5-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - PAPER WASP (Polistes tenebricosus)

Polistes tenebricosus is a species of insects with 459 observations

 

5-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - SILENT SLANT FACED GRASSHOPPER ( Genus Phlaeoba)

 Phlaeoba is a genus of grasshoppers in the family Acrididae and subfamily Acridinae. The recorded distribution of species includes: India, China, Indo-China and Malesia.

5-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - JAVAN POND HERON (Ardeola speciosa)

The Javan pond heron (Ardeola speciosa) is a wading bird of the heron family, found in shallow fresh and salt-water wetlands in Southeast Asia. Its diet comprises insects, fish, and crabs.

The Javan pond heron is typically 45 cm long with white wings, a yellow bill with a black tip, yellow eyes and legs. Its overall colour is orange, slaty and white during mating season, and brown and flecked with white out of the mating season. The non-breeding plumage is similar to that of the Chinese and Indian pond herons and is virtually indistinguishable in the field. It breeds from June to September. It is migratory.

Widespread throughout its large range, the Javan pond heron is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

 

5-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - COMMON SAILOR BUTTERFLY (Neptis hylas)

Neptis hylas, the common sailor, is a species of nymphalid butterfly found in the Indian subcontinent and southeast Asia. It has a characteristic stiff gliding flight achieved by short and shallow wingbeats just above the horizontal

Throughout continental India; Sri Lanka; Assam; Nepal; Myanmar (Tenasserim), extending to China and Indomalaya.

5-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - SLENDER SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (Orthetrum sabina)

Orthetrum sabina, the slender skimmer or green marsh hawk, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is widespread, being found from south-eastern Europe and North Africa to Japan and south to Australia and Micronesia.

It is a medium-sized dragonfly with a wingspan of 60-85mm. Adults are grayish to greenish yellow with black and pale markings and green eyes. Its abdomen is greenish-yellow, marked with black. It is very similar to Orthetrum serapia in appearance, with both species appearing in northern Australia. Pale markings on segment four of the abdomen do not extend into the posterior section when viewed from above on Orthetrum sabina. Females are similar to males in shape, color and size; differing only in sexual characteristics. This dragonfly perches motionless on shrubs and dry twigs for long periods. It voraciously preys on smaller butterflies and dragonflies. 

5-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - MALAYAN EGGFLY BUTTERFLY (Hypolimnas anomala)

 Hypolimnas anomala, commonly known as the Malayan eggfly or crow eggfly, is a species of eggfly.

5-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - THREE SPOTTED GRASS YELLOW BUTTERFLY (Eurema blanda)

 Eurema blanda, the three-spot grass yellow, is a small butterfly of the family Pieridae which is found in Sri Lanka, India and southeast Asia.

Egg

Pale yellowish oval-shaped eggs are laid under or upper the leaves and hatch after about three days.

Larva

They are light green in color in first instar and they become bright green color in the last instar.

Pupa

After 20 days from the hatching , the larva become pupa. Pupae are light green in color and , they become butterflies and emerged from the chrysails after a week.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - WHITE FRANGIPANI TREE (Plumeria obtusa)

Plumeria obtusa, the Singapore graveyard flower, is a species of the genus Plumeria (Apocynaceae). It is native to the Neotropics, but widely cultivated for its ornamental and fragrant flowers around the world, where suitably warm climate exists. 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - YELLOW VENTED BULBUL (Pycnonotus goiavier)

They are fond of berries and small fruits, especially figs and cinnamon tree fruits. They sip nectar, nibble on young shoots, and snack on insects. They forage in bushes and trees for berries and insects, and may even catch swarming insects on the wing. Known to feed on fruit of Melastoma malabathricum and seeds of Dillenia suffruticosa. Common throughout Singapore. 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - DAY WATER LILY (Nymphaea nouchali)

Nymphaea nouchali, often known by its synonym Nymphaea stellata, or by common names blue lotus, star lotus, red water lily, dwarf aquarium lily, blue water lily, blue star water lily or manel flower, is a water lily of genus Nymphaea. It is native to southern and eastern parts of Asia, and is the national flower of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. In Sanskrit, it is utpala. This species is usually considered to include the blue Egyptian lotus N. nouchali var. caerulea. In the past, taxonomic confusion has occurred, with the name Nymphaea nouchali incorrectly applied to Nymphaea pubescens.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - COMMON JAY BUTTERFLY (Graphium doson)

Graphium doson, the common jay, is a black, tropical papilionid (swallowtail) butterfly with pale blue semi-transparent central wing bands that are formed by large spots. There is a marginal series of smaller spots. The underside of wings is brown with markings similar to upperside but whitish in colour. The sexes look alike. The species was first described by father and son entomologists Cajetan and Rudolf Felder.

It is widespread and common throughout Southeast Asia, including lower elevations in Sri Lanka and southern India, Eastern Ghats, Satpuras, Bengal, Assam and Bangladesh, and the Himalayan foothills. The species is however scarce in southern Honshū, Japan.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - PHILIPPINE GROUND ORCHID (Spathoglottis plicata)

Spathoglottis plicata, commonly known as the Philippine ground orchid, or large purple orchid is an evergreen, terrestrial plant with crowded pseudobulbs, three or four large, pleated leaves and up to forty resupinate, pink to purple flowers. It is found from tropical and subtropical Asia to Australia and the western Pacific including Tonga and Samoa.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - RED PERCHER DRAGONFLY (Neurothemis ramburii)

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - DINGY BUSH BROWN BUTTERFLY (Mycalesis perseus)

19-6-2023 GANDIA RIO SERPIS, VALENCIA - SPOTTED FLYCATCHER (Muscicapa striata)

Drab brown songbird with a streaky white breast. Also note streaking on crown. Tends to perch rather upright on exposed snags and other perches, often sallying out to snatch insects and returning to the same perch (“flycatching”). Favors open mixed and deciduous woodland with clearings, as well as scrub, parkland, larger gardens, and plantations. Song is composed of high-pitched squeaky single or double notes, often with a trilled quality. Calls include high-pitched “tseet” and descending “djeer” notes.

 

19-6-2023 GANDIA RIO SERPIS, VALENCIA - LITTLE EGRET (Egretta garzetta)

 The little egret (Egretta garzetta) is a species of small heron in the family Ardeidae. It is a white bird with a slender black beak, long black legs and, in the western race, yellow feet. As an aquatic bird, it feeds in shallow water and on land, consuming a variety of small creatures. It breeds colonially, often with other species of water birds, making a platform nest of sticks in a tree, bush or reed bed. A clutch of three to five bluish-green eggs is laid and incubated by both parents for about three weeks. The young fledge at about six weeks of age.

Its breeding distribution is in wetlands in warm temperate to tropical parts of Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia. A successful colonist, its range has gradually expanded north, with stable and self-sustaining populations now present in the United Kingdom.

In warmer locations, most birds are permanent residents; northern populations, including many European birds, migrate to Africa and southern Asia to over-winter there. The birds may also wander north in late summer after the breeding season, and their tendency to disperse may have assisted in the recent expansion of the bird's range. At one time common in Western Europe, it was hunted extensively in the 19th century to provide plumes for the decoration of hats and became locally extinct in northwestern Europe and scarce in the south. Around 1950, conservation laws were introduced in southern Europe to protect the species and their numbers began to increase. By the beginning of the 21st century the bird was breeding again in France, the Netherlands, Ireland and Britain. Its range is continuing to expand westward, and the species has begun to colonise the New World; it was first seen in Barbados in 1954 and first bred there in 1994. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed the bird's global conservation status as being of "least concern".

19-6-2023 GANDIA RIO SERPIS, VALENCIA - EURASIAN HOOPOE (Upupa epops)

The Eurasian hoopoe (Upupa epops) is the most widespread species of the genus Upupa. It is a distinctive cinnamon coloured bird with black and white wings, a tall erectile crest, a broad white band across a black tail, and a long narrow downcurved bill. Its call is a soft "oop-oop-oop". It is native to Europe, Asia and the northern half of Africa. It is migratory in the northern part of its range. It spends most of the time on the ground probing for grubs and insects. The clutch of seven to eight eggs is laid in an existing cavity. The eggs are incubated by the female and hatch asynchronously. Some ornithologists treat the African and Madagascar hoopoes as subspecies of the Eurasian hoopoe.

The Eurasian hoopoe is widespread in Europe, Asia, and North Africa and northern Sub-Saharan Africa. Most European and north Asian birds migrate to the tropics in winter. Those breeding in Europe usually migrate to the Sahel belt of sub-Saharan Africa. The birds predominantly migrate at night. In contrast, the African populations are sedentary all year. The species has been a vagrant in Alaska; U. e. saturata was recorded there in 1975 in the Yukon Delta. Hoopoes have been known to breed north of their European range, and in southern England during warm, dry summers that provide plenty of grasshoppers and similar insects, although as of the early 1980s northern European populations were reported to be in the decline, possibly due to changes in climate.

The hoopoe has two basic requirements of its habitat: bare or lightly vegetated ground on which to forage and vertical surfaces with cavities (such as trees, cliffs or even walls, nestboxes, haystacks, and abandoned burrows in which to nest. These requirements can be provided in a wide range of ecosystems, and as a consequence the hoopoe inhabits a wide range of habitats such as heathland, wooded steppes, savannas and grasslands, as well as forest glades.

The diet of the Eurasian hoopoe includes many species considered by humans to be pests, such as the pupae of the processionary moth, a damaging forest pest. For this reason the species is afforded protection under the law in many countries.

The Eurasian Hoopoe is listed as a species of "Least concern" by the IUCN. Despite the fact, the species has been in a continuous decline according to the organisation since 2008, the causes being loss of habitat and over-hunting.

Hunting is of concern in southern Europe and Asia.

In Europe, the hoopoe seems to have a stable population though it is threatened in several regions. The bird is considered extinct in Sweden and "needing active conservation" in Poland. The species has recovered and stabilised in Switzerland, however they remain vulnerable.

 

7-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - SPOTTED DOVE (Streptopelia chinensis)

The spotted dove (Spilopelia chinensis) is a small and somewhat long-tailed pigeon that is a common resident breeding bird across its native range on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. The species has been introduced to many parts of the world and feral populations have become established.

This species was formerly included in the genus Streptopelia with other turtle-doves, but studies suggest that they differ from typical members of that genus. This dove is long tailed buff brown with a white-spotted black collar patch on the back and sides of the neck. The tail tips are white and the wing coverts have light buff spots.

There are considerable plumage variations across populations within its wide range. The species is found in light forests and gardens as well as in urban areas. They fly from the ground with an explosive flutter and will sometimes glide down to a perch. It is also called the mountain dove, pearl-necked dove, lace-necked dove, and spotted turtle-dove.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - EURASIAN TREE SPARROW (MALE) (Passer montanus)

The Eurasian tree sparrow (Passer montanus) is a passerine bird in the sparrow family with a rich chestnut crown and nape, and a black patch on each pure white cheek. The sexes are similarly plumaged, and young birds are a duller version of the adult. This sparrow breeds over most of temperate Eurasia and Southeast Asia, where it is known as the tree sparrow, and it has been introduced elsewhere including the United States, where it is known as the Eurasian tree sparrow or German sparrow to differentiate it from the native unrelated American tree sparrow. Although several subspecies are recognised, the appearance of this bird varies little across its extensive range.

The Eurasian tree sparrow's untidy nest is built in a natural cavity, a hole in a building or the disused nest of a European magpie or white stork. The typical clutch is five or six eggs which hatch in under two weeks. This sparrow feeds mainly on seeds, but invertebrates are also consumed, particularly during the breeding season. As with other small birds, infection by parasites and diseases, and predation by birds of prey take their toll, and the typical life span is about two years.

The Eurasian tree sparrow is widespread in the towns and cities of eastern Asia, but in Europe it is a bird of lightly wooded open countryside, with the house sparrow breeding in the more urban areas. The Eurasian tree sparrow's extensive range and large population ensure that it is not endangered globally, but there have been large declines in western European populations, in part due to changes in farming practices involving increased use of herbicides and loss of winter stubble fields. In eastern Asia and western Australia, this species is sometimes viewed as a pest, although it is also widely celebrated in oriental art.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - STAGHORN FERN (Genus Platycerium)

Platycerium is a genus of about 18 fern species in the polypod family, Polypodiaceae. Ferns in this genus are widely known as staghorn or elkhorn ferns due to their uniquely shaped fronds. This genus is epiphytic and is native to tropical and temperate areas of South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Guinea.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - STAR OF BETHLEHEM (Hippobroma longiflora)

Hippobroma longiflora, also called Star of Bethlehem or madamfate, is a flowering plant in the family Campanulaceae. It is the only species in the genus Hippobroma. It is endemic to the West Indies, but has become naturalized across the American tropics and Oceania.

It is notable for its concentrations of two pyridine alkaloids: lobeline and nicotine. The effects of nicotine and lobeline are quite similar, with psychoactive effects at small dosages and with unpleasant effects including vomiting, muscle paralysis, and trembling at higher dosages. For this reason, H. longiflora (and its various synonyms) is often referenced for both its toxicity and its ethnobotanical uses.

When uprooting this weed, it is important to wear gloves: the sap is an irritant which can be absorbed through the skin, and a small amount of sap in the eyes can cause blindness.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - SCARLET SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (MALE) (Crocothemis servilia)

The scarlet skimmer or ruddy marsh skimmer, Crocothemis servilia, is a species of dragonfly of the family Libellulidae, native to east and southeast Asia and introduced to Jamaica, Florida, and Hawaii.

It is a medium sized blood-red dragonfly with a thin black line along the mid-dorsal abdomen. Its eyes are blood-red above, purple laterally. Thorax is bright ferruginous, often blood-red on dorsum. Abdomen is blood-red, with a narrow black mid-dorsal carina. Anal appendages are blood-red. Female is similar to the male; but with olivaceous-brown thorax and abdomen. The black mid-dorsal carina is rather broad.

It breeds in ponds, ditches, marshes, open swamps and rice fields.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - JUNGLE FLAME (Ixora coccinea)

Ixora coccinea (also known as jungle geranium, flame of the woods or jungle flame or pendkuli) is a species of flowering plant in the family Rubiaceae. It is a common flowering shrub native to Southern India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. It has become one of the most popular flowering shrubs in South Florida gardens and landscapes. It is the national flower of Suriname.[citation needed] Commercially important medicinal plant, used in ayurveda. All parts including flower, leaves and root are taken for various medicinal preparations for skin disease, Diabetes etc.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - BRACKET FUNGI (Ganoderma lobatum)

Ganoderma lobatum is a fungal plant pathogen.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - DOTLEAF WATER LILY (Nymphaea ampla)

 Nymphaea ampla, the dotleaf waterlily, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nymphaeaceae. It is native to Texas, Florida, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and northern and western South America.

Nymphaea ampla is widely represented in Mayan art, especially in its depictions with jaguars and Mayan kings. Its cultural importance can be seen in one of the Mayan names of the plant; nikte’ha’ ("vulva of the water") as it would have represented life, sexual activity, fertility, and birth. The plant causes opiate-like effects on the user and is known to have been used as a calmative and mild trance inducer.

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - RED WATER LILY (Nymphaea rubra)

 Nymphaea rubra is a species of plants with 1179 observations

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - AUTUMN LEAF BUTTERFLY (Doleschallia bisaltide)

Doleschallia bisaltide, the autumn leaf, is a nymphalid butterfly found in South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Australasia. In Australia it is also known as the leafwing.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - DARK BRANDED BUSH BROWN BUTTERFLY (Mycalesis mineus)

Wet-season form: Upperside dark Vandyke brown; forewings and hindwings with slender subterminal and terminal pale lines. Forewing with a single white-centred, fulvous-ringed, black ocellus, generally set in a square pale area, in interspace 2, occasionally a similar smaller ocellus without any pale surrounding area in interspace 5. Hindwing uniform sometimes with one or two obscure postmedian ocelli. Underside: ground colour similar; forewings and hindwings crossed by a transverse dusky-white discal band, well-defined inwardly, diffuse outwardly, followed by a postdiscal series of ocelli surrounded by a dusky-yellowish, sometimes purplish white, line; the ocelli are similar to the ocelli on the upperside, and vary from two to four on the forewing and from five to seven (the preapical two being sometimes obsolescent) on the hindwing; of these latter the posterior four, not three as in Mycalesis perseus, are in a straight line; finally, beyond the rows of ocelli on both wings there are pale or purplish-white subterminal and terminal sinuous lines.

Dry-season form: Upperside similar to that in the wet-season form, but paler. Underside from ochraceous brown to dusky brown of a darker shade; basal half of the wings conspicuously darker than the outer portions; the whole surface irrorated (sprinkled) with fine brown striae; sometimes a distinct dark discal band crosses both wings; ocelli nearly obsolete, indicated by minute white specks, the posterior four on the hindwing in a straight line as in the wet-season form. Antennae, head, thorax and abdomen brown; the club of the antennae with black and ochraceous marks. Male sex-mark in form 1 as in M. perseus, but the patch of specialized scales on the underside of the forewing half as large again.

 

4-6-2023 UBUD, BALI - MEXICAN RUELLIA (Ruellia simplex)

Ruellia simplex, the Mexican petunia, Mexican bluebell or Britton's wild petunia, is a species of flowering plant in the family Acanthaceae. It is a native of Mexico, the Caribbean, and South America. It has become a widespread invasive plant in Florida, where it was likely introduced as an ornamental before 1933, as well as in the eastern Mediterranean, South Asia and other parts of the eastern hemisphere.