Butterfly Watching in Malaysia (April 2012)

During the Singapore trip in 2011, we met some friends from the Butterfly Circle.  They just returned from Malaysia and showed us some great pictures.  We then started to plan for the Malaysia trip.

Bukit Fraser (Fraser’s Hill)

We picked Bukit Fraser as our first station.  It was situated at about 1000m above sea level.  Unfortunately, it may be too early to visit the place during Easter.  It was still quite cool.  What’s worse, the weather was not good.  Despite wrong season and bad weather, we were still able to spot some interesting butterflies.

Poritia hewitsoni

Ipoh and Cameron Highland

Ipoh was one of the major cities in Malaysia.  Around the region, there are quite a number of waterfalls and hot springs.  Raja Brooke’s Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana), the national butterfly of Malaysia, can be found easily.

“Gang of brothers”, a huge group of male Trogonoptera brookiana
Trogonoptera brookiana (female)

Apart from the birdwing butterflies, leeches are extremely common in the region.  The local tour information suggested that leeches were in “healthy population”.  You can be sure that you will be annoyed by these tiny creatures.

Leeches crawling around