It was so good to see new fungus mushrooms growing on the tree trunks.
The first beetle that greeted me was a Ladybird Beetle (Epilachna indica).
Sadly I was not able to find any Leaf Beetles at the usual spots where they can be found before the dry weather started. The next beetle that I encountered was a small 2 mm Fungus Beetle that was near the white fungus mushroom that I photographed.
A surprised find was this first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle (Ohtaius lunulatus) found hiding by the side of a log.
Moving to another fallen log, a Net-winged Beetle (Dictyoptera aurora) was disturbed by my movement and flew to a nearby plant. Fortunately I was able to use the zoom-lens to get a photograph of it.
Between the Net-winged Beetle and the clearing, I was not able to spot any beetles. It was only when I reached the clearing that I started to find beetles. On many of the fallen logs at the clearing, were many of this type of Fungus Beetle.
On a wet leaf I found a 3 mm black colored beetle caught in a drop of water. It was trying very hard to free itself from the surface tension of the water droplet but to no avail. Seeing its struggle, I moved it to a log nearby. The small beetle turned out to be a Hister Beetle (Hister smyrnacus).
The highlight of the trip was the encounter with this large Jewel Beetle. I am so glad to have encountered it again. Notice the green and red coloration? This is one of the reasons why Jewel Beetles are in great demand as display or even jewel ornaments. As mentioned before, this is the largest type of jewel beetles that I ever come across. I spent a good 20 minutes with this beetle since I do not know if I would ever find this type of beetle again.
The beetle was a Tumbling Flower Beetle (Glipa malaccana). This is a commonly encountered beetle in this place but one may not have noticed it as it is an active flyer and could easily be mistaken as a fly.
Moving deeper into the clearing, I found this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus) was enjoying a sip from the rain drops.
After some searching, I finally found a Leaf Beetle hiding under some shade.
Just a short distance from the clearing, I found this beetle larvae, Sadly this is the only beetle larvae I came across during this trip.
There was another reason why I wanted to visit Venus Drive - to find and photograph the white color Ladybird Beetle that I came across during one of the trips to this place. This type of beetle was exceptionally skittish, possibly due to its white coloration that makes it stand out like a sore thumb. It was so hard to photograph this beetle as this beetle would simply fly away upon some movements around.
Hiding under some heavy shade was this Fungus Beetle. I always thought it looked like a delicious sweet.
No other beetles were encountered en-route to the "Snow Tree". The first beetle found on the "Snow Tree" was this Fungus Weevil.
The black fungus on the "Snow Tree" seemed odd as compared to during the dry spell, it looked like it is dead or dying. On it was another Fungus Weevil.
Moving on I found this Fungus Beetle (Stenotarsus paradalis) on some palm leaves. This is one of my favorite beetles.
A stone's throw away was this Leaf Beetle. This particular Leaf Beetle was a little hyper active and kept moving about on the leaf. This is not normal as most of the time, this type of beetle would usually remain motionless instead of moving around.
Just after moving a few meters away, I found another Leaf Beetle (Gonophora xanthomela) on a ginger plant.
It was about time to turn back and go home. Just slightly after the exit, a Tumbling Flower Beetle was found resting in the shade.
The trip was fruitful with several surprised encounters and a first-time-encountered beetle. I am glad to be able to photograph the Jewel Beetle and the White Ladybird Beetle.
No comments:
Post a Comment