| Matapa aria (Common Redeye) |
The Common Redeye was first observed in the Mandai area in 1998 where a
single specimen was observed. After that, there were no observations
for a couple of years until the Butterfly Interest Group located a colony
of the species at Singapore Botanic Gardens and various other locations
in Singapore. The caterpillar of this species was feeding on several
types of bamboo and were surprisingly common, considering the rarity of
the adult butterfly.
In recent years, the species continued to make an appearance, although usually singly. This specimen was taken at Alexandra Hospital, which can be considered an "urban park". The butterfly is a dull brown above and ochreous buff below, with distinctly whitish yellow hindwing cilia. The characteristic feature of this small butterfly (average 18mm wingspan) are the red eyes which are very obvious in a field observation. The butterfly flies in the usual darting Hesperiidae fashion and stays close to the ground. |
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