# Malaysia, Taman Negara



## moloch

Greetings everyone,

This is the start of what will be a very large post with lots of photos.  I will be adding to it every day or two for quite awhile so that the photos will span multiple pages.

I spent six nights last week at Taman Negara, a huge national park that is located in the centre of peninsular Malaysia.  This is one of my favourite places and I have visited it a number of times.  Taman Negara protects the largest extent of untouched rainforest that remains on the peninsula.  

This region of Southeast Asia is thought to have someone of the oldest of all rainforests so it is not surprising that diversity of about everything is high. I photographed nearly 80 species of butterflies in those few days all within 9km of Kuala Tahan, the park headquarters.  I saw another 30+ species that were not cooperative for photos.  At night, I found many strange and beautiful moths at lights around the accommodation area.  Invertebrates were abundant within the forest and I found many during both day and night walks.

June is a month that is about midway between the dry months of the start of the year and the monsoon of Oct-Dec.  I experienced some rain each day and on a couple of days, there were heavy afternoon downpours.  Trails were wet and slippery but I saw few frogs at night and also very few mosquitos.  Leeches, though, were numerous and a nuisance.  My socks were often dripping with blood after an all-day forest trek.

Taman Negara has an excellent infrastructure.  Tracks were well marked so there was no need for a guide.  I loved to walk many kms into the forest.  Once I walked beyond 2-3 kms from the headquarters, I rarely saw any other humans on the track.  If I remained quiet and listened, I could hear the special animals of the park.  I loved to hear the beautiful melodic songs of the White-handed Gibbons that sang each morning.  Sometimes, I heard the loud “whooping” of Siamang, the largest member of the Gibbons.  Other sights and sounds included the calls of Great Argus, Banded/Garnet Pittas, Rhinoceros/Helmeted Hornbills and various mammals.  Taman Negara has a healthy population of Tiger, Leopard, Asian Elephants, and a large forest buffalo, Malay Tapir, Sun Bear and others.  Unfortunately, most of these are shy.  Footprints or piles of dung (elephant) were usually the only indication that the large animals were in the area.  I sometimes heard growls of unseen mammals and then heard them run deeper into the forest but rarely saw the source of the racket.   Once I had a fright when I heard a loud grunt followed by the sight of a Bearded Pig that bolted across the trail a few meters in front of me.

My trip to Taman Negara began with a 3-hour bus trip from Kuala Lumpur to Kuala Tahan.  At Kuala Tahan, there was a break for an hour followed by a 3-hour boat trip up the Tembeling River to the park headquarters at Kuala Tahan.  I stayed in a hostel at the Mutiara Resort that is situated on the border of the national park.  This was excellent value and it included a buffet breakfast at the resort's restaurant.  The hostel was air-conditioned so was comfortable for sleeping at night.  Temperatures at Taman Negara ranged from a high in the mid-30s C to a low of mid-20s C at night.  Humidity was always high so a walk in the park felt like a walk in a green house.

... now, the photos.

The best way to reach Taman Negara was by boat from the jetty at Kuala Tembeling.







The journey upriver initially passed through cleared pastures or areas with secondary growth:







After about an hour, hills with primary forest came into view.  I sometimes saw Oriental Pied and Black Hornbills in these areas as they flew across the river.












After three hours, the boat arrived at Taman Negara:







These are views of the village that was situated on the opposite bank from the national park.  A road has been built to this village but the trip by road is not nearly as scenic as the trip up the river.  This village has grown massively since my last visit in 1998.  Now, there are a number of floating restaurants and shops on the opposite bank.  Water taxis ferried the tourists back and forth between the park and the village.






















One morning, I climbed Bukit Teresik, a hill located not far from Kuala Tahan.  The hill was only 400m in height but the climb was a steep and sweaty one.  The view from the summit was superb and well worth the effort.  This is a photo into the centre of the park and of Gunning Tahan, the tallest mountain in peninsular Malaysia.  The adventurous can trek to the summit of the mountain but it is a hard 6-7 day trek through the rainforest.  Gunung Tahan is the distant peak on the left of this photo:







I often walked on a track along the Tahan River.  This year, the river was muddy for a few days near the park headquarters.  There had been heavy rain in the mountains that feed this river and there was obviously some soil erosion underway.  

	
	
		
		
	


	





















After a few nice days at the end of the week, the water cleared and looked like tea due to tannins from the leaves.  The river was full of fish of the Cyprinid family.  Fish like Tiger Barbs and relatives were abundant.  This area near Lata Berkoh (a small waterfall 9km from the headquarters) was particular nice.












Taman Negara is home to the tallest species of tree in Southeast Asia.  These trees are called Tualangs (_Koompassia excelsa_) and they remind me a little of the giant redwoods of California.


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## moloch

*Arachnids and unusual invertebrates*

Spider 1:  This was an interesting little jumping spider.







Spider 2:  I don't think that I have ever seen a yellow spider before.  This was a big spider that was lowering itself from a tree.  It was about at face height when I almost walked into it one night.  Once disturbed, it turned and climbed back to the branches.







Spider 3:  Spiders like this were numerous on the forest floor:







Spider 4:  This one had an unusual pattern on the abdomen:







Whip Scorpion:  I saw of few of these on the ground and on trees at night.  These were wary and quick.  They were hard to approach for photos.












Termites were abundant.  I often came across trails like this:







This pentatomid was huge:












I don't know the family but these grasshoppers were shaped much like the monkey hoppers.













This bizarre fly was one of my favourite sightings.  Unfortunately, I only saw this single individual and managed to take one quick photo before it vanished.








Caterpillar 1:







Caterpillar 2:







Caterpillar 3:







Caterpillar 4:  This one appears to have met an unpleasant fate.  







Centipede:







Giant Millipede:







This is an Asian member of family Derbidae.  What a strange face!












A big Reduviid:







Planthoppers:












Another really strange Hemipteroid:








Cerambycid?


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## Tarantula_Hawk

Wow, nice pictures. Cant wait for the next "batch".
Anyways, ill help with some id's:
-spider 1 is a male _Portia_ sp. (very lucky) 
-spider 2 and 3 are both Sparassidae, but cant help you with the genus.
-spider 4 is also a Sparassidae, and most probably _Heteropoda boiei_. 
-whip scorpion is probably _Thelyphonus_ sp.


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## Crysta

those are some amazing photos you have there and so lucky to have seen all those creatures!! mann!!! Can i come with next time? lol is it at all dangerous? the people? especially while looking for bugs? 
Man. 
One more destination to add to the list.


Crysta.


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## J.huff23

Amazing photo's! Cant wait for more.


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## dizzychef

Amazing, still the same as i remember. 

Actually the best way to reach the jetty is by driving there. Much faster  Though you can enjoy the river scenary by boat.

Hmm, waiting for picture of the infamous leeches there.

Anyway thanks for sharing and good luck on your journey!


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## syndicate

Excellent photos and thanks for sharing!South East Asia is very high on my places to visit!
-Chris


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## Rick McJimsey

The centipede looks to be _Scolopendra morsitans_, in my opinion.


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## moloch

Thanks, all, for the feedback and for the identifications, Tarantula_Hawk and Rick.  I did not even recognize the Portia sp. as a spider when I first saw it.  It looked so odd.   I have attached another photo of it.







Crysta,
Malaysia is a very safe place.  It really is interesting with a mixed population.  About half of the 60 million people there are Malays.  They are almost all Muslim.  The other half is split between Indians (Hindu) and Chinese (Buddhist).  The three groups of people have lived together for a long time and they all seem to be tolerant of each other's beliefs and customs.

Walking alone in the park again was very safe.  The biggest risk would be slipping and falling when crossing creekbeds.  The banks of these were usually wet clay and it felt a little like walking on ice.  I fell a few times.  The animals were well behaved and generally don't like people.  There are no known attacks by Tigers although elephants have (rarely) killed silly tourists.  


Dizzychef,
I have hired cars and left them at the parking lot of Kuala Tembeling before but that seemed like such a waste to have the car there and me out in the national park.  It is possible now to drive all the way to the village just across the river from the park but that would not be nearly as interesting as the boat trip.  

When were you there?


Regards,
David


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## moloch

I think the the following mantid was one of the most interesting insects that I encountered.  I found this one on the night of my arrival.  It was climbing up the wall of a cabin.  If it had been in the leaf litter or on a dead branch of a shrub, I probably would not have spotted it at all.  What amazing camouflage!






















Mantids were abundant and diverse.  Most were either green or brown and rather typical in appearance.












Others had more usual shapes:






























... I love the eyes of this one.  Oriental?







This mantid was tiny.  When I first spotted it, it was standing upright in a normal mantid posture.  When it realized that I was looking at it, it lay flat and looked much like a tiny stick on the leaf.







This one was a juvenile that stood with it abdomen curled up and forward.








Katydids were also abundant.  I saw the largest katydid that I have ever encountered one morning near the reception of Mutiara Resort.  It was green but had a standard sort of shape.  The only thing odd was its enormus size.


This was the most common katydid that I saw around lights at night:







... another species:








... and another.  I should have taken a dorsal shot since this one was much wider than most katydids.







... a different looking katydid:








This cockroach was huge.  I found it and others on the trunks of trees within the rainforest.







In this humid forest, fungi was everywhere.  Some of the fungi were colourful and large like these:








These lovely fungi remind be of wine goblets.  







... tiny red fungus growing next to some recently fallen fruits.







Various gingers were one of the dominant plant families of the forest floor.  Some of these were flowering.
















... some ginger plants were tall and had broad leaves:


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## Tarantula_Hawk

Nice.:clap:
I'm no mantid expert, but i can say that the first one is a _Deroplatys_ sp. (maybe D. desiccata) and the fourth one (with the white spots) is a _Rhombodera_ sp. 
Hopefully someone can tell you the rest.


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## dizzychef

Hi David,

Nice shots on the mantids!

I don't remember the exact date, but i was there around 7-8 years ago. The pictures of the jetty was still the same with the floating restaurant and sampans as i recall vaguely. I was living just up the road from the picture in 1 of the chalets.

You seem to really enjoy it. Keep us coming with the shots!

Best wishes.


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## zonbonzovi

Tarantula_Hawk said:


> Nice.:clap:
> I'm no mantid expert, but i can say that the first one is a _Deroplatys_ sp. (maybe D. desiccata) and the fourth one (with the white spots) is a _Rhombodera_ sp.
> Hopefully someone can tell you the rest.


I agree.  After the Deroplatys it looks like a Hierudola sp.(?).  The pentatomid is phenomenal!

Great series, David!  If you're independently wealthy, I'd make an excellent pack mule on you future excursions


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## tarcan

very nice! thanks for sharing, too bad you did not get another shot of the stilt fly, one of my dream bugs to take a picture of one day.

Martin


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## ribonzz

What do they call the boat? it has unique style


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## moloch

Thanks again for the feedback and especially for the identifications.



zonbonzovi said:


> I agree.  If you're independently wealthy


I wish!  I would love to travel all the time.




ribonzz said:


> What do they call the boat? it has unique style


I took my son to Taman Negara when he was young back in 1998 for an adventure trip.  At that time, he was playing the computer game, "Age of Empires".  I think that he called these boats "tiremes".  That's the name that I associate with them now.  


Regards,
David


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## moloch

*Odonates*

I saw a variety of dragonflies and damselflies along the creeks and trails.  Here are a few that I managed to photograph:







This one had a strange territorial(?) behaviour.  Two would hove and face each other and then slowly ascent to a height of 5m or so.















This one had an odd body shape with wings much longer than the length of the abdomen:







I only saw these along small streams within the forest.  These had lovely wings that were a shimmering green colour in flight:


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## moloch

*Butterflies, Papilionidae -- Swallowtails*

... now, one of my favourite groups of animals.  

I had hoped to photograph a variety of reptiles while at Taman Negara but this proved to be not possible.  I suppose that the snakes were waiting on the frogs to emerge and the frogs are awaiting the heavy rains of September.  I decided to concentrate on the butterflies that were everywhere.  I was just staggered by both the diversity and the numbers.  Around noon, I sometimes walked to Lubok Simpon, a sandy bank and swimming area.  Butterflies often landed there in large, mixed-species group.  The colour was just amazing.  Also, if I stood still, the butterflies would land on me and my equipment.  It seems that they liked to lick salty things and my clothes, backpack and camera bag were perpetually wet and smelly with perspiration.  It felt a little like walking through a butterfly house at a zoo with so many butterflies hovering around me.

I have many butterfly photos to post so will follow the family sequence.

Common Mormon (_Papilio polytes_) -- I saw a few of these lovely swallowtails everyday.













Banded Peacock (_Papilio palinurus_) -- I only saw a single individual of this species.  It stopped for a drink by the river just as a boat passed by and produced a big wave.  This frightened off the swallowtail and it never returned.







Common Rose (_Pachliopta aristolochiae_) -- these were common and beautiful swallowtails with a red body.











... mating pair:







Great Mormon (_Papilio memnon_) -- I saw a few of these each day.













Common Jay (_Graphium doson_) -- these were the most abundant swallowtail on sandbanks and rocks in the riverbed.







A Malay kid took his shoes off and left them near the water's edge.  It was not long before the shoes were covered with several species of swallowtails and other butterflies.  Swallowtails included a few Common Bluebottles (_Graphium sarpedon_), many Common Jay (_Graphium doson_) and one Five-bar Swallowtail (_Pathysa antiphates_). 












Tailed Jay (_Graphium agamemnon_) -- These were the least common of the _Graphium_ swallowtails.







Five-bar Swallowtail (_Pathysa antiphates_) -- I only saw one of these lovely swallowtails.  It was cooperative and it returned over and over to lick the damp sand.








Green Dragontail (_Lamproptera meges_) -- What a bizarre swallowtail! It was shaped much like some of the metal marks and that was what I thought that it must be until I looked it up in my references.


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## moloch

*Nympahlidae*

Chocolate Pansy (_Junonia iphita_) – These butterflies were common in open areas around the Mutiara Resort. 

	
	
		
		
	


	




















(_Pantoporia hordonia_) – a few seen around the Mutiara Resort and at light gaps in the forest.












There are a number of very similar “aeroplanes” that overlap in distribution.  As you can see, they look almost identical.  The main differences have to do with the spots and mid-stripe.  I saw these butterflies often and probably encountered additional species.  I only recognized the differences when I examined the photos on the computer.


Common Sergeant (_Athyma perius_)  






Lance Sergeant (_Athyma pravara_)






Colour Sergeant (_Athyma nefte_)







Jacintha Eggfly (_Hypolimnas bolina_) -- I saw males along the forest edge on a couple of occasions.













Wavy Maplet (_Chersonesia rahria_) – These small butterflies were common in the open areas near Mutiara Resort and at light gaps in the forest.





















Malay Viscount (_Tanaecia pelea_) – I saw these occasionally within the forest.  They often landed on leaves that were sunlit or on the bark of trees.  They remind me a little of the (_Hamadryas_) from the neotropcis.






















Straight-line Mapwing (_Cyrestis nivea_) – I rarely saw these butterflies except along the Tahan River.  They dropped to the sandbars around noon each day.  















Little Map (_Cyrestis themire_) – This species was usually hard to photograph since it would normally land on the undersurface of leaves.












Black-tipped Archduke (_Lexias dirtea_) – I really enjoyed these beautiful butterflies.  They seemed to be confined to the forest interior.  I usually saw them on the ground or perched on the upper surface of leaves within a meter or two of the ground.


























Archduke (_Lexias pardalis_) – I only saw these on a few occasions.  They were invariably sighted on the forest floor.







Yellow Archduke (_Lexias canescens_) – Very similar to the preceding species.  This one lacks the green pattern on the lower wings.







Horsefield’s Baron (_Tanaecia iapis_) – Isn’t the first one below stunning?  It was an absolutely gorgeous individual that must have just emerged since its wings were in perfect condition.  The second photo was more typical of the butterflies that I encountered.  This species would either land on trunks or on the upper surface of leaves.  It invariably held its wings open when resting.












Commander (_Moduza procris_) – I only saw these along the Tahan River when they joined the mixed-species flocks to sip moisture and dissolved salts.












Tawny Rajah (_Charaxes bernardus_) – this was a big, fast flying butterfly.  I saw it occasionally in the forest where it was hard to photograph.  It was much more cooperative when it joined the mixed-species flocks along the Tahan River.





















Cruiser (_Vindula dejone_) – These were big and beautiful butterflies.  They were common at noon on sandbars along the Tahan River.






















Banded Yeoman (_Cirrochroa orissa_) – I only saw a few of these.  The first one below was licking my sweaty camera bag.

















Malay Yeoman (_Cirrochroa malaya_) – I only saw this species once.  It landed on a wet camera bag.







Rustic (_Cupha erymanthis_) – I initially thought that this and (_C. orrisa_) were the same species.  They were quite similar and found in the same habitats.







Jewelled Nawab (_Polyura delphis_) – I was only able to photograph this tattered individual.  I did see a couple of others racing by.  This was a big butterfly that was a powerful flier. 







Plain Nawab (_Polyura hebe_) – I saw a few along the Tahan River and sometimes at flowers near the Mutiara Resort.  It was another fast flying species.


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## eman

Wow! Amazing shots! Thanks for sharing.


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## moloch

*Nymphalidae, part 2*

Royal Assyrian (_Terinos terpander_) -- these were gorgeous butterflies but they tended to remain in shaddy areas within the forest where they just looked to be darkly coloured.  If they landed in light gaps, the beautiful colours could be seen.





















Vagrant (_Vagrans egista_) -- I only saw this species on a few occasions.  These photos were taken on a rocky outcrop at the summit of Bukit Teresik.
















Malaysian Leaf Butterfly (_Kallima limborgii_) -- What an incredibly cryptic butterfly!  It was huge and about the size of an Owl Butterfly in the neotropics.  When it settled on leaf litter, it was nearly invisible.  I only saw these big butterflies on two occasions.  They seemed to be the most active at dawn and dusk, just like Owl Butterflies.

















Grey Pansy (_Junonia atlites_) -- this was a species of open areas.  It had a nice pattern on the upper wings but would not cooperate for photos.  I spent most of my time inside the forest so only saw Grey Pansies on a couple of occasions.








Purple Duke (_Eulaceura osteria_) -- I only saw this species twice.  On both occasions, it was perched like this a few meters above the ground.  I never saw the upper surface of the wings.  On the web, it looks like it would be quite similar to the Commander.








Mystery 1 -- I saw this butterfly once when I was climbing Bukit Teresik.  It has distinctive shape and the upper surface was a lovely blue in flight.  I cannot find it on any of the Asian butterfly websites.  Seems strange since it was so distinctive.







Malay Lacewing (_Cethosia hypsea_) -- I only saw this pretty butterfly once.  Its outer wings were more attractive than its inner wings.












Black-veined Tiger (_Danaus melanippus_) -- I only saw this in disturbed areas near the Kuala Tembeling Jetty.












Magpie Crow (_Euploea radamanthus_) -- many of the crows had beautiful patches of purple on their inner wings.


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## Violet

Those are great photos, you ceartainly appear to have an impressive knowledge of Lepidoptera!


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## moloch

Thanks very much, Violet.  There are some great websites that include butterflies from Malaysia and Singapore.  These helped me a great deal.  I will post links to sites at the end of the report.

Regards,
David


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## moloch

*Nymphalidae, part 3, Lycaenidae*

*more Nymphalids:*


Common Palmfly (_Elymnias hypermnestra_) -- numerous along the edge of the forest. The upper wings of this species were irridescent violet.
















Horsfield's Six-ring (_Ypthima horsfieldi_) -- only a few sighted along the forest edge.







_Mycalesis patiana_ -- I only saw a single individual of this species.








Purple Bush Brown (_Mycalesis orseis_) -- a very common butterfly along the edge of the forest.








_Coelites epiminthia_ -- these butterflies remained in the shadows of the forest interior.














Common Faun (_Faunis gracilis_) -- I only saw this species on my final day at Taman Negara.  It was found in the forest interior.









Common Duffer (_Discophora sondaica_) -- this was a lovely butterfly with blue bands on the upper wing.  It was a larger species and acted much like the new world Owl Butterflies (_Calligo sp_.).
Butterflies.








Dark Blue Jungle Glory (_Thaumantis klugius_) -- These butterflies seemed to be crepuscular.  I saw them active along trails only around sunrise.  In flight, their upper wings were a lovely blue/purple, again somewhat like the neotropical Owl Butterflies.













*Blues, Family Lycaenidae*

This family was one of the big ones in the southeast Asian rainforests.  I saw many individuals of many species.  A number of these had elongated projections on their lower wings.


Elbowed Pierrot (_Caleta roxus_) -- I saw these occasionally on sandbanks along the Tahan River or in light gaps on trails.






... with an Orange Albatross








Common Pierrot (_Castalius rosimon_) -- these would sometimes associate with the previous species on the damp sand of the river bank.






















Yamfly (_Loxura atymnus_) -- another Lycaenid with elongated lower wings.  The undersurface of the wings was a dull orange in colour.








Common Posy (_Drupadia ravindra_) -- beautiful and common little butterflies.  The were usually seen along trails or the forest edge.



























Dark Posy (_Drupadia theda_) -- I never was able to photograph the underwings.  The pattern was similar to that of the Common Posy.








Long Silverline (_Spindasis lohita_) -- These were lovely butterflies that were the most common in lantana or other flowers in open areas.

















Common Cerulean (_Jamides celeno_) -- seen in the forest interior.








Leaf Blue (_Amblypodia anita_) -- only one found and this was in the garden of Mutiara Resort.








Common Tit (_Hypolycaena erylus_)


















Fluffly Tit (_Zeltus amasa_) -- I only saw this single individual on grass along the Tahan River.








Mystery Blue -- I saw these blues on three occasions.  They are distinctive but I cannot find an image of these on the Singapore/Malaysia butterfly websites.







Unknown













Aberrant Oakblue (_Arhopala abseus_) -- only a few were sighted in the understorey of the forest.








Miscellaneous blues near water.  Mixed flocks of small blues were abundant along the river.


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## moloch

Taman Negara was home to several lovely Metalmarks (Riodinidae).

Malay Tailed Judy (_Abisara neophron_)







Orange Harlequin (_Taxila haquinus_)

















Malay Red Harlequin (_Paralaxita damajanti_)

















_Zemeros emesoides_






Pieridae was a conspicuous family at Taman Negara.  I saw these the most often on sandbars along the Tahan River.

Chocolate Albatross (_Appias lyncida_)







Mixed group of Albatross (Appias sp.)







Striped Albatross (_Appias libythea_)







Orange Albatross (_Appias nero_) -- This was a beautiful species.  I rarely saw more than one or two together.  They would associate with flocks of other Pierids and Nymphalids.












Cruisers (left) with a Lemon Migrant (_Catopsilia pomona_)







More Migrants.  I think that both Lemon (_Catopsilia pomona_) and Orange Migrants (_Catopsilia scylla_) were included in this photo:







After examining the following photo, I realized that there were two more _Graphium_ swallowtails here that I had not previously recognized.  Spotted Jays (_Graphium arycles_) were the larger, greener swallowtails.  Blue Jays (_Graphium evemon_) were the slightly smaller swallowtail that lacked a red bar near the front of the wing (as in _G. doson_).







Mixed flocks of Grass Yellows (_Eurema sp_.).  I saw at least 4 species but there may have been more.  The differences between the species were subtle.













This skipper was quite odd.  It was big and mainly bright orange with patches of blue.







Giant Redeye (_Gangara thyrsis_).  This was a huge skipper.







_Tagiades sp._


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## moloch

These moths were all seen while I walked the trails at night searching for herps:






















I also checked lights at the resort and came across other species.  

This would have to be one of the most cryptic moths that I have ever seen.  I think that it would be nearly invisible if it was on dead leaves or branches.
_Tarsolepis sommeri_







Dog Paw Moth (_Plutodes sp_.)








This is the first moth that I have ever seen with "horn".














This one held its wings in a peculiar manner.  I thought at first that there might have been two moths here.
_Trabala viridana_







This moth had a satin like colour and sheen:







Weird shapes:





















I saw a number of species that were small and predominantly green.  Here are photos of three:

_Agathia largita_



















Saturniid












Sphinx












Killed by fungus?







This disposable nappy proved to be excellent lepidopteran bait.  I saw many butterflies on it by day.  In the early morning, it was covered with a couple of species of day-flying moths.







_Dysphania sagana_












... and a similarly marked but smaller species:












Regards,
David


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## moloch

Here are a Here are a few herps that I encountered.  It was odd but on the first few days, I was only seeing one of two lizards in an entire day of walking.  The weather was wet but it was hot and humid.  At the end of the week, the sun was out and so were the lizards.  I saw many individuals of a few species on the final day before departure.

I saw Many-lined Sun Skinks (_Mabuya multifasciata_) on a few occasions.  These were big, colourful skinks.












I am not certain of the following identification but I think that these are juvenile Long-tailed Sun Skinks (_Mabuya longicauda_).












I found a single Rough-scaled Skink (_Mabuya rugifera_) on a fallen log.













Dracos were not nearly as conspicuous as they are in the hotter months of Feb and Mar when I usually visit the park.  On this trip, I only saw dracos twice.  On prior trips, I saw many more and they often confused me.  I would see something sail by and I would initially think that it must be a strange bird only to then observe the "bird" smack into a trunk of a tree and vanish.

I am reasonably certain that the following is a Black-bearded Gliding Lizard (_Draco melanopogon_) due to the black dewlap.












I am not certain of the id of this draco.  It was larger than the above animal.  There are a number of possibilities at Taman Negara:







I found two Clouded Monitors (_Varanus bengalensis_).  One was in a tree right in the accommodation area of the Mutiara Resort.  The other came swaggering along a trail near the Tembeling River one morning.  

















Here are some rather boring geckos and frog.  I am not certain of the identity of any of these.  Does anyone else recognize them?

gecko 1 -- these were big and usually seen on the sides of buildings.  I did observe a few in the forest.






gecko 2 -- observed in the forest.






gecko 3 -- on a building at the resort







frog








Mammals were numerous at Taman Negara but I only saw a few.  Bearded Pigs would venture into the accommodation area at night.  Soon after sunrise, there were still a few on the resort grounds.







Long-tailed Macaques were common both along the Tahan River as well as at Mutiara Resort.







The larger mammals don't like people much.  Once I walked beyond two or three kms from the resort, I saw plenty of sign.  Elephant dung as well as damage to bamboo was obvious.







Other mammals included a tiny Mouse Deer, White-handed Gibbons (singing only), Siamang (singing only), a large deer, many squirrels and a few tree shrews.  On prior trips, I have seen Small-clawed Otter in the river and a Malay Tapir at one of the hides in the forest.


The Great Argus had just completed one of its amazingly loud "OH-WOW!" calls.


















This was an incredibly tame Crested Fireback.  These usually are wary and hard to see well.



















As will other tropical forests, there was a huge ant here.  These giant forest ants were real monsters.








Here are a few more butterfly shots.  I just loved seeing the variety at Taman Negara.  Many of the photos were taken on this sandbar:



























Here are a few unusual fruiting trees:




































Regards,
David


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## Tarantula_Hawk

Very nice as usual.
The ant is _Camponotus gigas_, one of the world's largest ant species (but not the largest). 
They are amazing, and pretty scary at first glance (i met lots while in Borneo two years ago). Despite the size, they are pretty friendly.


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## Anthony Straus

moloch said:


> This bizarre fly was one of my favourite sightings.  Unfortunately, I only saw this single individual and managed to take one quick photo before it vanished.


That is a stalk-eyed fly, from family Diopsidae. 

There is a really cool segment on the BBC Life series in the "Challenges of Life" episode.


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