Morning Walk At Upper Seletar Reservoir And Venus Drive

The morning weather looked sunny and I decided to go to the Upper Seletar Reservoir to take some beetle photographs. I was a little disappointed when I reached the place as the vegetation looked very wet. It seemed to have rained in the early morning and it seemed to me that the chances of finding beetles may be very slim.

The first beetle that greeted me was this roundish Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis) having its breakfast on its favorite host plant.

Walking further down the track, I found this small 3 mm beetle that can usually be found after rain.

After walking for about 10 minutes without seeing any beetles, this tiny Leaf Beetle (<2 mm) was a welcome sight.

After walking along the path where I would usually find beetles but without finding any beetles, I decided to turn back and go to Venus Drive so as not to waste such sunny morning during the monsoon season. Just as I turned back, a Spiny Leaf Beetle was spotted on  a blade of grass. Pardon the poor photograph as this particular beetle was so sensitive that it flew off immediately after one photograph - not even a chance to adjust my focus. Included here as a record of what I encountered during the trip.

Walking further a Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna cucurbitae) was found having its breakfast on a leaf. Notice the chew-marks on the leaf.

Just a stone's throw away from my car was this hyper-sensitive Leaf Beetle (Hoplasoma unicolor) which promptly flew off after only 3 shots.

The Venus Drive was as wet as Upper Seletar Reservoir and to my dismay I found signs of wild boars activities. The wild boars would probably have gotten to the beetles that I usually find on this particular log. The wild boars had already created quite a problem at Macritchie Reservoir and Lower Pierce Reservoir, guessed that they have reached this part of Singapore also.

The first beetle that greeted me at Venus Drive was this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus tetraspilotus). Notice  how wet was the bracket fungus.

Moving along, I came across another of the hairy little beetle.

Moving to a fallen log, I found this black and pink Net-winged Beetle.

On the same log, I found a few of this brightly colored Net-winged beetle. This is the first time that I encountered a group of them together in close proximity.

Still on the same log was this well camouflaged Fungus Beetle.

Moving to the clearing once again, I found this first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle. It looked very much like the other Fungus Beetle that I came across before, but upon closer look it differed in the position and size/shape of the spots.

On another log was another group of this beetle.

A short distance away was this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus) which have a slightly different spot size and positions.

Moving onto the track again , I found this lone Leaf Beetle (Colasposoma auripenne) resting on a relatively dry leaf.

On a tree trunk was this lovely beetle  larvae.

Moving on, I was glad to see this Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis).

Hiding under a leaf of a ginger plant was this Leaf Beetle (Gonophora xanthomela). The tell-tale signs of the presence of this type of beetle are the lines they left behind on the leaves. Notice the line behind the beetle?

The highlight of the trip was finding this first-time-encountered Long Horned Beetle (Sclethrus amoenus). It looked very much like the Neocollyris celebensis Tiger Beetle. I have attached a photograph of the Tiger Beetle (Neocollyris celebensis) taken previously for reference.

The trip was not a fruitful one due to the rain but encountering the first-time-encountered Sclethrus amoenus Long Horned Beetle made the trip worth the while.