Butterflies of Batu Caves

Posted 28 August 2021

A photographic survey

Batu Caves Scientific Expedition 2019

Rosli Omar

rosliomar@fastmail.fm

The butterfly survey, part of the Batu Caves Scientific Expedition (BCSE 2019), was to determine the list of butterflies of Batu Caves. It was carried out from December 2018 right through 2019 and results were presented at a one-day symposium. Overall, the BCSE is to determine the fauna and flora of Batu Caves with the aim of conserving them and thus protecting the environment of Batu Caves as a whole. This is important given that Batu Caves is a unique environment especially in the Kelang Valley, an outcrop of limestone hills reportedly 400 million years old (Shaharin Yusof 1997). The BCSE includes, apart from butterflies, surveys for flora, birds, snakes, dragonflies, bats, and other inhabitants of the numerous caves, as well as the geology of Batu Caves.

Given the importance of butterflies, among others, as pollinators, it is important to conserve them. This is especially so given that insects in general, worldwide, are losing biomass at the rate of 2.5% each year according to Sanchez-Bayo and Wyckhuys (2019). Blaming habitat destruction, especially due to intensive agriculture, and the use of synthetic pesticides for the decline of insects, they warn: “The conclusion is clear: unless we change our ways of producing food, insects as a whole will go down the path of extinction in a few decades… The repercussions this will have for the planet’s ecosystems are catastrophic to say the least, as insects are at the structural and functional base of many of the world’s ecosystems…”

Total number of species identified for Batu Caves is 51 with a further nine identified only to the genus level or to the species level but with uncertainty i.e., altogether 60 species for Batu Caves. This is due to unavailable views, underside or upper side or just more views needed. And some species were difficult to identify from photos, for example the need to check the genitalia.  These recorded species are from five families, with only the Rionididae absent. But I will not be surprised if more time were spent in the forest proper, up Batu Caves, it too would be recorded.

Some species of interest:

The Smaller Wood Nymph, Ideopsis gaura perakana, is recorded from lowland to highland, where, from personal experience, is common above Gohtong Jaya (~1000m) and Fraser’s Hill (~1200m). But I personally have never encountered it in any lowland forests even though I have been to many while photographing birds and butterflies in the past six years (it has been recorded in the lowland forest of Panti, Johor, but I have not encountered it even though have made quite a number of trips there. But there I have encountered the Common Tree Nymph, Idea stollis). It is common here with 5 records.

The Common Albatross, Appias albina, normally occurs at about 600 m according to Corbet and Pendlebury (2020) but possibly up to four individuals were recorded in Batu Caves in this survey.

Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger, Ideopsis similis persimilis, occurs north from Kedah and Terengganu (Corbet and Pendlebury 1992) but quite common in Batu Caves with six and possibly eight records. Other than Batu Caves, there are few records outside its traditional range: Gopeng, Perak, by Singapore butterfliers (butterflycircle.blogspot.com), and in Kota Damansara Community Forest in a survey by Kirton and Phon (2012).

The Red Helen, Papilio helenus helenus, is uncommon in lowland, more common sub-montane and montane forests, has one record (photographed by Mike Chong). Out of my seven records of the Red Helen only one is from the lowland (three if we consider the hilly Gunung Telapa Buruk in Negri Sembilan).

Other notable butterflies are:

Common Sergeant, Athyma perius, (erratic in occurrence); White-banded Flat, Celaenorrhinus asmara asmara (uncommon); Yellow Grass Dart, Taractrocera archias quinta (historically rare, but even though now more widespread but still local in occurrence – Dr Kirton, pers comm).

The Julia Butterfly or Julia Heliconian, Dryas iulia, is very common in Batu Caves. It originates from the tropical Americas. But those found here originate from releases during weddings and religious celebrations for good luck from butterfly farms in Phuket, Thailand (see butterflycircle.blogspot.com). In Peninsular Malaysia, it was first recorded by Singapore butterfliers in Langkawi in 2009, and then in Subang Jaya 2015. My first record is from a Shah Alam park on 7 May 2017. In certain parts of Lembah Damai and Gua Damai it seems to be the dominant species. It thrives here because the larval host plants, two passionflowers, Passiflora foetida and Passiflora suberosa, are common. They too originate from the Americas.

A similar case is the Tawny Coster, Acraea terpsicore. It spreads south from its traditional range, India to Vietnam, reaching Perlis 1992, Petaling Jaya 2002 and four years later, Singapore and then Indonesia according to the blog Butterfly Circle. Its host plants are also the two passionflowers. The same also as another newcomer to the Peninsula, the Leopard Lacewing, Cethosia cyane (not in this checklist).

Given that the valleys and plateaus of the higher elevations of Batu Caves were not surveyed, there could be more species to be added to the list of 60 species, including from the family Riodinidae. Also, more would likely be added to the list if more visits were made, since every new trip to Lembah Damai part of Batu Caves brought up new species. Another limitation of the survey was the time of day (mornings) in which it was conducted. Visits at different hours of the day would likely record more species that are active at other times of the day.

The environment of Batu Caves must be conserved to protect its butterflies and other creatures as well as its unique limestone flora. It can be used to educate the public, especially students who can visit the various habitats to learn about the uniqueness of its fauna and flora. Some activities are already being held for this purpose, for example, cave visits in Lembah Damai area and the Dark Cave below the main temple cave. A photographic guide of the local butterflies has been made for the guides to use.

Here is the complete list of the identified butterflies to the species level of Batu Caves:

Note: The information in the columns Occurrence (PM, Peninsular Malaysia), and Habitat and Elevations, is from literature, especially Corbet and Pendlebury (2020) and Kirton (2020).

	English Name	Scientific name	Occurrence, PM	Habitat	Elevation
	SWALLOWTAILS	FAMILY PAPILIONIDAE
1	Malayan Birdwing	Troides amphrysus ruficollis	Common, but less so than Common Birdwing	Forests	Lowland to foothills
2	Red Helen	Papilio helenus helenus	Common, especially in submontane and montane forests	Forests	Lowland to montane
3	Common Mormon	Papilio polytes romulus	Common	Open forests with Citrus	Lowland
4	Common Bluebottle	Graphium sarpedon luctatius	Common	Forests, forest edge	All elevations
5	Tailed Jay	Graphium agamemnon agamemnon	Common	Open forests, forest edge, villages	Low elevations
	WHITES AND SULPHURS	FAMILY PIERIDAE
6	Painted Jezebel	Delias hyparete metarete	Common	Forests, parks	Lowland to moderate elevations
7	Psyche	Leptosia nina malayana	Common	Forest edge, parks	Lowland to moderate elevations
8	Striped Albatross	Appias libythea olferna	Common	Forest edge and other open habitats	Lowland
9	Common Albatross	Appias albina albina	Uncommon	Forests	C&P: Usually forests at elevation of about 2000 ft (610 m)
10	Common Grass Yellow	Eurema hecabe contubernalis	Common	All habitats	All elevations
11	Three-Spot Grass Yellow	Eurema blanda snelleni	Common	Forests	C&P: at usual elevations
12	One-spot Grass Yellow (Anderson’s Grass Yellow)	Eurema andersonii andersonii	Moderately common	Forests	C&P: at usual elevations but local
13	Tree Yellow	Gandaca harina distanti	Common	Forests	Lowland to mid elevations
	BRUSHFOOTS	FAMILY NYMPHALIDAE
14	Dark Blue Tiger	Tirumala septentrionis septentrionis	Locally common; more common in the north	Forests	All elevations
15	Yellow Glassy Tiger	Parantica aspasia aspasia	Common	Forests, forest edge	Lowland to montane elevations
16	Dark Glassy Tiger	Parantica agleoides agleoides	Common	Forests, forest edge	Up to moderate elevations
17	Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger	Ideopsis similis persimilis	C&P: Locally common. Spread south from Kedah and Terengganu	Forests, forest edge	Lowland
18	Smaller Wood-Nymph	Ideopsis gaura perakana	Commoner in mid elevations to highlands	Forests, forest edge	Lowland to highland
19	Striped Blue Crow	Euploea mulciber mulciber	Commonest species of Euploea	Forests, forest edge	To 4000ft, 1220m
20	Common Palmfly	Elymnias hypermnestra agina	Common	Forests, forest edge, widespread	Lowland
21	Common Four-Ring	Ypthima huebneri	Common	Forest edge	Lowland
22	Common Five-Ring	Ypthima baldus newboldi	Common	Forest edge, widespread	Lowland to highlands
23	Tawny Coster	Acraea terpsicore	Locally common; Spread from India through Thailand	Open country, forest edge	Lowland
24	Rustic	Cupha erymanthis lotis	Common	Forests, forest edge	All elevations
25	Small Leopard	Phalanta alcippe alcesta	Common	Forests, forest edge	Lowland
26	Vagrant	Vagrans sinha macromalayana	Common	Forests,orest edge	Lowland to highland
27	Royal Assyrian	Terinos terpander robertsia	Common	Forests, forest edge	All elevations
28	Chocolate Pansy	Junonia hedonia ida	Locally common. Spread from Johor	Forest edge, parks	Lowland
29	Peacock Pansy	Junonia almana javana	Common	Open country, forest edge, gardens	Lowland and sometimes highland
30	Great Egg-Fly	Hypolimnas bolina jacintha	Common. Polymorphism; very variable wing patterns	Wayside vegetation, forest edge, parks	Lowland
31	Greater Wavy Maplet	Chersonesia rahria rahria	Fairly common	Forests, forest edge	Lowland to moderate elevation
32	Clear Sailer	Neptis clinia leuconata	Fairly common	Forests	Lower elevations
33	Common Sailer	Neptis hylas papaja	Most common species of Neptis	Forests, forest edge	Commoner in lowlands
34	Dingy Sailer	Neptis omeroda omeroda	Uncommon	Forests	Lowlands to highlands
35	Common Sergeant	Athyma perius perius	Local in occurrence	Open forests, villages	On the plains
36	Malayan Baron	Euthalia monina monina	Commonest Euthalia	Forests	Lowland to highland
37	Julia	Dryas iulia	Locally common. Thought to have spread from Thailand	Forests, forest edge parks, gardens	Lowlands
38	Northern Orange Lacewing	Cethosia methypsea methypsea	Common	Forest, forest edge	Lowland
	BLUES	FAMILY LYCAENIDAE
39	Common Pierrot	Castalius rosimon rosimon	Locally common, where host plant Chinese Date is present	Secondary forest	Lowland
40	Common Hedge Blue	Acytolepis puspa lambi	Common	Forests, villages	Lowland to highland
41	Tiny (Pygmy) Grass Blue	Zizula hylax pygmaea	Common. Smallest Malaysian butterfly	Forest edge, parks. Unusual to find far from seaboard (C&P)	Lowland
42	Silver Forget-me-not	Catochrysops panormus exiguus	LK: Common; C&P: not very common	Forest edge	Lowland
43	Common Posy	Drupadia ravindra moorei	C&P: Common. Very variable	Forests	Up to montane elevations
44	Common Red Flash	Rapala iarbus iarbus	C&P: Larva feeds on rambutan shoots, and Melastoma malabathricum	Forests, forest edge	Lowland
	SKIPPERS	FAMILY HESPERIIDAE
45	White-banded Flat	Celaenorrhinus asmara asmara	Uncommon	Forests	Lowland
46	Large Snow Flat	Tagiades gana gana	Common	Forests	Lowland
47	Chestnut Bob	Iambrix salsala salsala	Common	Forest, forest edge	Lowland
48	Brown Bob	Psolos fuligo fuligo	Common	Forests	Plains to foothills
49	Dubious Flitter	Quedara monteithi monteithi	LK: rare	Forest, forest edge	Lowland
50	Yellow Grass Dart	Taractrocera archias quinta	LK: Locally common. C&P: all in this genus are rare	Forest edge	Lowland
51	Pale Palm Dart	Telicota colon stinga	LK: Common	Forest edge	Lowland

Table 1: An annotated checklist of butterflies recorded and identified with certainty from Batu Caves.

Some species could not be identified to the species level with certainty, mainly due to lack of underside or upperside view. It is sometimes difficult to identify species from photographs, especially species that are very similar to each other. Therefore, there may remain an element of doubt in the identification of some difficult species. These uncertain records are shown separately here in Table 2.

	English Name	Scientific Name	Remarks
1	A Crow	Euploea sp.	6 individuals from Lembah Damai with variable but nearly similar underside require a photograph of the upperside to confirm the species. Probably all of the same species.
2	A Bush Brown	Mycalesis sp. Likely Mycalesis mineus macromalayana	Difficult to resolve the identity of this Mycalesis from a photograph.
3	A Cerulean	Jamides sp.	Needs upperside view.
4	A Flash	Rapala sp.	Difficult to identify from a photograph.
5	A Skipper, Flat	Pseudocoladenia sp. Likely Pseudocoladenia dan dhyana	Photograph does not show a typical Pseudocoladenia dan dhyana but is closest to it.
6	A Skipper, Dartlet	Oriens sp.	Needs underside view.
7	A Skipper	Potanthus sp.	Needs upperside view.
8	A Skipper, Small Branded Swift?	Pelopidas sp. Likely Pelopidas matthias	Needs other views.
9	A Skipper	Polytremis sp. Likely Polytremis lubricans lubricans	Needs other views, including underside.

Table 2: A list of butterflies of Batu Caves identified only to the genus level, or with some uncertainty to possible species level.

Acknowledgements

I acknowledge the assistance of Dr Laurence Kirton and Dr Phon Chooi Khim (FRIM) for identification and verification of the butterflies in the complete survey list, and Emeritus Professor Yong Hoi Sen (Universiti Malaya) and Sofwan Badr (Master of Science candidate, Imperial College, London) for identification of parts of the list. But any mistakes in the list are my responsibility.

I am grateful to Dr Kirton and Dr Phon for reading a draft of my symposium paper and for their comments and suggestions. Any shortcomings in the final version are of course mine. And I am especially grateful to Dr Kirton as a reviewer for comments and detailed edits to my final submitted BCSE Symposium paper.