Shan Ding Lu

Save the suburban sprawl, urban streets and insecticide fields, butterflies are quite plentiful in Taiwan. As more than half of the land area falls into one of those categories it still leaves plenty of places to watch these beautiful insects. Taiwan is rightfully famous for its huge range and spectacular butterflies, despite people’s encroachment across their terrain.

Heliophorus ila matsumurae

These Common Bluebottles (Graphium sarpedon connectens) are often seen at the riverside.

With many species their beauty is doubled with an open/close view.

Like this Leopard Spot (Symbrenthia hypselis scatinia)

Or top and side like this Silk Net or Common Mapwing (Cyrestis thyodamas formosana)

Or wet season and dry season like this pair of Common Evening Brown (Melanitis leda)

Peacock Eye or Peacock Pansy (Junonia almana)

Yellow Three Stripe or Common Jester (Symbrenthia liaea formosanus)

Chocolate Pansy (Junonia iphita)

Bean Ring (Neptis hylas luculenta)

This lovely lady was taken on the Batongguan trail. Check out her pair of hearts. (Abisara burnii etymander – female)

This family of butterfly are really hard to catch. They seem to be always on the wing and never wait around long enough for a picture. A shame really as they are very large and plentiful in the hills.

Papilio nephelus chaonulus

Red Helen (Papilio helenus fortunius)

Common Mormon (Papilio polytes pasikrates)

While on Lanyu island we spotted this giant Idea leuconoe clara

Common Jay (Graphium doson postianus)

Maybe an Yellow Coaster ( Acraea issoria formosana? )

Asian Swallowtail (Papilio xuthus koxinga) (male)

Athyma selenophora laela

Blue Tiger (Tirumala limniace)

Ceylon Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis similis)

Plain Tiger (Danaus chrysippus)

These Cabbage White (Pieris rapae crucivora) are very common.

Dark-banded Bushbrown (Mycalesis mineus)

Striped Blue Crow (Euploea mulciber barsine)

A very straggly looking Great Egg-fly (Hypolimnas bolina kezia)

An amazing Blue Eye or Blue Pansy (Junonia orithya) we recently spotted on the Southern cross island highway.

These tiny ones are very common on grass areas. (Zizeeria maha okinawana?)

And here are a bunch that I just can’t name.

Perhaps just some of the 130 species that my reference book of 270 doesn’t hold.

For all the cement, roads and insecticide spray it is perhaps surprising that there are still so many butterflies left to photograph.

If you are looking for a a good reference book on Taiwan butterflies try the useful Books from Taiwan website.
For more great Taiwan butterfly photos visit Todd’s The Daily Bubble Tea fantastic collection.

Mark at Stop Hushan Dam also has a huge range of well catalogued butterflies from the Huben-Hushan area.
Wikipedia’s List of Taiwan Butterflies provides a great on-line reference.
Of course you can also visit Shan Ding Lu’s Insect photo album. Now upgraded to support Cooliris photo wall browsing support.

Let me know if I have mislabled something or you can help identify the few above.

Tags: Insects // 12 Comments »