The first beetle for the morning was a Net-winged Beetle.
The next beetle was a pleasant find as it dropped out of a rotting log while I was looking closely at the log for beetles. This Bess Beetle (Aceraius grandis) was pretty restless and disappeared into a crevice in the log within a seconds that it dropped.
Near to the Bess Beetle were some while fungus growing and on it was a small 4 mm Fungus Beetle. While preparing the photograph, I also noticed that there were a number of Springtails on the fungus.
On the same fungus were several beetle larvae. Guessed that this could be the larvae of the Fungus Beetle above.
Very quickly I reached the clearing area and the first critter that greeted me was this beetle larvae that looked very much like it was wearing a Batman suite.
As I was photographing the beetle larvae, I noticed some yellow specks flying around and as I moved closer to take a look, I found a large number of this lovely yellow color Ladybird (Illeis koebelei) on several trees. This is the first time that I came across so many Illeis koebelei Ladybird Beetle at one place. I must add that while the number of Ladybird Beetles was large, the number of mosquitoes was even larger. I was a little irritated by the mosquitoes. Fortunately I had some insect repellent with me and I managed to fend off the attacks for a while.
Resting on a leaf nearby was a Fungus Weevil.
I found a large group of this 10 mm size Net-winged Beetle having a party on a fallen log. Interesting to see so many of this beetle at one spot.
On another log was a Fungus Beetle. It is good to see many of this type of Fungus Beetle around as it shows that they managed to survived the dry spell. This is not so for the Eumorphus politus and Eumorphus tetraspilotus Fungus Beetles, which I have not seen any of them since the start of the dry spell.
As mentioned before that every time I visit the Venus Drive clearing, I would look for the white Ladybird Beetle. For this trip I am so glad to find a number of them.
While photographing the white Ladybird Beetle, I saw this lovely colored Fungus Weevil. It is a rare opportunity to photograph it as it is a rather skittish beetle and would fly away when it detects any movements.
Still in the clearing, a Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis) was seen sunning itself on a leaf.
Flying around the place was a Tumbling Flower Beetle (Glipa malaccana).
Hiding under some foliage was this Fungus Weevil.
On this trip, I was able to find two of this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus assamensis) which is a good indication that they survived the dry spell.
I was at the clearing for almost an hour and it was time to move on. Just as I was leaving the clearing, a Net-winged Beetle was found resting on a leaf by the pathway.
Passing by a fallen tree, I found a patch of white fungus and a lovely patterned Fungus Beetle on it.
On a tree next to the Fungus Beetle were to tiny 2 mm Fungus Beetle planning for the next generation.
After the clearing, the next stop was the "Snow Tree 2" which yielded many different types of beetle the last time I found it (http://beetlesg.blogspot.sg/2014/04/night-walk-at-venus-drive-11-apr-2014.html). I am curious what I will find in the day and the first beetle I found on the tree was a Checkered Beetle.
Interestingly a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus) was seen crawling up and down the tree.
Another Checkered Beetle landed right in front of me, as if it would like to have its photograph taken.
A Ground Beetle (Pericalus figuratus) was found on the tree. It was well camouflaged but its presence was given away by its small spurts of movements.
There were several 5 mm round holes in the tree and fortunately I managed to find one with a beetle still busily making the hole. Interestingly I found a few colorful tiny silverfish like insect near to the holes.
The highlight of the trip was the finding of this large (~ 25 mm) Jewel Beetle on the "Snow Tree 2".
Just like in the night during the last trip, the mosquitoes at this place were vicious and "attacked" me even though I had the insect repellent on. I finally gave up serving out my blood buffet to the mosquitoes and call it a day. While turning back, I came across this small 3 mm Tumbling Flower Beetle (Mordella holomelanena) resting under a shade.
Just when I reached the exit of the trail, I am so happy to find this Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa) resting on a leaf. I have not seen this Leaf Beetle for a while since the dry spell and am glad to have encounter it on this trip.
The last beetle of the trip was also a Leaf Beetle, which landed next to the Lema diversa Leaf Beetle while I was photographing it. What a great way to end the trip.
Interestingly, I didn't encounter any "new" beetle on this trip but it was still a fruitful one with many beetles encountered. The number of mosquitoes seemed to have increased at this place, do remember to bring along insect repellent if you are planning to visit the place, unless you don't mind doing some blood donation while you are there.
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