My usual starting spot was flooded, which is a clear indication that it had rained early in the morning. Recently, there is a large number of this interesting looking fungus mushrooms popping up on rotting logs in Venus Drive. Most of them are small about 15 mm but I ever encountered large ones as big as 80 mm in diameter.
The first beetle was a Ladybird Beetle (Chilocorus circumdatus), found under a giant elephant ear leaf. I always enjoy finding them because of their bright orange-red color.
On the same leaf was a Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) which became a little agitated by my camera flash.
I am rather surprised not to find any beetles between the giant elephant ear plant and the start of the Venus Drive trail, not even the usual spot known to me as a Leaf Beetle haven. This Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis) was a welcomed sight when I entered the trail.
Near to the Leaf Beetle was a small 3 mm Weevil Beetle hiding under a leaf. I am glad that it is actively moving around as most of my encounters with this type of beetle would be seeing them balled up in one location.
Moving to a tree, I was glad to find several of this lovely colored beetle larvae. It always reminded me of gummy sweets when I photograph them.
The first Fungus Beetle for the trip was a Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus Fungus Beetle. A pretty long name for a small beetle.
Moving on, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Long Horned Beetle (Coptops annlipes) hiding under some leaves shade.
A real surprise was to find this Tiger Beetle (Cicindela chysippe) just a stone's throw from the Long Horned Beetle.
I mentioned a few times in my blog about wood-piles at Venus Drive and so I decided to take a shot of what I called wood-pile to show everyone here. This wood-pile is one of the neatest pile as most of them are rather messy with chopped branches crisscrossing each other.
On one of these wood-piles was this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus tetraspilotus).
Next to the Fungus Beetle was a commonly encountered Darkling Beetle (but usually in the night and not in the day).
Scurrying across the log was a lone Fungus Beetle (Episcapha quadrimacula).
Moving to another wood-pile, a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus assamensis) was found on a black patch of fungus.
A surprise find was this long antennae Fungus Weevil (Apolecta sp.). It was super alert and only allowed one shot and it flew off.
On a fallen tree near by was a 10 mm first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle.
Owing to the many mosquitoes at the place, I decided at the start of the walk to keep to the trail and not move into the bushes, so as not to become buffet for the mosquitoes. A Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis) was found resting on a low bush next to the trail.
Coming to the "Snow Tree 2", I was surprised to find a slimy mushroom growing on the trunk of the tree, and near to it were several Fungus Beetles.
My first encounter with this type of Fungus Beetle was also together with the slimy mushroom. In fact, the beetles were seen "swimming" in the slime on the cap of the mushroom.
Moving further down, there was this fallen tree that is about 8 meters in length. On the fallen tree were some dead palm tree branches and on one of them was a Weevil Beetle.
Just next to the Weevil Beetle was a small 3 mm first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle, sitting at the edge of a leaf.
On the tree trunk were several white leathery mushrooms and on one of them was another first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle.
Feasting on some of the white fungus mushrooms was this pair of Fungus Beetle.
Coming to the location where I first encountered the long antennae Fungus Weevil, I was surprised to find several of this Fungus Beetle. This spot is interesting as I would find different types of beetle each time I visit the place.
Near to the Fungus Beetle was a Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba).
The small tree that had fallen at the place was now broken into several pieces and on one of the pieces were several of this Pleasing Fungus Beetle. It is good to see the population of this lovely Fungus Beetle is still doing well.
The highlight of the trip was finding this first-time-encountered Fungus Weevil. I initially thought that it was one of the many Fungus Weevils that I have encountered before. Only when I zoomed in to it that I realized that this is a "new" Fungus Weevil.
The sky started to turned overcast and it seemed like it may rain later. I picked up my paces so that I can complete the entire trail without backtracking to where I have started. Just then a tiny 2 mm beetle was seen on the edge of a leaf. Pardon the quality of the photograph as the flash diffuser dropped off from the flash without me knowing. When I realised the mistake, the tiny beetle has already flew off.
Flying among the bushes was a Tumbling Flower Beetle (Glipa malaccana). It was hyper active but fortunately it stopped for a short rest for me to take some closeups of it.
Nearby was a Leaf Beetle resting motionlessly on a small fern.
I finally came to a patch of low plants where I would usually find different types of Leaf Beetles. After scanning through the thick foliage, I managed to find this Leaf Beetle (Lema rufotestacea) resting on a blade of grass. Usually, this particular type of beetle are highly sensitive and would fly away when you are 1-2 meters away. I am glad that this particular beetle allowed me to take some good close-up shots.
When you find one Leaf Beetle, you would usually be able to find other types of Leaf Beetle around the same location. Near to the Lema rufotestacea Leaf Beetle was another Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa).
While I was walking down the trail, a yellowish brown beetle flew past me and landed on the underside of a leaf. This is a first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle.
Near to the exit of the trail, there is a tall tree with a very large root base and on it were several of this tiny 2 mm beetles.
Checking out another 2 mm black "speck" on the tree, I was surprised to find this black "speck" was not the usual Fungus Beetle. It turned out to be a shiny first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle.
The last beetle of the trip turned out to be a little odd as from a short distance, it looked like the usual yellow-on-black Fungus Beetle and yet looked different. As I moved closer, I noticed that instead of having yellow spots, this beetle has white spots. Not sure if this is a different type of beetle or just a color abnormality.
The trip to Venus Drive was a fruitful one despite the heavy rain before my trip there. I am happy to be able to find several first-time-encountered beetles. Venus Drive never fails to deliver even when the weather is not ideal.
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