Pictures of Sites # 9

Mount Tapulao > Palauig, Zambales Province > North-West Luzon (2nd trip)

My second trip there and this time went much further into the mountain than the first time I collected at the edge of the forest only.
4 hours hard hiking from sea level to 1500masl, stopped engulfed in the clouds, cold mist and temperatures dropped dramatically and fast with the sunset. Cold mist available right at night start. Very few sticks spotted then at that altitude and for the next 6/7 hours going down the mountain we collected few specimens only......so I can say, considering the hard and exhausting trip we had it is a disappointing one !!
A few lessons to take from it however : collecting above 1000masl on north Luzon is collecting few specimens only and the higher you go the less specimens are to be found. Then because it is January temperatures are very cold then at night and many sticks we spotted were just hatchlings or L1, logically those will be adults at arround march which is the start of the summer and when temperatures even that hight won't drop bellow 18/20C.
The "thing" is that Mount Tapulao has no remaining forest available below 900m altitude.....everything below that has been logged, even burned to the ground and only high grass grows !

Pictures of Sites # 8

Mount Masinloc and Masinloc Falls > Masinloc > Zambales Province > North-West Luzon.

My first collecting trip of the new year, Mt Masinloc, 950masl. Nice mountain with nicely preserved ecosystem, lots of insects and wildlife all arround. Typical west Luzon style forest, dry dipterocarpus. 4 hours collecting on a single trail that goes up half way the mountain to the Masinloc Falls, unfortunately trail then stops there and I was not able to go all the way to the summit. Found 3, may be 4 new species there > an Asystata, a Mithrenes, a Necrosia and another species I do not even know the genus ! Besides some sungaya males and the always there/everywhere Rhamphosipyloidea gorkomis :)
A place to visit sometimes again....!

THE NEXT 3 POSTS ARE PROBABLY THE 3 MOST BEAUTIFUL AND THRILLING SPECIES I FOUND LAST YEAR 2009. ENJOY :))

NESCICROA THISBE

Just one word we all said - me, joachim, nathalie, nando - when we found it on Mt Palakong last July 2009 > WOW !!!!!!
Truly amazing species, such a gorgeous mix of colors.
Unfortunately my attempt to culture it here in Manila failed, one because they refused each and every foodplants I proposed to them and secondly, I think, because of the much higher temperatures here in lowland Manila than there high on the mountain.

OPHICRANIA PALINURUS

What can I say about that species > just magnifiscent !!!
Found it in QNP (Quezon National Park) in Atimonan, Quezon Province, South-East Luzon.
I found the male many months before the female was found by Joachim Bresseel last July 2009. That species feed on Palms exclusively, refuses Pandanus.
They live quite long in captivity, need a high humidity, they however produce very few eggs > more or less 5/6 eggs a week and only if conditions are good.
Males are very good flyers, females do not fly they are moving very little either and can remain immobile on the foodplant for a very long time they just wait for the males to fly and find them :)

NECROSCIA SALMANAZAR

Fantastic and quite large species, I found many months ago far in the mountains arround Tayabas, Quezon Province, East Luzon.
Will always remember the first female in my flashlight, standing on top of a large leaf, blue silverish antennas up and stricking pink wings open.......I was so stunned I could'nt even say anything, just stayed mute of admiration !!!!
Took a "big risk" that evening as the area we were in was a notorious communist rebels area infested. Incidently in the short 2 hours we stayed in that area we found only this species, about 6 couples, feeding on a wild species of cinnamomum. here in manila they accepted easily jasminum and sampagita as replacement plants. Eggs are very large, long and curved, the female "hammers" them with great force in a soft support, styrophoam in my case. Unfortunately none of the eggs I got ever emerged and i lost the culture of that species :((
Nothing else left to me that "repeat" the risky trip in that area to get new specimens again.......a trip to "think about" first for obvious reasons.....!!!