Common Grass Yellow

A beautiful pair of Common Grass Yellows, Eurema hecabe contubernalis mating.

The Psyche

The dainty, delicate Psyche, Leptosia nina. This little butterfly is quite a nightmare to photograph due to the fact that it hardly ever alights on plants, prefering to 'bob' around weakly practically non-stop. The frailty and ghostlike appearance of this butterfly was probably what gave it its name of 'soul'.

Some Singaporean Skippers

Skippers are so named because of their fast and erratic skipping flight. Many of them are powerful fliers and are very difficult to observe on the wing due to their rapid flight. They have stout, furry bodies and generally small triangular wings, looking more like moths than other butterflies. These endearing little butterflies are usually not difficult to find in parks and nature reserves.

The Common Redeye, Matapa aria.

The Common Dartlet, Oriens gola pseudolus.

The Lesser Dart, Potanthus omaha omaha.

The Paintbrush swift, Baoris oceia.

The Yellow Vein Lancer, Pyroneura latoia latoia.

The Chestnut Bob, Iambrix salsala salsala.

The Chocolate Demon, Ancistroides nigrita maura.

More at the Central Catchment Area

The Grey Sailor, Neptis leucoporos cresina. There is a beautiful shimmering multicoloured patch on the thorax of this otherwise simply marked butterfly.


The Common Faun, Faunis canens arcesilas. Had a hard time photographing this butterfly. Not as common as I expected.


The Colour Seargent, Athyma nefte subrata, female basking.

Pea Blue, Knight

The Pea Blue, Lampides boeticus. A female ovipositing on the hostplant. This butterfly is quite a strong flyer and flies rather rapidly. The uppersides of the female are a pale shining blue with broad brown-black borders.


The Knight, Lebadea martha parkeri, showing its undersides. The Knight is not exactly common and is usually found in forested areas where it frequently perches with outspread wings. This butterfly is also particularly sensitive to camera flashes, making it a challenge to photograph its uppersides, which are beautifully and intricately patterned. The photos below represent some of my attempts to capture this butterfly on film.



The photos were taken at Pasir Ris Park.

The Noblemen

The Malay Viscount, Tanaecia pelea pelea. This is a common forest butterfly, often settling on leaves with wings flat or descending to the forest floor to feed on fallen fruit.


Lexias dirtea merguia, male.


Lexias dirtea merguia, female.


The Archduke, Lexias pardalis dirteana, a male on the forest floor. The only discernible difference between this species and L. dirtea is that the apical topside of the Archduke is orange while that of L. dirtea is black. Both are extremely robust fliers and when disturbed often fly away very rapidly. They are fond of rotting fruit and are frequently found on the ground feeding. The two sexes of both species look very different from each other and may be mistaken for two different species. Common as they are, these butterflies are striking and beautiful, especially the males with their shimmering blues and greens.

Common Rose

Basking in a patch of bright sunlight.


The exquisite Common Rose, Pachliopta aristolochiae asteris. The wings of this butterfly are a wonderful velvety black, and the bright red abdomen and spots on the underside of the hindwings (unfortunately not visible in these shots) present a startlingly beautiful contrast to the otherwise dark butterfly. The Common Rose does not stay still for long, preferring to flutter around smoothly on seemingly trembling wings a few metres above the ground. Its caterpillars feed on Aristolochia tagala and can be found together with those of the Common Birdwing on the same vines.