I did some homework online to see if the place is worth the while visiting. After some reading, it seemed to be a worthwhile place to visit. Although we reached the place not long after sunset, the place was very dark. As we moved towards the "entrance" where a path would lead us to the Punggol Forest, our hearts sank as the place seemed to be undergoing construction. Not wanting to just give up without checking the place, we decided to continue.
The path is the typical mud track but with a rather wide width of about 4-5 meters. Along the both side of the path are 2-3 meter tall sugarcane-like grass, with very few other vegetation. My friend was so thrilled when we encountered a Painted Bronzeback snake (Dendrelaphis pictus) among the tall grass.
Departing from my usual practice of only include one interesting photograph of the place in my blog, here's a not so common sight of a Net-casting Spider. This is an interesting spider as it uses a web-net to catch its prey. The white web at the tip of the spider's legs is a fold-up net that the spider will stretch open when it prey pass by below it.
The first beetle that we encountered was a pair of Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).
Near to the Chafer Beetle was a pleasant surprise - Sweet Potato Weevil (Cylas formicarius). There were several of them near to each other.
As we walked closer to the entrance of the trail, another Chafer Beetle (Aprosternia pallide) was found on a blade of the tall sugarcane-like grass.
The trip looked promising since within a short distance of 30 meters or so we managed to find several beetles, including this skittish Tortoiseshell Beetle (Laccoptera nepalensis) which flew off after one shot. Pardon the badly taken photograph, included here as a record of the trip.
A few meters from the Tortoiseshell Beetle was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).
Directly opposite to the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was another Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea)
Good things don't last and after encountering the Maladera castanea Chafer Beetle, we walked for a good 30 minutes or more without finding any other beetles. It was only when I looked under a patch of Morning Glory leaves that I found this first-time-encountered Tortoiseshell Beetle. This beetle is whitish in color, which is different from the Aspidomorpha miliaris Tortoiseshell Beetle, which is entirely yellow. I guessed that it could be a color variant of the Aspidomorpha miliaris Tortoiseshell Beetle.
It was another long walk before I encountered this pair of mating Tortoiseshell Beetle (Cassida circumdata). This is one of my favorite beetles as I particularly like the bright metallic coloration of the beetle.
Next to the Tortoiseshell Beetle was a first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle. Initially I thought that it is the Lema diversa Leaf Beetle but as I examined it closer, it turned out to be different in terms of the color of its elytra (which is black as compared to the metallic blue color of the Lema diversa Leaf Beetle). At the same time, the two front legs are orange in color.
Time passes by quickly and it was time to turn back. On the way towards where we have started, I found this lovely Click Beetle (Pectorcera babai).
The last beetle for the trip was this small bronze color Leaf Beetle.
The trip was not fantastically fruitful given the shortness of time and also the construction work that is going on at the place. Just as my friend said, even though there were beetles found, I will not be in a hurry to go back to the place.
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