a trip report by Adrian Hoskins

Our first destination was Tapah, in Perak state, on the Malaya peninsula. At nearby Kuala Woh park we found 5 mud-puddling groups of the stunning Rajah Brook's Birdwing Trogonoptera brookiana, each with as many as 30 of these huge and very beautiful creatures, their iridescent green and black wings outstretched and overlapping those of their neighbours. Some of the puddling spots were difficult to locate and access, but fortunately I was able to edge down the riverbank and find myself standing in the midst of a group, with one sitting on my finger, several more at my feet, and groups of 4 or 5 circling around me in follow the leader fashion. Absolute bliss !

Most other species at Kuala Woh were only present in ones and twos, and needed to be searched for. These included the long tailed, bright orange hairstreak Eooxylides tharis, the gorgeous Euploea radamanthus, Appias lyncida, Tanaecia iapis, and the rarely sighted female of brookiana, which did a fly past as I crossed the suspension bridge.

There were also a few brookiana at Tapah Hills, where we also saw the impressively large Satyrine Neorina lowii, the golden Birdwing Triodes helena, the spectacular 5-bar Swordtail Pathysa antiphates, and several transparent Dragontails Lamproptera meges, which "hawk" like dragonflies in flight, but are members of the Papilionidae. The many other butterflies included Ideopsis gaura, Drupadia ravindra, the monstrous Zeuxidia aurelius, Polyura athamus, the Autumn Leaf Doleschallia bisaltide, the brilliant copper Sunbeam Curetis tagalica, and the Neptune Swallowtail Pachliopta neptunus. The latter is black, with red patches on the hindwings reminiscent of a neotropical Parides, but with an almost luminous golden yellow abdomen. When flying in dappled sunlight the black areas of the wings disappear against the dark forest background, and all you see are the red patches, and the gleaming golden abdomen floating eerily in the darkness.

One day we went up to the Cameron Highlands - great fun hurtling around those hairpin bends ! At the summit of Mount Brinchang we found the rare cloudforest Danaid Parantica sita, and near Tanah Rata saw about 30 Long-tailed Blues Lampides boeticus, but the weather was dull and cool, so we saw little else. On the way back to Tapah we stopped at one of the very few accessible tracks on the endlessly snaking road, where I found a full grown larva of a Deaths Head Hawkmoth Acherontia atropos feeding on a nightshade.

After returning our vehicle to Kuala Lumpur we flew out to the Malaysian province of Sabah, on Borneo. From the plane we could see that virtually the whole of lowland Borneo was covered in oil palm plantations. Upon arrival at Lahad Datu we transferred to the beautiful Danum Valley, one of the very few remaining areas of natural forest. The 2 hour journey to our lodge took us through the Danum Valley Conservation Area where we encountered several gargantuan trucks laden with enormous tree trunks bound for Japan. The only remaining areas of primary forest are a few hundred hectares surrounding the lodge. The rest of the so-called "conservation area" is divided into various concessions: "reduced impact logging zone" ( about 80 percent of trees felled ), "agro-forestry zone" ( alien species planted for timber ), and "reforestation zone" ( clear felled land replanted with selected native species ).

The lodge has a stunning setting on the banks of a wide meandering river, with steep forested hills opposite, reached by swaying suspension bridges; and an impressive canopy walkway. The area was entomologically disappointing however, with only one very distant Birdwing seen, unlike on our previous visit, when several black and gold Triodes species were constantly attending flowering bushes adjacent to the lodge.

The unseasonably dry weather had delayed the emergence of most species, although we did see Papilio nephelus, Papilio memnon, Euploea sylvester, the Great Orange tip Hebomoia glaucippe, Pareronia valeria, Chersonesia rahria, Parthenos sylvia, Charaxes bernardus, the Red Lacewing Cethosia hypsea, Dophla evelina, Drupadia theda, the Tree Nymph Idea lynceus, Jacoona anasuja, and the brilliant metallic green Arhopala eumolphus. Commoner species included Ypthima fasciata, Junonia atlites, and the little fly-like skipper Taractrocera ardonia.

The Danum Valley forest was alive with wonderful sounds - during the day gibbons melodically whooped, grasshoppers chirped, and magnificent rhinoceros hornbills whirred and clattered overhead. At dusk the siren wail of giant cicadas, and the croaking and chirping of myriads of frogs filled the air with music. Unforgettable !

Our final destination was Mulu national park in Sarawak, a province which thankfully still has vast remaining areas of virtually untouched forest. The longest trail which we attempted at Mulu was the one to Clearwater Cave, which entailed a 420 step climb, and a 5 minute crawl through the unlit Moonmilk Cave that resulted in heads colliding with stalactites ( "mites" grow up, "tites" come down, as they say ). Upon exiting the cave we then had to descend 400 slippery steps to reach the entrance to Wind Cave and Clearwater Cave, where we saw the huge "dead leaf" butterfly Amathuxidea amythaon, and an 8 foot water snake.

The best place for butterflies was the plank-walk to Deer Cave, where I succeeded in photographing the lovely Papilionid Pathysa delessertii, the Plum Judy Abisara saturata, and the huge and graceful Tree Nymph Idea lynceus, which circled around our heads for several minutes. Unfortunately I failed to photograph an out of reach and very beautiful purple and pink Terinos clarissa, as I had left my 300mm lens back at the lodge.

Near the cave entrance we saw a little Allotinus that was feeding on aphid secretion, in company with several ants. We also saw an amazing little white aphid which looked exactly like a tiny bit of lichen on legs; some nice stick insects, mantises, hemipteran bugs, and a variety of brightly coloured centipedes and millipedes. After returning to our lodge that night, we found a Giant Atlas moth Attacus atlas, one of the largest species of moth in the world, with a wingspan of 10 inches. Later, one member of our group unintentionally invited in a night visitor that came tapping on his window - a gigantic cicada that had a wingspan of over 9 inches, and made more noise than an outboard motor !

Borneo is a wonderful destination that I would highly recommend to any naturalist, and I'm very much looking forward to my next visit to this fascinating land.