This strange/weird-looking caterpillar was spotted on my Rosella plant yesterday. It looked so cute (ugly but adorable) that i had to take a few shots. It has this strange, almost horned growth on its head like a crown while the rest of the body is that of a regular catepillar. Yes, its all in the head.
Just found out that it is the Blue Nawab caterpillar(Polyura schreiber tisamenus) .
I am very sure it has something to do with the spiny growth below the rosella flower bract. Somehow i think it might be trying to mimic the look but the rest of the body gave it away. I was fooled for a moment though, thinking it was a piece of fallen leaf that a caterpillar had chewed off from the torch ginger above the rosella. Then i noticed the strange "horns" and the body.
And also not forgetting the sqarish flap at the rear, like a lobster's tail.
What kind of butterfly will it turn into? See this link:
http://butterfly.nss.org.sg/expert/Polyura-schreiber/polyura-schreiber.htm
Lots of durians high up on the older trees. It seems that the older trees produce better quality fruits.
A spider web of raffia string radiating from the trunk of the durian tree to each durian on the tree.
This was a tall tree so a lot of hard work must have gone into the tying of these strings - dangerous.
Close-up view so you can see how the durian was tied.
At the trunk, all the lines terminated in a circle.
Up above, the raffia strings were looped on top of the branch then tied around the durian. The durians were tied this way if they were of good quality and also if the gound is hard. The owner does not want the durians to fall and hit the solid ground or huge roots. If that happens then the inside of the fruit may become marshy due to the impact or the fruit may open up.
A low hanging durian. I was standing on a large boulder while taking this shot.
Durians above a foot path full of torch gingers.
More yummy durians on a branch. The branch must be straining under such a heavy weight.
Close up of the bunch of durians. You can almost touch them.
We turned into a side road after some driving and then beautiful scenery greeted us. There was a miniature waterfall, fed by a constant running stream from the hills. This stream flows through many of the farms located in the hills.
Along the narrow winding road up to the farm, there were lots of durian trees. Durians were everywhere. They were even above the car as we drove along the road. As we approached the bends along this road, we got to tweet the car horn to warn oncoming traffic cos they can't see round the bend and the road has a few spots for cars to 'siam' oncoming traffic.
If you survive the drive you will finally arrive, there you will be greeted by the guardian of the place - 'Doggy'
She'll lead you to the stash ......of durians kept by the owner Ah Hoon and her husband. 
Some were award-winning durians of past years. Some were local favourites.
This is the normal type of Rosella sold in markets and organic farms.
The star fruit tree in her front yard is very old and produces lots of sweet star fruits.
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