Night Walk At Riffle Range Trail (25 Jan 2013)

The journey to the Riffle Range Trail took shorter than expected and hence managed to catch the last bit of the sunlight.

The first beetle that greeted me was this tiger beetle (Therates dimidiatus).  Not too good shot of it due to tele-zooming in the dim lighting under the tree canopy.

Found this fungus beetle under some leaf litters.  It was not too active and I am not sure if it was still sleeping.

Just as the sky was getting darker, a speck of red appeared in the bushes. It was a C(Taphes brevicollis). It was so easily spooked that I was only able to take photographs from a distance.

Moving along I came across a tree stump with a large patch of white fungus which looked very much like snow. On top of the white fungus were several fungus beetles and some were really busy.

Near to the tree stump was a tree with many of this 2mm size beetles.

Further down the dark path was this little chafer (Apogonia expeditionis).

Moving further down the trail, there was a dead tree trunk where I found this fungus weevil. The interesting thing about this weevil is the red coloration on the side of its elytra.

On the same tree trunk was this tiny little bettle.

Another fungus beetle along the trail.

Here's a larvae of the fungus beetle with interesting coloration.

This was the highlight of the trip. A small beetle with an interesting pattern. This was found on a tree with several other beetles as follow.

Moving further, I found this cute little beetle. It is no bigger than 2mm.

Along a path, I came across this lovely leaf beetle with a greenish coloration. Saw this beetle in some blog previously, so this was a pleasant encounter.

Moving deeper into the trail, I found this fungus beetle (Eumorphus dilatatus turritus) hidding under a big bracket fungus.

The next beetle that I encountered was really an exciting one. I have been wanting to photograph this long horned beetle (Bartocera rubus) for a while and I finally got to do it on this trip.

Hidding in a crevice of a dead tree was this fungus beetle. Looks like it belongs to the Pleasing Fungus Beetle family (Erotylidae). This beetle does not have any of the nice marking found on the elytra of other Pleasing Fungus Beetles, but it is nevertheless an interesting beetle to be found on the trail.

Another tiny beetle found on the tree trunk.

Not too far from the place that I found the long horned beetle, was this slightly smaller long horn beetle (Acalolepta sp.) It was pretty alert when I found it and after a few flash shots, it flew away.

 Moving along, this little beetle were found on the tree trunks nearby.

Pressing on, I came across a tree and it was crawling with tiny ground beetles. There were altogether two different types of makings. The below beetle is called Pericalus figuratus.

The next beetle was Pericalus tetrasitigma. Loving colors don't you think?

 Another fungus beetle along the trail.

More fungus beetle?

 At almost the end of my walk, I came across this small Weevil Beetle that stayed pretty motionless at the base of a tree trunk.

At the very end of the trip came this long horned beetle (Acalolepta sp.).

Yes, although it was a tiring trip (as I almost got lost when trying to come out of the trail) it was a fruitful trip indeed. :)

A Walk Around The Neighbourhood (21 Jan 2013)

Looking at the weather forecast, it is going to be another week of wet weather. Today seems to be an exception so seizing the opportunity, I went for a walk around the wilder part of the neighbourhood.

The first beetle that greeted me was this beautiful little Ladybird. It's been a while I last came across this type of ladybird. Isn't this beetle lovely?

The next beetle that came into my view finder was this little leaf beetle. It started off rather edgy and move around a lot, but after a short while it decided to pose for the camera.

Moving on, this other type of ladybird appeared. It was pretty difficult to photograph this beetle due to the strong wind at this place. The wind was almost non-stop but nevertheless I managed to take a quick shot when the wind died down a little. Really not easy to take macros shots on a windy day.

Next was a common shiny little beetle that sat so comfortably in the middle of a leaf, but after a few camera shots it decided that it had enough and started to slowly move off.

Further down was this little hairy beetle which can be found in the dozens around the area.

In a nearby tree, I found this velvety little beetle. The flowers of this tree seem to be the main attraction for beetles as I managed to find a number of different beetles among the small flowers on the tree.

An Anomala variegata was one of the many types of beetle found among the flowers.

Passing a tree, I noticed something black and took a closer look. It turned out to be a tiny little beetle.

The place was full of this black little beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).

Looking at a tree trunk, one will find many of this little creature. I love the color contrast of this beetle.

Walking further, I came across a large tree and on the leaves I found this beetle which looks like one of the beetle earlier on, just that the color of this beetle is a shade lighter.

While taking the photo of the above beetle, I noticed some movements on the tree trunk. Taking a closer look, I found this little beetle that looks like a Fungus Weevil.

While taking the photograph of the fungus beetle, this black beetle appeared.

Moving further into the 'wild', this beautiful ladybird appeared.

On a nearby plant, I found this little beetle. Although it looks pretty much like Apogonia expeditionis but it is not. Comparing Apogonia expeditionis with this beetle, you will have noticed the color of this beetle is not the same - Apogonia expeditionis is jet black in color whereas this beetle has a brown color elytra.

On the way back, I came across this little beetle which looked different in terms of color and at the same time, it also has a white 'lip'.

The place surprised me as I was not expecting to find so many different types of beetles. A great walk indeed!

A Walk At Dairy Farm Nature Park (17 Jan 2013)

After almost a week of wet weather, the weather today is exceptionally sunny and warm - perfect weather for a walk in the park. This time round it is Dairy Farm Nature Park. It has been a long time since I last visited the place and hence I headed to the place with much expectation.

Started the walk through a lesser travelled path and immediately a yellow little beetle flew across my path and landed under a leaf. It is about 5mm in length. It looks like a long horned beetle. ID anyone?

Along the path there were a few fallen logs and bracket fungus were growing on it. Moving busily on the fungus were two fungus beetles (Eumorphus dilatatus turritus). The beetles seem dusty, perhaps caused by the previous few days of rain.

Not too far down, I came across a tree with a fair bit of lichen. As I moved closer, something tiny caught my eyes, a fungus beetle. It looked slightly different from the 4 spotted fungus beetles that I saw before as the upper yellow spots are much rounder compared to the ones I came across previously. May be a different one to be added to my list of fungus beetles.

After the encounter with the fungus beetle, it seems that all the beetles were hidding for the noon-day sun. Pretty hot noon I must add. I was about to turn back and move to another trail when some tiny beetles caught my eyes. They look like fungus beetles but very small in size about 2mm or may be lesser. The little critters were pretty busy.

Another photograph of the tiny beetle. This was not so busy and hence I was able to get a much closer shot.

After photographing the tiny beetles, I decided to go back to the more frequently used paths. Just at the start of the trail and I saw this Tumbling Flower Beetle (Glipa malaccana). This little beetle never fails to enchant me with the patterns on its elytra.

Moving along the main path, a tiger beetle (Therates dimidiatus) suddenly came into view while I was trying to take a photo of an unsual looking fly. Like all Tiger Beetles, this beetle is easily spooked and I ended up using a tele-zoom instead a macros shot.

Moving into a small path, the path suddenly was full of activities. A couple of Tiger Beetles (Cicindela aurulenta) were running and flying around. You will need a lot of patience to photograph them. Glad to catch this beetle while rested for a little while.

As I walked along the path, I saw another fallen tree log and moved closer to see if there any fungus beetles on it. Just about 1.5 metres from the tree log, I can see tiny little shiny green beetle running away. So taking a few step back and I waited. Within a short while a dozen of this small ground beetles started to appear. Looks like a Tiger Beetle but I saw a blog that says that this is a ground beetle. Can anyone give an ID to this beetle?

Moving along the path, more Tiger Beetles (Therates dimidiatus) appeared.

Moving along an open patch of the trail, the sun is really beating down on everything. The temperature suddenly became so much hotter just metres away from the shade of the forest. While hurrying to move into the shade again, a pleasant surprise flew right in front of me. It was another type of Tiger Beetle (Neocollyris celebensis)  that I have seen it many times on the internet, but never get to see it in person.

Like the rest of the Tiger Beeltes, it is easily spooked. I was trying to get close to it for a good macros shot, it simply flew off. In order not to lose the subject, I have to use the tele-zoom in order to capture some shots.

Just when things are getting interesting, I came across a sign along the path saying - " Trail closed due to soil erosion". Looking at the time, I decided to call it a day and turned back from where I came from.

Just before I am out of the trail, another Tiger Beetles (Therates dimidiatus) appeared. This time round it is slightly less active. May be the hot weather may have something to do with it. With this as the last shot, I left the place satisfied to be able to capture the photographs of the various beetles.