The mountains at Doi Ang Kang

The first part went well, but we had forgotten that in the mountains, up north, it gets rather cold, 8C (this is what comes when you live in a place where the coldest night time temperature is a freezing 25C! I had not needed socks, long trousers or sweaters for 7 years.) and there were few butterflies at altitude at the time. Accordingly, we spent most of our time at the bottom of the mountain at Chiang Dao Wildlife Sanctuary, which was brilliant.

DOI MOT – This area does not reach the altitudes were to find later on, but we did come across some interesting species. The highlight here, for me, was Delias acalas pyramus. The subspecies is only found in the northern part of Thailand.

Delias acalis pyramus

The other real find was the very rare skipper, the Nonsuch Palmer (Creteus cyrina cyrina).

Creteus cyrina cyrina

DOI ANG KANG – This is where we stayed, in the mountains, and, as previously mentioned was poor in butterflies, no doubt owing to the time of year we visited. Nevertheless, there were a couple of new species for me, including the local subspecies of a species I had come across commonly when living in the UK, the Green-Veined White, Pieris napi montana.

Artogeia canidia canidia

Another Pierid we saw was the Indian Cabbage White (Artogeia canidia canidia). The other interesting species for me there was the very aptly named Dull Forrester (Lethe gulnihal peguana).

Lethe gulnihal peguana

CHIANG DAO WILDERNERSS SANCTUARY – This was, by far, the most productive area we visited. Many new species were seen, and it was not the best season. I am travelling there again at the end of February. Just some of the species found can be seen below.

Athyma cama cama

Kallima inachus siamensis

Hestina nama nama

Hestina persimilis persimilis

Niphanda asialis

Catapaecilma subochrea

Gerosis sinica narada

Delias agostina agostina

Papilio alcmenor alcmenor

The first two days were spent in company with some friends from the SaveButterfly website, and they proved excellent hosts, knowing the Thung Salaeng Luang National Park (which approximately means Large Savanah) well.

With our friends help, we were able to see many species not found in the south of the Country, which has been my hunting ground up to now. Just a few of them can be seen below.

Pseudotajuria donatana donatana – The Dawnas Royal

Coelites nothis nothis – The Scarce Catseye

Dodona deodata deodata – White Punch

Dichorragia nesimachus nesimachus – The Constable

Ancema ctesia ctesia – Bi-Spot Royal

On the third day, after saying goodbye to our friends who had to return to Bangkok, we headed off to Tad Mok National Park in Petchabun Province. Unfortunately, after heavy rains, we were not allowed to walk along the path to the waterfall. Nevertheless, there were still different, more forest orientated species, the area being particlarly rich in Athyma species.

Pseudergolis wedah wedah – The Tabby

Athyma species. Exact species is a matter of current debate. I believe that this is an undescribed subspecies of Athyma cama.

Mimathyma ambica miranda – Indian Purple Emperor

Our final day was to be spent at Phu Hin Rongkla National Park, our first venture into the montane area of Phitsanulok Province. The entrance to the park is at approximately 1650 metres, and climbs up to a maximum if 1800 metres. The road is heavily pockmarked which makes driving uncomfortable, particularly when driving through very heavy rain, which, unfortunatley we had to do. The heavens opened shortly after our arrival on the mountain, but we still were able to see a few species.

Acraea issoria sordice – Yellow Coster

Neorina patria westwoodii – White Owl

Sumalia daraxa daraxa – Green Commadore

This was a lovely area at the edge of the main central rice plain of Thailand, and we hope to go back in April/May time, when we have been told that it should be possible to find a species of JungleQueen (Stichophthalma sp.), a species that is at the top of my ‘Want to See’ list.

As before, our group stayed at the Scientists Research Centre, which is on the opposite side of the reserve to the exclusive tourist hotel. The accomodation is more than satisfactory, and the presence of researchers there, who are always happy to give their expertise, is an added bonus.

Unfortunately, Borneo appears to be suffering from the same butterfly drought as Peninsular Thailand and Malaysia, and numbers seen were less than during my previous visit. However, we did see enough to keep ouselves pleasantly occupied throughout our visit.

Our first butterfly was one that allowed me to correct an omission from my previous trips to Sabah, we came across a reasonably willing model of the nominate form of Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing, Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana. However, even though this species regularly rested, it was always several metres up, so the angle of shot is not a good as I would have hoped.

Trogonoptera brookiana brookiana – Rajah Brooke’s Birdwing

Flying around the same tree was a new species for me, Atrophaneura nox noctis (Blue Batwing), a female, which is considerbly larger than the male.

Atrophaneura nox noctis – Blue Batwing

There are a large number of forest trails to walk along, and last time they had proved to be a wealth of species. This time, however, they were rather disappointing.

Charaxwes solon echo – Black Rajah

Polyure schreiber malayicus – Blue Nawab

Pandita sinope sinope – The Colonel

Arhopala similis – Druce’s Oakblue

With a paucity of butterflies, two of us went searching for Dragonflies, and in this we were not disappointed, finding many species, some of which are still to be described scientifically.

Prodasineura flamella

Euphaea subcostalis

Unlike Maliau Basin, larger animals can be found here, and we were lucky that several wild Orang-Utans were present this time. These are not  rescued individuals released back into the wild, but truly wild ones. Also, pygmy elephants were also in the area, but not in the same numbers as seen previously, they were elsewhere. This is a highly endangered subspecies of the Asian Elephant, which some scientists consider may be a seperate species entirely.

Orang-Utan

Pygmy Elephant

We came across other fauna, and overall, had a great time in a truly beautiful area. I strongly recommend a stay at the Centre, the rooms are comfortable and the food is good, and you do not have to ‘rough it’!

Lantern Bug – Pyrops whiteheadi

Huge ‘Bird-Eating Spider’ – Phoringochilus everetti

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.

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’.

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