Tawny Coster

Identification - acraea violae, tawny coster.

I can’t do KL without blipping at least one bug, so I loaded up Google earth, to try and find some greenery, some water would have been a bonus, but it wasn’t to be. With no transport available, I did see a patch of scrubland just a few blocks away, so off I set this morning about 09:30.

Thankfully the sky was overcast, providing better lighting and more importantly, reducing the raging temperatures. Any of you following the GP will know that the temperatures reach high thirties by mid-morning, it is brutal.

I imagine KL once being a tropical jungle, rich in wildlife. Long since raped and replaced with an urban jungle equally impressive, but not to me anymore. What I don’t understand is why they had to decimate all growth within fifty miles of the city boundary. The place is little more than a desert, with a few plantations of regimental palm oil producing trees.

Just another one of those East Asian countries, rich in exotic species, were the people just don’t give a shit about what they have on their doorstep. One day it will all be gone and then they will wake up and decide they want it back, but it will be too late – all so very sad.

I arrived at the scrubland location, only to find it surrounded by the all too familiar twenty foot high corrugated fence displaying hoardings of images of the urban monstrosity that is about to be erected, like this place needs another mall and business centre!

I continued to walk the perimeter and was rewarded at the end of the block were a small patch of scrub lay outside the fortress. One more obstacle to be negotiated, a manned security hut. They eyeballed me with great suspicion, especially when I told them what I wanted to shoot. Like I said, no one cares about bugs, so why would anyone want to photograph them. I persisted and they finally let me through.

Another thirty meters of soggy, torn up tarmac and rubble and I finally reached some greenery. Low to middle sized scrub and bushes, with a lot of the familiar mimosa type bush. Normally teaming with life, these bushes were barren. I started to think that this was a wasted journey after one lap of the mini oasis. I then started to see a few butterflies flitting about.

A bit of persistent stalking and I managed to pixilate three butterfly species and a bee. One of the butterflies, a blue pansy female, was significantly different to the same species in Indonesia. But I chose the tawny, as it was a new species for my collection, which now boasts more than eighty identified species. So, a good safari in the end, albeit a sad day for ecology and conservation.

I do have a razor sharp top view for ID purposes, but a bit documentary. This shot speaks to me a tad louder :)

Google earth: 3.0805 / 101.6125

Dave