The weather for the entire week was mostly wet, so the sunny morning was not something to be missed. Without much hesitation, I made a bee-line for the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The trail was pretty dry despite showers the night before.
The very first beetle that greeted me was a pleasant surprise. It was a small (~6mm) Spiny Leaf Beetle (Dicladispa armigera) which sat quietly on a leaf. If I am not looking out for them, I would have easily missed it along the path.
Then came another pleasant find, a cute looking beetle (~6 mm) resting on a big leaf. It was so still that I managed to get a few good closeup of it. Such a beauty!
Further into the trail, I came across this tiny beetle (~3 mm). Another 'still-life' for some good macros shots, even though the occasional wind did create some challenges when photographing such a small beetle.
Just when I was feeling glad that I had came to the place despite the bad traffic condition on the Upper Bukit Timah Road, another tiny beetle appeared. It was a beautiful little (~2 mm) beetle with a colorful elytra that looked like a piece of candy. Photographing this beetle was not a piece of cake. Besides trying to get a good shot in the wind, I had to be super alert to watch out for cyclists cycling past at a pretty fast speed.
Moving along, I came across another tiny leaf beetle (~3 mm).
Just a few leaves away, sat this small (~7 mm) beauty underside a curled up leave. I love the color contrast of the yellow and green.
Then came a long while of walking without encountering any beetles until this tiny (~2 mm) fellow showed up. It was hiding at the join of two branches. It was a really hairy beetle I must add.
Staying very still on a leaf was this beetle (~4 mm). It looked a bit like a Click-Beetle but I cannot be sure though.
Another cute and tiny (~2 mm) beetle appeared.
The next beetle came as a big surprise. I initially thought it was some orange fungus growing on a leaf but upon looking closer, I saw a pair of tiny eyes and antennae which confirmed that it is a beetle. This is the first time I come across a beetle that looked like a 'roti prata' or indian pancake. It is likely to be part of the Tortoise Beetle family.
Just when I thought that the above beetle was the weirdest I had seen, I noticed a tiny (~2 mm) ant-like beetle. Not sure what beetle this is. The legs looked very much like those of weevil beetles but it seemed to be missing the typical snout of a weevil, or was it that it has a very short snout?
Walking further came this reddish-brown beetle. It looked like a Leaf Beetle.
A stone's throw away from the reddish-brown beetle was this ~6 mm Ladybird Beetle. It was highly
active and it was a bit of a challenge before I managed to take a few decent closeup shots of this beetle.
I reached the place where I planned to U-turn back and saw this Net-Winged Beetle. It was nice and calm for me to take some close up photographs without it being spooked.
When I was almost near the path leading to the BTNR Visitors' Centre, this comparatively bigger (~10 mm) Leaf Beetle (Lema quadripunctata) was seen sitting motionlessly near the tip of a plant. So glad that it remained still for me to take some nice closeup shots.
Just when I was done with the Leaf Beetle above, another small (~5 mm) Leaf Beetle landed on a plant nearby. I simply love the coloration of this beetle.
Moving along, I came across more of this tiny beetle. The beetle seemed to be feeding on the water droplet on the leaf.
When I was almost at the end of the trail towards the Visitor Centre, another of this lovely beetle appeared. Don't you think it looked like Agar-Agar?
About 40 meters from the trail exit to the Visitors' Centre, was this ~10 mm hyper-active Leaf Beetle (Liloceris cheni), I almost miss the shot due to its non-stop movement. I like the strong color contrast of reddish-orange and black.
Just moments before I step out of the trail, came this ~4mm beetle. Interesting marking on the elytra.
This was indeed a wonderful trip as I come across a number of beetles that I have not encountered
before. Glad to have made the trip.
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