Night Walk At Bididari Cemetery (19 Sep 2014)

Recently I read several internet articles on  the Bidadari Cemetery and they reminded me that I have not went there for at least 6 years as the place was infested with mosquitoes when I last visited. So I decided to give the place a try for the night.

For those who do not know the place, it used to be a cemetery but all the graves were exhumed in 2004 and the place was opened up as a temporary park. Sadly the place was ear-marked to be redeveloped into a housing estate. In order not to repeat the last failed trip which was caused by construction works, I did a check around and was told that construction works have not began as yet. Nevertheless when I reached the place, my heart sank as I saw constructions are already taking place at the other part of the Bidadari Cemetery across a two-way road. Guessed that the days of this place is numbered.

The place was exceptionally dark, possibly due to the haze and clouds blocking out the moon. The first beetle that I found was a Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) resting on a badly eaten leaf.

Walking down the path, I was surprised to find a Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa)  still out on a leaf.

As I walked down the path, I found this first-time-encountered Fungus Weevil on a fallen tree. Notice the interesting looking antennae?

I came across another fallen tree further down the path, and on it was this small 5 mm beetle which looked like a Darkling Beetle.

On the other end of the tree was a 10 mm Darkling Beetle.

A few centimeters from the Darkling Beetle was a small 1 mm Click Beetle.

Hiding under the same fallen tree was this Long Horned Beetle (Coptops annulipes).

Moving further down the path, I found a Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) feasting on a flower bud.

The place seemed to have many fallen trees, but they are not the same as those at Venus Drive which are a lot wetter compared to here. Regardless, a Darking Beetle was found on the fallen tree.

Most parts of the place were covered with tall grass and with trees scattered across the place. On one of the young tree was this Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis).

On another tree was this 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

Coming to a lush tree, a Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) was seen clinging to a leaf. It was pretty hard photographing this beetle in the wind.

On a tall fig tree, a large Chafer Beetle (Phyllophaga marginalis) was having a great time feasting on a leaf.

The highlight of the trip was the encounter with this large rarely encountered 40 mm Chafer Beetle (Lepidiota stigma) on a leaf of a tree.

On another tree was yet another Chafer Beetle.

The last beetle of the trip was a Chafer Beetle (Aprosterna pallide). This beetle used to be very common in Singapore and they frequently fly into homes, attracted by the bright florescent lights commonly used in Singapore homes. But nowadays they seemed to be less commonly encountered.

This trip was fruitful with the finding of one first-time-encountered beetle and a rarely-seen Lepidiota stigma Chafer Beetle.