Short Recce Trip To Bukit Brown Cemetery (27 Jul 2013)

My plan for this Saturday morning was to make a short detour after running some errands in the morning to recce the much talked about Bukit Brown Cemetery. Despite the gloomy sky that was threatening to rain cats and dogs at any moment, I made the detour to the location.

The first thing that greeted me was this sign by the roadside.

Sadly, development work is also coming to this part of Singapore, just like what happened to Jalan Kayu - http://beetlesg.blogspot.sg/2013/07/night-walk-on-wilder-side-of-jalan-kayu.html

Guessed that we will not only be missing the bigger birds and mammals that make their homes here in Bukit Brown Cemetery, we will also be missing all the little insects that were often ignored. Who knows if there may be some rare critters that have make their homes here also. This is my first visit to the place and it seemed to be perfect for future beetle photography trips. In fact, I would want to visit the place as soon as possible before it is too late.

Here's how the place looked.

I was pleasantly surprised to find several of this Leaf Beetle (Lema rufotestacea) in a small patch of low vegetation.

In the same low vegetation patch was this Lead Beetle (Lema diversa).

In the same area was this final stage of a beetle larvae. Wondered how the adult beetle would look like.

Following a series of rumbling of thunder, the sky started to drizzle. Picking up my pace to get back to my car, I accidentally came across three of this lovely yellow Leaf Beetle (Aulacophora indica).

Just as I was about to reached my car, the sky started to pour cats and dogs. Although this was a very short trip, it has given me a good feeling about the place. I am surely looking forward to walking the place on a finer weather day.

Night Walk At Macritchie Reservoir (26 Jul 2013)

The sky was clearing up after a heavy rain in the late afternoon, so I decided to take a walk at the Macritchie Reservoir. The place was wetter than expected so it seemed like it is going to be a wasted trip.

The first beetle that greeted me was this common small beetle that you can find on most tree trunks.

On another tree trunk was another of the commonly encountered tiny beetle.

The next beetle that I found was an interesting one. It looked familiar but I can't put a finger on its identity at this point in time. Time to dig into the reference books.

[After doing some search on the internet, this beetle seemed to be a Hister Beetle (Platysoma leconti).]

Resting on a plant was this Long Horned Beetle commonly found on this trail. Unlike my previous encounters with this type of Long Horned Beetle, this particular beetle remained very still for me to photograph.


Near to the Long Horned Beetle, was a Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus) resting on a palm leaf. This was the second time that I came across this Fungus Beetle. The marking on this beetle was slightly different from the beetle I came across previously but I believed they are the same type of beetle.

On a dead log was this commonly encountered Darkling Beetle.

On another log was this Fungus Beetle. I initially thought that it was the commonly encountered Fungus Beetle until I noticed the difference in the subtle markings on it.

Another Darkling Beetle found on a rotten tree trunk.

Hiding at the base of a dry tree trunk was this small Weevil Beetle  (<5 mm). The hind legs of this beetle were exceptionally interesting.

On a rotting tree trunk was this cute beetle.

Resting on a fallen tree was this Darkling Beetle. It looked similar to the Darkling Beetle that I encountered previously but this one has a reddish brown thorax and head instead of black.

The highlight of the trip was this Weevil Beetle (<5 mm) which has a sweet pinkish-orange coloration.

On the same plant with the Weevil Beetle was this hyper-sensitive Leaf Beetle which quickly shy away from the camera flashes.

On an upright rotten tree (dead fall?) was this cool looking beetle.

On a lichen covered tree were several of these lovely colored beetle larvae.

Resting on a hairy plant was this interestingly patterned Fungus Beetle.

Remaining relatively still on a tree nearby was this large (~20 mm) Weevil Beetle. This is the largest Weevil Beetle that I have come across thus far.

Another commonly encountered Fungus Beetle.

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

Despite the wet weather I was still able to photograph 18 different beetles, with 6 of them as "first time encounter". Fruitful trip indeed.

Night Walk On The Wilder Side Of Jalan Kayu (19 Jul 2013)

When you mention Jalan Kayu to any Singaporean, the immediate response will be about the Roti Prata (Indian Pancake) or Prawn Noodle or Bean Curd Dessert. Associating Jalan Kayu with nature seemed far fetch until I chanced upon a spot along Jalan Kayu that seemed pretty wild a while back.

Taking advantage of the dry weather and also concerned that the place would disappear in no time due to the massive construction activities in the area, I changed my original plans of visiting Macritchie Reservoir to going to the place.

Sadly when I reached the place, I was greeted by a newly constructed wide road, the wilder part of Jalan Kayu was gone. I am too late.

Undeterred I managed to find a small area that still looked pretty wild.

The first beetle was a black and brown Chafer Beetle enjoying itself on a well eaten leaf.

On a tree nearby was this tiny beetle.

On the same tree was this shy black beetle hiding in the crevice.

Moving around, I came across this Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) resting on a blade of grass. Little did I know that I would come across more than 30 of them in an area nearby.

More Chafer Beetles (Adoretus compressus), in fact the whole place were full of different types of Chafer Beetles.

Another Chafer Beetle found on a nearby plant. This looked very much like the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle minus the mottled pattern on it.

More Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).

Another type of Chafer Beetle (Aprosterna pallide). This is a common beetle in Singapore which could be found flying into homes occasionally.

I was pleasantly surprised to find this lovely Ladybird Beetle resting on a ginger plant.

Moving on to an area of half-dead trees (probably dying due to all the construction work surrounding them), a lone beetle was found resting on the trunk of a tree.

On another dying tree was this black Darkling Beetle.

On another tree was this small beetle (~3 mm).

More Chafer Beetles were found and this is another type of Chafer Beetle found at the place.

The last beetle that I found was this Leaf Beetle. I was expecting to find more Leaf Beetles as the vegetation at the area looked like a favorable habitat for Leaf Beetle. Sadly this is the only Leaf Beetle I found.

The trip ended with me encountering more than 30 Cicindela aurulenta Tiger Beetle. Interesting to find so many Tiger Beetle in one small area. Although the place still have many beetles and other critters, the future of the place seemed dim with the increasing development activities in the area. :(

Morning Walk At Durian Loop Trail (13 Jul 2013)

The morning was cool and dry so I decided to take a walk at the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve's Durian Loop Trail.

The first beetle that came into my view finder was this lovely colored Leaf Beetle.

While photographing the Leaf Beetle, a flash of red at the corner of my eye and this striking Net-winged Beetle (Dictyoptera aurora) landed on a leaf right in front of me.

On a near by bush was this Leaf Beetle (Lema rufotestacea).

The wonderful thing about morning walk is that you get to see a lot more Leaf Beetles. On  another low bush was this Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa).

Looking closely at some of the fungus infected leaves, I found this tiny hairy beetle. You can usually find this type of beetle in large number after rain.

A surprise find was this Leaf Beetle (Lema quadripunctata) on a ginger plant. It was pretty alert but thankfully I was still able to get a few shots of it.

The highlight of the trip was the encounter with this Fungus Beetle. I read about it online but have never got the opportunity to find it. The best part of this encounter was that I found two of this beetle in a row.

While photographing the interesting Fungus Beetle, I found another small Fungus Beetle on the tip of a blade of grass.

On a tree nearby was this tiny beetle (~2 mm).

 On the same tree trunk was this beetle larvae.

Moving into a shaded part of the trail, a Tiger Beetle was found resting calmly on a leave. Interestingly it remained very still despite all the camera flashes.

Still on the shaded path, a lovely Fungus Beetle was found under a large leaf.

Moving into an open area, this black beetle with yellow appendages stood up like a sore thumb on the green leaf.

Just then a tiny beetle right in front of me. It turned out to be a small Net-winged Beetle (~5 mm). Notice the tiny tick on the beetle.

Moving a few steps away, another similar size Net-winged Beetle was resting on a leaf. The coloration of this Net-winged Beetle was the same as the Net-winged Beetle (Dictyoptera aurora) but much smaller in size.

Almost at the end of the trail, a bronze colored Leaf Beetle was seen resting on a low bush.

Just a stone's throw from the Leaf Beetle was this lovely orange Ladybird Beetle.

The finale for the trip was this Tumbling Flower Beetle.

The morning walk was very fruitful with the encountering of 18 different beetles and the finding of the interesting Fungus Beetle.