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Friday 20 June 2014

Morning Walk At Venus Drive (18 Jun 2014)

After a week of holiday overseas in a concrete jungle, I was itching to get some real jungle actions. I headed straight to Venus Drive as I am sure that I will not be disappointed in encountering beetles. The place has changed a fair bit given the lush growth of the grass and undergrowth plants, brought about by the regular raining we used to take for granted until the dry spell a few months back.

If you are observant, you would have noticed the brown patches on the grass field on the foreground of the photograph. These brown patches were caused by wild boars and they have destroyed many beetle colonies in the area.


The first beetle that I found was this Ant-like Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea). I was pleasantly surprised to have found a colony of them here.


On the same leaf with the Ant-like Beetle was this lovely Ladybird Beetle (Chilocorus circumdatus). In fact I found 2 more of them in the vicinity.


Moving further I was surprised to find this Fungus Beetle (Stenotarsus noblis noblis) which looked very much like the Stenotarsus pardalis Fungus Beetle. This is the first time I found this Fungus Beetle in Venus Drive.


On a leaf nearby was a tiny 2 mm Ladybird Beetle (Cryptogonus orbiculus). They are quite common in Venus Drive but were often missed due to its small size and skittish nature.


Whenever I had my morning walks, I would specially look out for Leaf Beetles among the low bushes. Sure enough a Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa) was found sunning itself on a leaf.


While I was photographing the Leaf Beetle, a Ladybird (Henosepilachna implicata) flew overhead onto a creeper vine.


Moving to the clearing, a bronze colored Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis) was found under some shades. The clearing area can no longer call "clearing" as it is now overgrown with creepers, covering up all the fallen logs. The place has became quite inaccessible due to the undergrowth.


On a plant near to the clearing was this Net-winged Beetle (Dictyoptera aurora) which probably had seen better days.


A tree nearby was full of this tiny 2 mm orangey-brown Fungus Beetle.


Hiding under a air-potato leaf was a 28-Spots Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata). I am always thrilled to find Ladybird Beetles as finding Ladybird Beetles has became less common than before.


Coming to a rotten log, a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus tetraspilotus) was having a feast on some black colored fungus.


Near to the Fungus Beetle was another Fungus Beetle (Stenotarsus pardalis). I was so wonderful to find two different Stenotarsus Fungus Beetles on the same trip.


Moving deeper into the trail, a tiny (<3 mm) Leaf Beetle (Eucyclomera nigricollis) was actively moving up and down a leaf.


Coming to a sunny section of the trail, several of this Tumbling Flower Beetle (Glipa malaccana) were dancing on a leaf.


On a fallen log near by was this poor Fungus Beetle which was covered by some kind of parasites. This is the first time that I come across such kind of parasites on the beetle.


Time passes quickly and it was about time for me to pick up my paces if I am to complete the Venus Loop. Just then a slight movement was detected on a tree and this well camouflaged Fungus Weevil was found.


Reaching the Snow Tree, I found this Fungus Beetle was feeding on the side of the tree. The Snow Tree has fallen and is only a stump. Nevertheless there are still some Fungus Beetles on it.


Coming into the shaded area of the trail, a Net-winged Beetle (Calopteron rubricolle) was resting on a leaf. The sun was high up right at this moment and the shade provided a good relief from the heat for the beetle and also for me. We are now into the hot period of the year in Singapore where the temperature is about 34-35 C in the day time.


I was surprised to find this type of Fungus Beetle on a dead log as they usually do not come out in the day time.


On the same log was a first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle.


On the other end of the log was this Fungus Beetle (Eumporphus assamensis). I am glad to be able to find this type of beetles as its population seemed to have dwindled since the dry spell. I guessed that the other contributing factor would possibly be the destruction of many of the fallen logs by wild boars in the area.


On a tree nearby were several of this Beetle Larvae. I am happy to see so many of them at one spot as this means that the beetles are reproducing well.


At the base of a huge tree was this tiny 3 mm Fungus Beetle. I always find it interesting to photograph such tiny beetles as they often looked black in color until you zoomed in to find the colors and patterns on them.


Higher up on the same tree was this Ground Beetle (Pericalus figuratus) which was almost invisible until it moved.


Still on the same tree was this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) that was actively moving around.


The highlight of the trip was finding this large Jewel Beetle (Belionota prasina). Even though I have encountered this type of beetle many times, I am still thrill to find it. You will not miss it if you listen carefully to the sound of it flying as it sounded like a Carpenter Bee flying.


On the same tree where the Jewel Beetle landed was this Fungus Weevil that remained motionlessly on the side of the tree.


Flying actively around the tree was this Checkered Beetle.


On a leaf by the side of the trail was this small 5 mm Fungus Weevil that remained relatively still despite all the flashes from my camera. The color pattern on the beetle looked very much like watercolor painting.


On a leaf nearby was this small 3 mm Leaf Beetle.


A first-time-encountered 2mm Leaf Beetle was found hiding under a shade. It has a brownish underside as compared to the small Leaf Beetle above.


Coming to a rotting tree stump, I was surprised to find a big group of Fungus Beetle congregated in a crevice in the tree stump. This is the first time I see such congregation at Venus Drive, even though it was a common sight at Lower Pierce Reservoir.


A lovely tiny Fungus Beetle was resting on a leaf next to the tree stump.


More of the tiny roundish Fungus Beetle but this one has a different pattern on its elytra.


This Tumbling Flower Beetle (Mordella fasciata) landed right in front of me when I was looking out for beetles among the low bushes. It's been a while I last photograph it and this time round the silverish coloration on the beetle turned out nicely.


It was almost at the end of the trail that I found this interesting looking Leaf Beetle with its antennae longer than its body.


Hiding from the hot sun under some shades was this brightly colored Net-winged Beetle (Xylobanellus erythropterus).


The last beetle for the trip was a first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle.


The trip was enjoyable especially so after spending a week in a concrete jungle. It was also fruitful with 3 first-time-encountered beetles found.

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