Butterflies of
Thailand, Malaysia &
Borneo
Glorious Begum
Agatasa calydonia
HEWITSON, 1854
Family - NYMPHALIDAE
subfamily -
CHARAXINAE
Tribe - PROTHOINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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Agatasa calydonia,
Ulu Gerok,
West Malaysia |
Introduction
This large and magnificent butterfly is the only member of the
genus Agatasa. It occurs as a
rarity in India, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, West Malaysia, Sumatra,
Borneo and the Philippines.
The legendary
explorer and naturalist Alfred Russell Wallace, in his book The
Malay Archipelago, wrote of it's capture at Malacca :
"I
was one afternoon walking along a favourite road through the
forest, with my gun, when I saw a butterfly on the ground. It
was large, handsome and quite new to me, and I got close to it
before it flew away. I then observed that it had been settling
on the dung of some carnivorous animal."
"Thinking that it might return to the same
spot, I next day after breakfast took my net, and as I
approached the place was delighted to see the same butterfly
sitting on the same piece of dung, and succeeded in capturing
it. It was an entirely new species of great beauty.
I never saw another specimen of it, and it was only after 12
years had elapsed that a second individual reached this country
( England ) from the north-western part of Borneo."
d'Abrera, in
Butterflies of the Oriental Region wrote :
"It
is truly a spectacular sight, but it's feeding habits would be
regarded by some as being gravely socially aberrant, to say the
least ! A famous zoo-geographer friend tells that while on the
Mt Mulu expedition in Borneo, he was not even permitted to
finish his toilet in the jungle with dignity. For while he was
thus crouched ( having the previous day dined on spiced pork ),
a strongly flapping Agatasa
calydonia arrived to take
boisterous possession of the freshly malodorous deposit."
Habitats
The butterfly is said by Corbet &Pendlebury to occur in open
forest at low to moderate elevations. I have only ever seen 2
specimens, one in the disturbed primary rainforest at Poring hot
springs in Sabah, Borneo; and the other in similar habitat at
Ulu Gerok in the western slopes of the hills in peninsular
Malaysia. On both occasions the butterflies were males, feeding
at carrion, close to waterfalls in dark shady forest.
Lifecycle
The lifecycle is unknown.
Adult behaviour
The butterfly is very scarce and only ever seen singly. Males
are normally only seen when feeding at carrion, dung or rotting
fruit. Once settled the butterfly is easy to approach and
oblivious to the presence of photographers !
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