18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - SUN BEAR (Helarctos malayanus)

The sun bear (Helarctos malayanus) is a species in the family Ursidae (the only species in the genus Helarctos) occurring in the tropical forests of Southeast Asia. It is the smallest bear, standing nearly 70 centimetres (28 inches) at the shoulder and weighing 25–65 kilograms (55–143 pounds). It is stockily built, with large paws, strongly curved claws, small rounded ears and a short snout. The fur is generally jet-black, but can vary from grey to red. Sun bears get their name from the characteristic orange to cream coloured chest patch. Its unique morphology—inward-turned front feet, flattened chest, powerful forelimbs with large claws—suggests adaptations for climbing.

The most arboreal (tree-living) of all bears, the sun bear is an excellent climber and sunbathes or sleeps in trees 2 to 7 metres (7 to 23 feet) above the ground. It is mainly active during the day, though nocturnality might be more common in areas frequented by humans. Sun bears tend to remain solitary but sometimes occur in pairs (such as a mother and her cub). They do not seem to hibernate, possibly because food resources are available the whole year throughout the range. Being omnivores, sun bears have a broad diet including ants, bees, beetles, honey, termites and plant material such as seeds and several kinds of fruits; vertebrates such as birds and deer are also eaten occasionally. They breed throughout the year; individuals become sexually mature at two to four years of age. Litters comprise one or two cubs that remain with their mother for around three years.

The range of the sun bear is bound by northeastern India to the north and extends south to southeast through Bangladesh, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam in mainland Asia to Brunei, Indonesia and Malaysia to the south. These bears are threatened by heavy deforestation and illegal hunting for food and the wildlife trade; they are also harmed in conflicts with humans when they enter farmlands, plantations and orchards. The global population is estimated to have declined by 35% over the past three decades. The IUCN has listed this species as vulnerable.

Sun bears have a broad omnivorous diet including plants.

Sun bears are omnivores and feed on a broad variety of items such as ants, bees, beetles, honey, termites and plant material such as seeds and several kinds of fruits.[8][46] Vertebrates such as birds, deer, eggs and reptiles may be eaten occasionally.[47][48] They forage mostly at night. Sun bears tear open hollow trees with their long, sharp claws and teeth in search of wild bees and honey. They also break termite mounds and quickly lick and suck the contents, holding pieces of the broken mound with their front paws. They consume figs in large amounts and eat them whole.[49] In a study in the forests of Kalimantan, fruits of Moraceae, Burseraceae and Myrtaceae species made up more than 50% of the fruit diet; in times of fruit scarcity, sun bears switched to a more insectivorous diet. A study in Central Borneo revealed that sun bears play an important role in the seed dispersal of Canarium pilosum (a tree in the family Burseraceae). Sun bears eat the centre of coconut palms, and crush oil-rich seeds such as acorns. Oil palms are nutritious but not enough for subsistence.

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - RUFOUS BACKED DWARF KINGFISHER (Ceyx rufidorsa)

Tiny, unbelievably cute kingfisher: a luminous ball of pink, orange, yellow, and varying amounts of blue and purple. Brightly-colored back distinguishes this species from closely related Black-backed Dwarf-Kingfisher. Forages in shaded patches of dense vegetation, in mangroves, overgrown edge, or deep lowland and foothill forest. Can be near or away from water; when near water, often near shallow forest streams and small pools. Gives high squeaks and thin whistles, often as paired notes.

The kingfisher species of bird is known for its vibrant and remarkable plumage that is a treat to the eyes. Tiny, adorable, and a brilliant feathery ball of yellow, orange, pink, and various shades of blue, the rufous-backed dwarf kingfisher or simply the rufous-backed kingfisher (Ceyx rufidorsa) is no exception! Belonging to the family Alcedinidae and order Coraciiformes, this species of kingfisher has an uncanny resemblance to the similar-looking black-backed kingfisher or the Oriental dwarf kingfisher (Ceyx erithaca). In fact, Ceyx rufidorsa was earlier thought to be a color morph of Ceyx erithaca until recent genetic studies revealed that Ceyx erithaca and Ceyx rufidorsa are two separate lineages. The rufous-backed dwarf kingfisher has four subspecies.

The global distribution range of the rufous-backed dwarf kingfisher is quite extensive and includes large swathes of Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. Typically, populations of this species and its subspecies are endemic in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Thailand, Brunei, India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, and Srilanka. The tiny birds inhabit dense tropical evergreen and deciduous forests, bamboo and palm thickets, mangroves, dense rubber gardens, shrubs, and deep lowland forests. They forage in dense and shady vegetation patches and thrive on a diet comprising insects, fish, frogs, small crabs, lizards, worms, and spiders.

 

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - SOUTHERN PIG TAILED MACAQUE (Macaca nemestrina)

The use of monkeys to harvest coconuts in South East Asia has been documented since the 19th century. PETA says that it had investigated Thai coconut farms and found chained monkeys that were forced to spend long hours climbing trees and picking coconut. Vincent Nijman, anthropology professor and head of the Oxford Wildlife Trade Research Group at Oxford Brookes University, who has researched the welfare of coconut-harvesting macaques in Thailand, said the practice is largely confined to the southernmost part of Thailand and involves the northern and southern Pig-tailed macaques. It is probably the case that such monkeys are based on small farms catering to local consumption, rather than farms that produce coconuts for exports. The practice in Thailand of using monkey labor to pick coconuts is slowly dying, says Edwin Weik, the founder of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand. In 2021, he estimated that 15 years ago, as many as 15,000 monkeys labored on coconut farms, compared to the 3,000 then.

M. nemestrina is mainly terrestrial, but also a skilled climber. Unlike almost all primates, these macaques love water. They live in large groups that split into smaller groups during daytime when they are foraging. They are omnivorous, feeding mainly on fruits, seeds, berries, cereals, fungi, and invertebrates. A study in peninsular Malaysia found them to be the primary, and perhaps the only, seed dispersers of the rattan species Daemonorops calicarpa and Calamus castaneus.

This macaque is mostly found in rainforest up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft), but will also enter plantations and gardens.

It is found in the southern half of the Malay Peninsula (only just extending into southernmost Thailand), Borneo, Sumatra and Bangka Island. There are reports of the species having been present in Singapore before 1950, but these were likely escaped pets. The only pig-tailed macaques in Singapore today are introduced monkeys.

There is a hierarchy among males, based on strength, and among females, based on heredity. Thus, the daughter of the alpha female will immediately be placed above all other females in the group. The alpha female leads the group, while the male role is more to manage conflict within the group and to defend it.Female gestation lasts around 5.7 months. She will give birth to one infant every two years. Weaning occurs at 4–5 months. Sexual maturity is reached at 3–5 years.

In Thailand, they have been trained for 400 years to harvest coconuts.

 

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - SOUTHERN PIG TAILED MACAQUE (Macaca nemestrina) (JUVENILE)

M. nemestrina is mainly terrestrial, but also a skilled climber. Unlike almost all primates, these macaques love water. They live in large groups that split into smaller groups during daytime when they are foraging. They are omnivorous, feeding mainly on fruits, seeds, berries, cereals, fungi, and invertebrates. A study in peninsular Malaysia found them to be the primary, and perhaps the only, seed dispersers of the rattan species Daemonorops calicarpa and Calamus castaneus. 

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - SOUTHERN PIG TAILED MACAQUE (Macaca nemestrina)

The southern pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina), also known as the Sundaland pig-tailed macaque and Sunda pig-tailed macaque, is a medium-sized macaque that lives in southern Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. It is known locally as berok.

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - NORTHEAST BORNEAN ORANGUTAN (Pongo pygmaeus ssp. morio),

The Bornean orangutan (Pongo pygmaeus) is a species of orangutan endemic to the island of Borneo. Together with the Sumatran orangutan (Pongo abelii) and Tapanuli orangutan (Pongo tapanuliensis), it belongs to the only genus of great apes native to Asia. Like the other great apes, orangutans are highly intelligent, displaying tool use and distinct cultural patterns in the wild. Orangutans share approximately 97% of their DNA with humans. Also called mias by the local population, the Bornean orangutan is a critically endangered species, with deforestation, palm oil plantations, and hunting posing a serious threat to its continued existence.

The Bornean orangutan lives in tropical rain forests in the Bornean lowlands, as well as montane rain forests in mountainous areas up to 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) above sea level. the canopy of primary and secondary forest, and moves large distances to find trees bearing fruit.

It is found in the two Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and four of the five Indonesian Provinces of Kalimantan. Due to habitat destruction, the species distribution is now highly patchy throughout the island, the species has become rare in the southeast of the island, as well as in the forest between the Rajang River in central Sarawak and the Padas River in western Sabah. Its presence in Brunei is uncertain and unconfirmed. 

19-7-2023 MONTANYETA DEL SANS, ALBUFERA - SMALL WHITE BUTTERFLY (Pieris rapae)

 The species has a natural range across Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It was accidentally introduced to Quebec, Canada, around 1860 and spread rapidly throughout North America. The species has spread to all North American life zones from Lower Austral/Lower Sonoran to Canada. Estimates show that a single female of this species might be the progenitor in a few generations of millions. It is absent or scarce in desert and semidesert regions (except for irrigated areas). It is not found north of Canadian life zone, nor on Channel Islands off the coast of southern California. By 1898, the small white had spread to Hawaii; by 1929, it had reached New Zealand and the area around Melbourne, Australia, and found its way to Perth as early as 1943. It does not seem to have made it to South America.

19-7-2023 MONTANYETA DEL SANS, ALBUFERA - CLOUDED YELLOW BUTTERFLY (Colias croceus)

Colias croceus, clouded yellow, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae, the yellows and whites.

Colias croceus is one of the most widespread species in Europe. The common clouded yellow's breeding range is North Africa and southern Europe and eastwards through Turkey into the Middle East, but it occurs throughout much of Europe as a summer migrant, in good years individuals reaching Scandinavia. In Asia, its range extends into central Siberia in the north and barely into India in the south; it is not found in Central Asia.

This species is primarily an immigrant to the UK, originating from southern Europe and northern Africa. In the UK they can be seen on the south coast almost every year in varying numbers, and regularly breed there. Occurrence in the rest of the UK varies considerably from year to year, but they are increasingly observed as far north as Dumfries and Galloway. It has also been recorded in Ireland from the Raven, Co. Wexford, to Belfast, Co. Down.

 

19-7-2023 MONTANYETA DEL SANS, ALBUFERA - BROAD SCARLET DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Crocothemis erythraea)

The scarlet dragonfly (Crocothemis erythraea) is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. Its common names include broad scarlet, common scarlet-darter, and scarlet darter.

Status and distribution

The scarlet dragonfly is a common species in southern Europe and throughout Africa. It also occurs across western Asia as far as southern China. It is a very rare vagrant in Britain. Its first record in the country was at Hayle Kimbro Pool, The Lizard, Cornwall, on 7 August 1995. Since then there have been a few further records at scattered locations throughout Britain.

A wide range of both running and standing waters, except those that are shaded. Adults may be found some distance from water in habitats ranging from desert to open woodland; absent from dense forest. 

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - ASIAN GLOSSY STARLING (Aplonis panayensis)

The Asian glossy starling (Aplonis panayensis) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan (introduced) and Thailand. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest and subtropical or tropical mangrove forest. There is also a huge number of this species inhabiting towns and cities, where they take refuge in abandoned buildings and trees. They often move in large groups and are considered one of the noisiest species of birds. In the Philippines, it is known as kulansiyang, galansiyang, or kuling-dagat. 

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - MEXICAN PLUMERIA (Plumeria rubra)

Plumeria rubra is a deciduous plant species belonging to the genus Plumeria. Originally native to Mexico, Central America, Colombia and Venezuela, it has been widely cultivated in subtropical and tropical climates worldwide and is a popular garden and park plant, as well as being used in temples and cemeteries. It grows as a spreading tree to 7–8 m (23–26 ft) high and wide, and is flushed with fragrant flowers of shades of pink, white and yellow over the summer and autumn.

Its common names include frangipani, red paucipan, red-jasmine, red frangipani, common frangipani, temple tree, or simply plumeria. Despite its common name, the species is not a "true jasmine" and not of the genus Jasminum.

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - SIMPOH AIR (Dillenia suffruticosa)

Dillenia suffruticosa, also known as simpoh air or CB leaf, is a species of Dillenia found in tropical South East Asia in secondary forest and swampy ground. It is a highly invasive weed in Sri Lanka.

The simpor is the national flower of Brunei, and can be found everywhere across the country. Claire Waight Keller included the plant to represent the country in Meghan Markle's wedding veil, which included the distinctive flora of each Commonwealth country.  

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - SURINAME STICKPEA (Calliandra surinamensis)

Calliandra surinamensis is a low branching evergreen tropical shrub that is named after Suriname, a country in northern South America. The plant usually has complexly branched multiple trunks and grows to a height of about 5 metres, although many sources suggest that it only attains a height of 3 metres. Left unpruned it grows long thin branches that eventually droop down onto the ground. The leaves close and droop from dusk until morning when they once again reopen. Calliandra surinamensis is said to contain lectins which are toxic to cancer cells, although more research is needed. Calliandra surinamensis contains three important compounds: myrectin which contains antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, lupeol which contains anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, and ferulic acid which contains antimicrobial properties.

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - BROWN THROATED SUNBIRD (MALE) (Anthreptes malacensis)

The brown-throated sunbird (Anthreptes malacensis), also known as the plain-throated sunbird, is a species of bird in the family Nectariniidae. It is found in a wide range of semi-open habitats in south-east Asia, ranging from Myanmar to the Lesser Sundas and west Philippines. The grey-throated sunbird found in the remaining part of the Philippines is often considered a subspecies of the brown-throated sunbird, but the two differ consistently in measurements and plumage, and there is no evidence of intergradation between them.

18-5-2023 SEPILOK, BORNEO - BLACK AND RED BROADBILL (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos)

The black-and-red broadbill is found in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. In peninsular Thailand, it has vanished locally from some areas. It was also common in Singapore until the 1940s, after which it was not recorded until 2004, and then 2020. It mainly inhabits riparian forest edges up to altitudes of 300 m (980 ft) throughout its range, although it can sometimes be found up to altitudes of 900 m (3,000 ft) m. In areas further downstream, it inhabits screw-palm swamps near the edges of mangroves. In areas affected by heavy land-conversion, it inhabits rubber plantations and coconut groves or orchards that have water channels. It has also been observed in peat swamp forest, but rarely enters closed-canopy forest. It can adapt quite well to disturbed habitat, surviving in secondary forest that has some tall trees remaining, as well as secondary vegetation with clumps of forest in pastureland. It also inhabits seriously degraded habitats along rivers.

 

17-5-2023 PORING HOT SPRINGS, BORNEO - RHINOCEROS BEETLE (Chalcosoma atlas ssp. keyboh)

17-5-2023 PORING HOT SPRINGS, BORNEO - SUGARCANE WHITE GRUB (Lepidiota stigma)

Lepidiota stigma, also known as sugarcane white grub, is a species of insect native to Southeast Asia. The species is known to attack sugarcane fields in the region.

17-5-2023 PORING HOT SPRINGS, BORNEO - BORDERED DUSTER MOTH (Pingasa ruginaria)

Pingasa ruginaria is a species of moth of the family Geometridae first described by Achille Guenée in 1857. It is found in India, south-east Asia, the Ryukyu Islands and Sundaland.

The larvae have been recorded on Rhus, Liquidambar, Cinnamomum, Litsea, Crotalaria, Nephelium, Trema and Sterculiaceae species.

16-5-2023 PORING HOT SPRINGS, BORNEO - BORNEAN OAKLEAF BUTTERFLY (Kallima buxtoni)

 Kallima buxtoni is a species of insects with 54 observations

15-5-2023 PORING HOT SPRINGS, BORNEO - COMMON ARCHDUKE BUTTERFLY (Lexias pardalis)

Lexias pardalis, the common archduke, is a butterfly of the family Nymphalidae.

This species can be found in the Indomalayan realm.

Lexias pardalis prefer paths, clearings and edges of primary forests and they are easily sighted in sunny areas standing on the forest floor.