Pictures of Sites # 4

ILANIN FOREST (Bataan Province) > North-West Luzon
Nice dense forest, definitively much more dry than the east coast forest (Quezon National Park for example). Much fewer rainfall here, perfect biotope for Sungaya inexpectata, Mnesilochus capreolus, Clitumnus nematodes (I found a nice number of those yesterday 30.12.08, all on a bamboo species with small leaves).
Two first pictures are from the lowest part of the forest close to the sea, all others are from an area called "Hill 394", the highest mount of the forest (394 meters) ! Called that way by the American army troups that were station here for 50 years (the biggest military base in the Pacific), hill 394 was a helipad for military exercises, etc....! Today it's a beautifull flat spot from where you can enjoy a wonderfull view of the nearby bay , the Zambales and the Bataan mountains arround.

MNESILOCHUS CAPREOLUS [?]

Nice, medium size species I found on the west coast of Luzon several months ago. They belong to the Lonchodiinae family. Nice attitudes, often still in very pretty/extraordinary positions. Here in Quezon City I feed them with leaves of an African Tulip tree (imported) / Spathodea campanullata (Bignonaceae) with good results.

While the above male are all looking pretty much the same, the females they, come in several forms - have 4 pictured here > the plain brown, the plain (nearly) black, the mosaic and the striped. Beautiful .....!

EUCARCHARUS FERULOIDES SP. New Variation

Have breed Eucarcharus feruloides before, this ones somewhat different with its white median line and white scattered dots !! Same foodplant however > guava. Also same attitude toward nightfall and/or spraying water ---> female then changes body color to purple/violet.......nice change ! how and why it happens I don't know.......whoever knows please post on clicking "comments" on the bottom of this post, thanks !
Specie originating from South-Cotabato Province / South-Mindanao.
Thanks to Ben (Benjamin Mabanta / Quezon-City) for handing me over 2 beautiful couples :))

STENOBRIMUS BOLIVARI

What a beautiful and elegant species isn't it ?
Found that pretty rare species in South-East Luzon on a rainy night, enjoying the wet ferns, which they feed on exclusively. They come in 3 different "forms", the black/brown one (I also found on Mt-Cristobal / Laguna Province) is the adult , the black one with green spines is the subadult and finaly the most nice one mostly green with black stipes are the nymphs L1 to L4.
Long legs / weightless they move so elegantly in the wind on the ferns > love that species !

ASCELES SCABRA

Found that specie in Atimonan (South-East Luzon) exactly 2 weeks ago, a single female with missing front leg ! Still have her alive today because this time, lucky I was, she was sitting on her foodplant - yes !
A medium shrub about 1.50m high with medium/large leaves. She was sitting underneath a leaf, making it pretty hard to see as "usual" catches are mostly on top of leaves or on open twigs.
That foodplant is the "important" thing as if propagated it can (hopefully) stop my current problems with that genus feeding after the first two species died out.

ASCELES ICARIS (?)

Another - rare - specie of that genus, this one from Laguna Province (south-Luzon).
Again like the previous one, found 2 couples (matting) on a dried twig, could not as well identify the foodplant and both couples died quickly within a week !
Again, I remember the exact site where I found those and some day I'm back there looking for new ones > that said, only, when I have an identified foodplant for Asceles species and nicely growing here in Quezon City ......!
What to say about the eggs of that genus ..... just extraordinary how the female drills the underleaf of the plant and deposit each egg upside down, all ready for the babies to hatch and immediately be at the food source !!!

ASCELES SP "Baras"

Found that beautiful and especially "new specie" in Rizal Province in the same place as the Sungaya inexpectata (highlands) featured earlier post. Unfortunately I was not able to keep her alive long as I could'nt identify her foodplant on the site...... tried everything I possibly could, but she refused all plants I brought to her ! May be one day I go back there and I can find that specie again......who knows, fingerscrossed !

Pictures of Sites #3

QUEZON NATIONAL PARK (Quezon Province) > South / East Luzon > Atimonan
2nd Trip
Some "live" pictures

SUNGAYA INEXPECTATA [highlands / parthenogenetic]

Found those in the last week of last August 2008, on a mountain in Rizal Province (55km east of Manila) about 750/800m in altitude. Landscape on those mountains there pretty sad, trees 90% logged, only small bushes and high grass remains. There in the middle of the "sadness" there was a corner of "heaven" preserved mountain side ! Abandonned offices looked at by a single caretaker [which became our collecting partner of a night :)) ]. Found 4 nice species there in about 2 hectares of quite dense forest with small river on lower part. One of them was this Sungaya inexpectata (others will be posted later when identified) only females, not a single male in sight ! Unlike it's counterpart from the lowlands all females have the same "look", no colour variations and the head "crown" is much more developped here in the mountain specie.
Some foodplants choices differences too, both lowland and highland sungaya accept guava (psidium guajava) > however the highland specie do not accept mango (magifera indica) and Schefflera sp but prefer ferns especially those with medium and larger leaves.

Pictures of Sites #2

QUEZON NATIONAL PARK (Quezon Province) > South / East Luzon > Atimonan