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November 2009

Harapan Rainforest records a new species for Sumatra!

Tawny Costas Acraea violae

With no systematic surveys to date, adding a new butterfly to the Harapan Rainforest list is easy. But imagine my surprise when, after sending photographs for identification to a colleague at the RSPB (Martin Davies - who is compiling a list from published sources of ‘potential’ butterflies at Harapan Rainforest ) one of them would seem to be a new species for Sumatra!

Honey-hunting in Harapan

Honey combs

A recent trip down the Kapas River through the centre of Harapan Rainforest gave me fantastic views of the wild bee colonies hanging below the branches of the tall trees towering above the forest canopy. One tree may have dozens of combs. Being so high up, the combs are protected from most of the predators who would like to get to the honey and bee larvae. But some creatures specialise in feeding off these colonies including bee-eaters and honey buzzards, and humans of course.