Blue Pansy Butterfly

Junonia orithya is a nymphalid butterfly with many subspecies occurring from Africa, through southern and south-eastern Asia, and in Australia. In India its common English name is the Blue Pansy, but in southern Africa it is known as the Eyed Pansy as the name Blue Pansy refers to Junonia oenone.In Australia this butterfly is known as the Blue Argus.

Junonia orithya is a nymphalid butterfly with many subspecies occurring from Africa, through southern and south-eastern Asia, and in Australia. In India its common English name is the Blue Pansy, but in southern Africa it is known as the Eyed Pansy as the name Blue Pansy refers to Junonia oenone. In Australia this butterfly is known as the Blue Argus.

    The withered tip of the host plants branch makes

a good disguise for the caterpillar.  

        Male upperside : somewhat more than half the fore wing from base velvety black, apical half dull fuliginous ; cell-area with or without two short transverse orange bars ; a blue patch above, the tornus; the outer margin of the basal black area obliquely zigzag in a line from the middle of costa to apex of vein 2, including a large discal, generally obscure ocellus, which, however, in some specimens is prominently ringed with orange-yellow. Beyond this a broad while irregularly oblique discal band followed by a short oblique preapical bar frm costa ; a small black orange-ringed ocellus beneath the bar, a subterminal continuous line of white spots in the interspaces and a terminal jet-black slender line; cilia alternately dusky black and white. Hind wing blue shaded with velvety black towards base; a postdiscal black white-centred orange and black-ringed ocellus in interspace 2, a round minutely white-centred velvety black spot (sometimes entirely absent) in interspace 5; the termen narrowly white, traversed by an inner and an outer subterminal and a terminal black line ; cilia white.                                                                                                                                             

        Female. Similar, with similar but larger and more clearly defined ocelli and markings ; the basal half of the fore and hind wings on the upper-side fuliginous brown, scarcely any trace of blue on the hind wing. Antennae brown, head reddish brown, thorax and abdomen above brownish black: palpi, thorax and abdomen beneath dull white.

                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

  

Host plants

    These are some of the host plants based on my own observations.


 

Above photo is Stachytarpheta jamaicensis it's a species of plant in the Verbenaceae family. Native throughout the Caribbean, the species is commonly known as blue porterweed or Jamaica vervain. It is pantropical, being found in the Indian Subcontinent, Southeastern Asia and West Tropical Africa, where it is known as Indian Snakeweed and Nettle-leaved vervain, formerly thought to be a separate species (Stachytarpheta indica). It is usually found along country roadsides and it grows also well as a ruderal plant on disturbed terrain. It is an invasive species in some places.
This plant can be also found on St. Croix, where it is locally known as "worrywine".

 

Egg


      The egg is barely 1mm in diameter.

 

Larvae

"Head and body of a very dark shining black shading into brown......head on a short neck, latter of an orange colour for a short distance; caudal extremity also tipped with orange. Body covered with perpendicular spines armed with strong radial hairs.....Head bifurcated, reddish spot in centre of face, a small spinous process in the angle of each eye."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pupae

"suspended by tail, naked; wing-covers of a muddy yellow ; rest of body of a purplish colour variegated by lines of a dull creamy white. Slight projections of an angular nature along abdomen."

 

 

 

 

Adults

The adults occur in open areas, often sitting on bare ground. This species has a stiff flap and glide style of flight and maintains a territory, driving away other butterflies that enter it.

                    

                                 

    

Puzzling Nature I

    One of the most difficult subjects in photography is Wildlife. A photographer cannot tell a wild animal to pose like this or like that. If your not lucky enough, prepare to either get hurt or worst get killed..
    One  thing I like most in wildlife photography is the never ending chain of surprises and puzzling discoveries of how nature do its thing. In this post I will unveil and unlock one of nature's wonder you may have never thought to exist.

A Moth Caterpillar nursing some cocoons?

    What if somebody will tell you of a

caterpillar that becomes a cocoon and

after several days a moth comes out of

a cocoon?  Would you believe? Of

course you'll do.  It's very normal even

though you may not really understand

what is happening in between stages of

a metamorphosis.

   What if you did not see this post and somebody

tells you about a caterpillar that's nursing some

cocoons? I'm sure you'll say its crazy.

    But if somebody from Pueblo de Panay tells you

of a caterpillar that's nursing some cocoons and

shows you these pictures maybe you'll think twice

that is, if you're a science buff .

          Now I'll tell you of a caterpillar I found at Pueblo de Panay that looks as if it was nursing some cocoons:
       
           In fact there are some parasitic wasps residing at Pueblo de Panay that capture any kind of caterpillar they handle and prick in it with a paralyzing toxin enough to immobilize but cannot kill it. The wasps then stick the caterpillar on their cocoons .It would be a bad end then for the caterpillar because by the time the wasps' larvae emerge from the cocoon, they will have a ready to eat sustenance.
     
          What an awful way to die. But that's how nature do its thing.' Nature rules', as they say.

          Better believe me.
       
          I've been there.

Monkey Moth

Monkey Moth
Eupterote sp.


        This very beautiful moth is a master of disguise and considered the chameleon of the moths. When mixed among dried leaves it is hard to find.

        Hard to find though is the identity of this particular species. From the Family Eupterotidae of moths, this one is closely related to Eupterote naessigi of Borneo which have heavier mark of brown while this one has lighter  brownish-purple patterns. Most of Bornean species were found in lowland rainforest but  in the Philippines some can be found in lightly populated areas.
         The bigger light-brown spot on the inner hindwings separates it from all other Monkey moths spotted in the Philippines.The scarcity of  specimen and data makes taxonomy more difficult.
        


 

       Can this be another new found montane sub-species of Monkey Moth?

About :
   
Wingspan  :  3.5 inches
Habitat      : High elevation secondary forest ussualy clinging to medium height bushes or below  its canopies.
                   Found this one on the roadside. Hard to notice, unless it flies. Montane species.
Flight        :  Fast darting flight in as zigzag motion when disturbed. Usually on flight  late in the afternoon
Frequency : Rare.

Dog-faced Water Snake

The New Guinea bockadam or dog-faced water snake, Cerberus rynchops, is a species of a colubrid snake found in coastal waters of Asia and Australia.
Visaya - Tangkuig.

   Tankuig commonly found in mangroves, mudflats, streams, ponds, tidal pools, on algae patches, and has even been found burrowing into the mud. C. rynchops is rear-fanged and is mildly venomous. An aquatic and nocturnal snake, it feeds mainly on fish and is known to consume eels.
In captivity, it is observed to move in a sidewinding direction on land. It also has a prehensile tail that would suggest it could climb mangrove trees. It is now known to give birth to live young, numbering from 8 to 30, either in water or on land.
It is a quite docile, mild-tempered and a hardy snake; in recent years it has become a welcome addition to snake hobbyists in the Philippines. It also owes its popularity to its bright yellow to orange belly coloring, mostly of females  In the late 80's in the Philippines the population of this snake drops because snake skin trade. Its skin can be made into a soft and strong leather.





     I found this snake basking under the sun on top of a rock boulder at the river bank of Pueblo de Panay Western entrance.

 
  

Lily Caterpillar Moth

 Lily Caterpillar Moth
 ( Spodoptera picta)
 
  This moth got its name from its favorite hostplants , the Lilies.  I found this very beautiful moth feeding on the Golden Lilies planted on the center island of the PdP main highway. 
   This is an example of introducing a new species  ( golden lily) that attracts another new and in turn becomes an invasive species. Their caterpillars caused a noticeable damage on the plants and they have virtually no predator but can be controlled  manually by destroying their eggs or by chemical means.

The Egg

The caterpillar

Paper wasp

 Paper Wasp
Polistes exclamans 
                   Is a social wasp found in the southern United States and northern Mexico. This species has also been observed in Missouri, Maryland, and New Jersey. There has been a northward expansion of the eastern half of the U.S. This expansion is typically attributed to changing global climate and temperatures.

This species does not have a widely used common name, though in Texas some call it a yellowjacket, a name that should be reserved for Vespula. The name guinea wasp has been used, but has not been widely adopted. Polistes exclamans is also referred to by a generic name for the genus Polistes which is called paper wasps.
Their colonies contain three castes: workers, queens and males, though differences between workers and queens are generally plastic and behavioral. The physiological similarities between the worker and queen castes have lead to experiments attempting to distinguish the characteristics of these two castes and how they are determined.
Polistes exclamans are also interesting in their behavior and ecology. The high worker and queen mortality rate has led to the prevalence of satellite nests. The high queen mortality has also resulted in interesting responses by the worker caste. The high mortality is mainly caused by parasitoids and predation. P. exclamans have developed defense mechanisms to reduce the rate of colony extinction as a result of this predation and parasitism.

   Polistes engages in a kind of parental care called allomaternal care which is really a kind of social worker behavior "[they] become workers that direct maternal behavior toward siblings in the presence of a reproducing female (most often their mother)". In any event it is not "INDIVIDUAL "parent" animals taking care of their OWN young." as requested by the mission statement.

Habitat

Polistes nests can be built from wood fiber which are collected from posts and plant stems. The fiber is formed into a paper like comb with hexagonal cells. The nests are orientated downward and are held up by one filament. P. exclamans have also been observed occupying artificial nests put out by researchers and consisting of bundles of straws.

Sex determination system

P. exclamans are haplodiploid insects, as are all Hymenoptera. This means they have haploid males that produce identical haploid sperm, and diploid females that produce haploid eggs through meiosis. This has consequences for genetic relatedness within colonies, since sisters receive identical sperm if they share a father, and the normal half identical contribution from the mother. This results in sex-biased conflicts between the queen and the workers with respect to the sex ratio, with workers preferring a more female biased sex ratio, and queens preferring equal investment in queens and males.

Malay Lacewing

 Malay Lacewing (Cethosea hypsea palawana)

The Malay Lacewing (Cethosia hypsea) is a butterfly of the Nymphalidae family. It is found in from Burma to Indonesia and the Philippines.
The wingspan is about 80 mm. Adults are bright orange-red above with broad black borders, warning predators of their toxicity. The underside is orange-red with white fasciae and is spotted with black. The wings are scalloped.
The larvae feed on Adenia species. They are wine red and have long spines. They are also poisonous.