A female Ficus cereicarpa fig tree growing at 600m in the Crocker Range, Sabah.
All photographs by Linus Gokusing, the owner/manager of Kipandi Butterfly Farm and Orchid Garden in the Crocker Range.
The butterfly is a male of an uncommon species Bornean Prince Stibochiona schembergi NYMPHALIDAE. Many Nymphalidae in Borneo feed on the juices released by rotting fruit.
The seeds of Ficus cereicarpa are tiny, approx 0.5 mm width x 0.8 mm length. They are smooth and oval in shape. There are no elaiosomes or “food bodies” to attract ant dispersers but the flattish seeds have a projecting rim around the edge which probably evolved as a sort of “carrying handle” for ants to carry the seeds back to their nests for larder storage. The seeds float in a sort of liquid jelly which is presumably slurped up by the dispersers.
Both the leaves and the growth form of Ficus cereicarpa are very similar to another endemic Bornean fig Ficus francisci. However the leaves, the plant and the the figs of F. cereicarpa are all larger than F. francisci.
