small stream, open areas and forest all in a small area and we spent a very enjoyable afternoon, and the next morning there. Marcus, our  dragonfly fan, in particular, had a great time there, finding many species, most of which we are still having difficulty in identifying.

Charaxes affinis affinis

Polyura cognatus cognatus

A damselfly - Libellago daviesi

An unusual Phasmid - Orthomeris sp. unknown

The afternoon was to be spent driving to a non-descript city where we were to stay the night before completing our return to Manado, where we were to change guide and drivers. We asked if it would be possible to change the schedule so that we would go all the way to Manado that afternoon and evening, allowing us an extra morning looking for butterflies, suggesting the nearby Kali waterfall. To our guide’s credit, he agreed, and he hastily rearranged our night’s accomodation.

The next morning, after a long-awaited, and much-needed hot shower, we set off to Kali. It is not far from the City, and, looking at the websites is considered a tourist attraction. Unfortunately, the local authorities are not maintining this facility, and the walk down to the waterfall is steep and dangerous owing to the slippery path. Owing to this, I decided to stay on a more level area of the path, whilst the others carried on. They confirmed the danger, though admitted that the waterfall is very pretty.

Cyrestis strigata strigata

Tiger Beetle - Wallacedela sp. nr. eximia

On returning to Manado, we changed our drivers and guide for the remaining visits to Tangkoko Nature Reserve and Minahasa Highlands. At this point I must thank both Roy, our guide and Albert, my driver, who both did their utmost to ensure the first part of our trip was as successful as possible.

Tangkoko Nature Reserve is an estuarine forest, next to the world famous Lembeh Strait, known for its exceptional diving possibilites. The reserve is most famous for its Spectral Tarsiers, which are endemic to this part of the Island. They are very strictly protected, but dusk visits to their ‘nests’ are available if accompanied by a ranger. They were sooooooo cute!

Spectral Tarsier

Spectral Tarsier

The reserve and our nearby lodge proved to be excellent hunting grounds for us, with many species seen there which we had not come across before.

Bibasis iluska iluska

Cepora celebensis celebensis

Moduza lymire lymire

Damselfly - Libellago xanthocyana

Lantern Bug (Fulgoridae) - Scamandra tethis

The final part of our trip was to the Minahasa Highlands, which stand at arround 1000km above sea level. We were looking forward to this for two reasons. Firstly, we hoped to see some more montane species, and secondly, the Highlands  are Volcano territory, and one, Mt. Lokon, had erupted only a couple of weeks before our visit, though it does this on average 10 times a year and is not considered one of the more dangerous ones in the region.  It was only about 5km away from the resort where we stayed, but unfortunately, or should it be fortunately, it only spouted small plumes of smoke whilst we were there.

At the resort, the most prominent species visible were 2 Delias species, which I, as a Delias fanatic, was delighted to see. Unfortunately, both species, Delias rosenbergi rosenbergi and D. zebuda, proved to be very difficult to photograph as they never stayed still, only stopping to feed for abour 1 0r 2 seconds, and also they tended to stay up at the tops of the flowering bushes.

Delias zebuda (pair) - the male is on the left

Our guide took us up a mountain where we ,again, saw many species, none of which we had found at lower elevations.

Euthalia amanda

Hestinalis divorna

Sulawesi has proved itself to be a fascinating island, and despite the various inconveniences we suffered, we will definitely be returning, but perhaps trying the southern arm of the Island.

To see all the species I photographed on my trip please visit the ‘Expeditions’ section of the website and click on ‘Sulawesi’.

The entrance to the park is at the end of a short road off the main highway between Phanom and Takuapa, about 5Km before the roadside  Mai Yai waterfall, which, incedentally, I do not recommend during the dry season. The short road to the park entrance is lined with small resorts for Park visitors, and it is only a short walk to the entrance itself. Entry fees are 100Baht for foreigners.

Because Khao Sok is directly connected to 2 other Parks, this is a huge area of undisturbed rainforest, and has almost the full compliment of major mammals, including Elephants, Tigers, Tapirs and Sun Bears. In fact, the only large animal missing is the Sumatran Rhino, though with such a large area remaining unexplored, it is still possible that a few may be hiding deep inside the rainforest, I certainly hope so.

The weather was generally good during the day, the morning mist clearing by 10:00 each morning. Clouds started to appear at arround 13:30, with thunder sounding at 14:30. Ususally, it was raining by 15:00 which brought our butterfly hunting to an end. We concentrated on one main path which runs close to the Sok River. The first 3.5KM is an old road, but after that, the path becomes only wide enough for single file walking.

It appears that we were there at the start of the main butterfly season, there not being a huge amount, numbers wise. However, the species we did come across were interesting in the extreme, including some great rarities. On our first day in the park, we almost immediately came a cross a new species for me, the Yellow Tailed Owl (Neorina crishna archaica), which proved to be a very good model, and stayed on the path for a long time.

Neorina crishna archaica (Yellow Tailed Owl)

We felt this to be a good sign for future discoveries, and, indeed, I saw 19 species completely new to me on this trip, which, since I live in the Province, and have also visited the mainland on several occasions, was a good haul. On our last day there, we came across a Hesperid, which on review, appears that it could be an unknown species. I have been informed that this is The Palin Yellow Lancer (Xanthoneura corissa indrasana)

Xanthoneura corissa indrasana

These were undoubtedly the highlights, but other species worthy of note are shown below:

Ethope diademoides hislopi

Amathusia ochraceofusca ochraceofusca

Drupadia scaeva scaeva

Arhopala anthelus grahami

Halpe aurifera

Zela onara solex (A bad photo of a VERY rare species)

Poritia sumatrae sumatrae

Scobura phiditia

I thoroughly recommend a visit to this wonderful Park. Most resorts have a number of excursions available to residents, including a trip on the dammed lake, which, I understand, is extremely beautiful, whough we never had time to undertake this one. I can assure you, I will be going back, hopefully, later on this year.

This park was first national park in Malaysia, is the largest and has purportedly, the oldest rainforest in the world. It is, quite correctly, promoted by the Malaysian Government as the flagship park. Unfortunately, for me, this means that it is very busy, and it is very difficult to find places where you will not get interruped by a train of guided tourists on a jungle walk. PLEASE NOTE that this is not a complaint. I have been thoroughly spoilt on my previous tropical rainforest experiences. The park is a perfect introduction to this habitat for anyone not used to it, and it is also a safe and great place for a family.

Despite this regular distraction, and the fact that the weather was not entirely kind to us, we were able to find over 120 species, many of which were new to me.  This first species to come to our attention was this female Arhopala, which has since been identified as Arhopala kurzi.

Arhopala kurzi (female)

This species was found on the track to Lubok Simpon. This area is where the locals come to have picnics and swim, and it gets very busy from mid-day onwards. This is a shame, for a butterfly photographer at least, as it would be the perfect place to find puddling species. The only species of worth that we came across there was this Polyura delphis concha, a beautiful large species, which although not considered rare, was a new species for me.

Polyura delphis concha

By far, the most interesting species were to be found in the dense forest. This meant an interesting walk, not always as easy as I would like. There are short stretches where you need to climb, or lower yourself down on ropes as the track can be very steep and, if it has rained, slippery. The effort is worth it, and below, are some of the rarer species we found.

Erites elegans distincta

Hasora lizetta hadria

Mycalesis maianeas maianeas

Isma bononia bononia

By far the most unexpected find was the very rare Chestnut Rajah (Charaxes durnfordi durnfordi). This is a much prized species in collections, and certainly took our breath away as it flew around us, attracted to our sweat rucksacks and camera.

Charaxes durnfordi durnfordi

As long as the weather has been good, I would strongly recommend a boat trip up to Lata Berkoh. The trip takes you through real rainforest, with huge trees towering over you, and leads to an area where you can swim. However, if it has been raining, this is not allowed, as was the case with us (see photo of location, below)

River trip to Lata Berkoh

Swimming area! Not today, after rains.

Many people think that rainforests are teeming with animals for them to see. This is not the case. Yes, they are there, but, very wisely, most of them try to keep a distance between themselves and us. However, we were very lucky to have a visitor to our chalet, an endagered Malay Tapir. This is not a good photo, as it was dark, and my camera seemed to object. Hopefully you can get a good idea of what the species is like from this. I know LC got much better photos (he is a much better photographer than I am).

Malayan Tapir (Tapirus indicus)

On the way back to KL, we stopped at an interesting looking spot around Genting.  It did  not disappoint. It is always a delight to see Malaysia’s national butterfly, the Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana), but more than this, I was able to rectify an ommission from my previous trip to Maliau Basin, when a couple of the group managed to photograph the Glorious Begum (Agatasa calydonia calydonia). It was a  great surprise to find it here, and an opportunity I was not going to miss this time.

Trogonoptera brookiana albescens

Agatasa calydonia calydonia

At the end of June, I was fortunate to join a group from Malaysia and Singapore on a 9 day visit to the Maliau Basin. This is better known as Sabah’s Lost World. It was first discovered, by accident in 1947, and only first partially explored in 1988. It is still only 50% explored.

Access to the site is very strictly controlled, and getting there is not for the frail. It is a 5 hour journey from Tawau by 4X4 vehicle, and after only 1 hour the road stops, to be replaced by rutted, pot-holed track, not perfect if travelling with a broken collar bone and two broken ribs, as I was.

The main restcamp is spacious and comfortable, with a separate dining room and rest area, away from the rooms. There is also a small library and scientists working area. The satellite treking camps are less well appointed. In the morning, you are awoken by the sound of gibbons calling as well as various birdsongs, including several species of hornbills.

As a group, because this was a first time for all of us, we stayed arround the main camp, except for a single day trip to the Agathis Camp. Also, owing to a motorcycle accident the week before, I was not able to walk far into the jungle. However, the other members of the group were, so I know I missed some great rarities such as Graphium empedovana empodovana, Drina coweni, Sinthusa privata, Drupadia cindi and the Glorious Begum (Agatasa calydonia mahasthama).

Nevertheless, some lovely species did find their way into my camera. Pick of the bunch was Drina mariae, a Bornean endemic, described as a great rarity. There is a very similar species also to be found in Borneo, but we were fortunate that one member of the group managed an upperside shot which confirmed its identity.

Underside of Drina mariae

Although the Island belongs to the same faunal area as West (Mainland) Malaysia and Southern Peninsular Thailand (known as Sundaland or Neomalaya), and it shares many species with the Peninsular, it does have many species unique to it, and many of the shared species are found as different subspecies. We did come across several other  species endemic to Borneo. The majority of these were to be found in the Rainforest or on its borders.

In total, we came across 132 species of butterfly and managed to photograph all but 19 of them. Most of the unphotographed species were those found commonly on the mainland, though it was a great pity that the few specimens that we saw of the nominate form of the Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana) never settled to allow a photo.

Charaxes jalysus triphonia

Idea stolli virgo

Ancema blanka blanka

Idmon latifascia

Prioneris cornelia

However, butterflies were not the only insects we photographed. The forests of Borneo are full of the oddest insects you could wish to think of.

At night, when the lights were switched on, you did not know where to look next, so many different insects were attracted to them. These included Moths, Cicadas, Beetles and Praying Mantids.

This was a wonderful exploratory trip, and I, for one, have every intention of returning, hopefully to investigate further into this remarkable place.

Moth - Cossidae: Xyleutes mineus

Moth - Lassiocampidae: Trabala viridana

Moth - Limacodidae: Parasa pastoralis

Moth - Saturnidae: Actias maenas

Dead Leaf Mantis - Deroplatys dessicata

Stick Insect - ID unknown, can anyone help?

Violin Beetle - Mormolyce castelnaudi

Stag Beetle - ID uncertain

Longhorn Beetle - Glenea dimidiata dimidiata f. oudetera

Fulgoridae - Lantern Bug - Pyrops whiteheadi