This species was thought to
have gone extinct from Singapore. Already a very rare butterfly even
in Malaysia, Idea leuconoe chersonesia is a seashore species known
to only make its appearance deep in mangrove swamp vegetation. Although
there were several unconfirmed reports of its sighting at Pulau Ubin and
Pulau Tekong in the late 80's, no confirmed observation of its existence was obtained until recently, where this photograph of the species was taken with a digital camera. It was indeed a pleasant surprise to record the existence of Idea leuconoe chersonesia in Singapore.
Idea leuconoe chersonesia
is a black and white butterfly like the other species of the genus Idea,
but the marginal and submarginal spots are conjoined to form an irregular
black band, and the wing bases are yellow-tinted. Like the other
Idea
species, the butterfly glides gracefully amongst the treetops and floats
like a piece of paper. The butterfly is believed to be distasteful
to predators.
Known host plants of other Idea
species are Parsonsia helicandra, Parsonsia laevigata, Parsonsia spiralis,
Tylophora hispida, and Cynanchum formosanum. It would
be interesting to discover what the local species' host plant is.
*Special Note
:
The Fragile Forest at the Singapore
Zoological Gardens in Mandai features a different subspecies of this butterfly
- Idea leuconoe clara,  which originates from Taiwan. The Taiwanese
subspecies has been successfully bred by the Singapore Zoo and is rather
common at the Fragile Forest enclosure. However, it is not endemic
to Singapore/Malaysia and is different in appearance from the rare local
subspecies chersonesia. |
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which originates from Taiwan. The Taiwanese
subspecies has been successfully bred by the Singapore Zoo and is rather
common at the Fragile Forest enclosure. However, it is not endemic
to Singapore/Malaysia and is different in appearance from the rare local
subspecies chersonesia.