The first beetle that came into my view finder was a beetle emerging from its pupa. I didn't want to disturb the process so I only managed to snap this photo. From the coloration of the beetle, it should be the Chilocorus circumdatus Ladybird Beetle.
The next beetle was a Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). This particular beetle was having a great time munching on a Simpoh Air plant.
On a nearby plant was this brown Chafer Beetle that looked like the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle except for the mottled coloration of the latter.
On a tree trunk further down the track was a Darkling Beetle. It is about 6 mm in size.
Coming to an area full of Straits Rhododendron plants, the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle were out in force. I literally found several tens of this beetle on one Straits Rhododendron plant.
On another Straits Rhododendron plant were two Aprosterna pallide Chafer Beetle, having a feast on a Straits Rhododendron fruit. This beetle can frequently be seen flying into homes attracted by the florescent light.
Another Darkling Beetle found on a nearby tree. This was slightly smaller than the earlier Darkling Beetle, measuring about 4 mm.
On the same tree was a even smaller (2 mm) Darkling Beetle. Interesting to find similar looking beetle at different sizes.
At the beginning of the trip, I was expecting to find at least one Long Horn Beetle as Admiralty Park was reported to have a number of them. Sure enough after walking for a while, I finally found this Long Horn Beetle (Epepeotes luscus) resting on a leaf.
It was also at this point in time that I remembered why I didn't visit Admiralty Park for a long time - it was because of a type of small brownish-black ant that can be found in the hundreds if not thousands throughout the park. I became a target these small ants whose bites were painful and irritating. I just then remembered that I was also badly bitten by this type of ants during my last trip to this park. Well it was too late to do anything now.
Hiding under a leaf was a Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta). It remained pretty still for me to get some nice macro shots of itself.
I was extremely irritated by the biting ants as the ants have the habit to crawl under the pants or socks and at some random time, bite hard into your flesh. This was very irritating especially when you were so engrossed in photographing a first time encountered beetle, such as this Fungus Beetle. This was the highlight of the trip as this is the first time I come across a smooth red-legged Fungus Beetle. Never know that Singapore has such kind of beetle. Wonderful find.
The ants had gotten the best of me and I decided to cut short the trip. Just before I left the place, I found this small Long Horn Beetle (~10 mm). It was hyper-sensitive and flew off after one shot from my camera flash.
This trip to Admiralty Park was not particularly pleasant due to the irritating bites of the small ants that can be found everywhere along the tracks. As soon as you stopped for a short while on the track, you will surely pick up a few of them on your shoes and pants. Even though I didn't enjoyed this trip, it was not wasted as I found the first time encountered red-legged Fungus Beetle.
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