Butterflies of
Thailand, Malaysia &
Borneo
Club
Silverline
Spindasis syama
HORSFIELD, 1829
Family - LYCAENIDAE
subfamily -
LYCAENINAE
Tribe - APHNAEINI
introduction
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habitats |
lifecycle |
adult behaviour
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 |
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Spindasis
syama, Singapore
( image © Khew
Sin Khoon
) |
Introduction
There
are 49 species in the genus
Spindasis,
of which 29 are African, and the remainder Oriental. Peninsular Malaysia has 5
species -
syama,
lohita,
seliga, kutu
and
vixinga.
All of these except kutu
also occur on Borneo.
The pattern of
silver stripes functions to divert the eyes of predators away from the
butterfly's head, and towards the tornus. The bright orange tornal spot, and the
white-tipped "false antennae" tails, which are wiggled while the butterfly
rests, add further to the back-to-front illusion. A bird or reptile intending to
attack a butterfly will always try to
anticipate the direction in which it will try to escape. Accordingly
they aim their attack just ahead of what they believe to be the head of the
insect, but the back-to front illusion fools them into aiming at the tail, and the butterfly is able to make it's escape in the opposite direction.
Habitats
Most
of the African species, and some of those from the Oriental region, are found on
savannah or dry scrubby grassland habitats, while others are montane species.
The illustrated species syama
however is a forest insect, usually seen in light gaps or along wide sunlit trails.
Lifecycle
The caterpillar
feeds on the foliage of
Dioscorea,
Xylia
&
Psidium
and is attended by Crematogaster ants, which "milk" it to obtain sugary secretions. It lives,
and eventually pupates, within a shelter made by binding together leaves with
silk.
Adult behaviour
Both sexes are always
encountered singly, and can sometimes be seen nectaring at the
flowers of the creeper Mikania. They
also often rest rest on the
foliage of trees or shrubs at a height of about 2 - 3m above the
ground. The flight is rapid, erratic and difficult to
follow with the eye.
Males sometimes
visit sandbanks, where they perch on rocks or stones, always with
the "false antennae" raised higher than the true antennae. Upon
landing they wiggle the tails for a few moments, but once they
have assessed that they are in no immediate danger from predators,
they stop this activity and remain perfectly still.
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