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Sunday 20 March 2016

Night Walk At Upper Seletar Reservoir (18 Mar 2016)

There was news that our neighbor country Malaysia is experiencing heat wave and it was expected to last up to April. Singapore being only a short distance away from Malaysia, is expected to experience higher than normal temperatures, and at the same time drier weather over the next 2 weeks.

I decided to go over to Upper Seletar Reservoir since I have not been there for a while. Besides the usual macro photography, I am also testing out a new DIY flash diffuser material that I came across recently. Here's a photograph of a lovely moth that I came across during the trip.


As expected, the place was almost bone-dry and many of the small streams that run through the place were all dried up. In my heart I was expecting the worse but this Chafer Beetle proved me wrong as it took less than a minute to find it, upon reaching the place.


Near to the Chafer Beetle was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).


Further down the trail was a pair of mating Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).


The surprise for the trip came early. Just a stone's throw from the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was a first-time-encountered Chafer Beetle. This is an interesting Chafer Beetle with short hair covering the entire body.


A little further down the trail was another first-time-encountered Flea Beetle.


Moving into a less traveled path from the main road, I found this shiny Chafer Beetle that looked very much like the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle, except for the bigger body size and shiny coloration.


Interestingly, it seemed that most of the beetles found so far were all found on or near the Clidemia hirta plant. Coming to another small patch of Clidemia hirta plant, I found this lone Leaf Beetle (Hemipyxis semiviridis) resting on a leaf.


I was at the turn back point of the trail when I found a colony of sleeping Tiger Beetles (Cicindela aurulenta).


There are two return paths at the U-turn point and I initially took the original path back. I later decided to take the other return path and it turned out to be a good decision as I encountered many more beetles after.  At the return path, there were several  trees that lined the side of a small road. To my pleasant surprise, I found tiny beetles on them. Here's a photograph of a 3 mm Darkling Beetle found on one of the trees.



On another tree was this 2 mm first-time-encountered Darkling Beetle.


On the same tree was another tiny 2 mm beetle. This turned out to be the same type of Fungus Beetle that I encountered the week before.


Moving to another tree, I was thrilled to be able to find this 2 mm first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle.


Walking to some low bushes, I was so glad to find this lovely Click Beetle on a half eaten leaf.


Near to the Click Beetle was a fallen log and on it was this skittish Ground Beetle (Minuthodes multisetosa) which disappear after one photograph shot.


On the same log was a 5 mm Fungus Beetle that I have not encountered for a long while.


It was almost at the end of the trail that I found this interesting first-time-encountered beetle. Not sure what type of beetle this is. Noticed the interesting antennae shape of the beetle.


The trip was very fruitful with the encounter of 5 first-time-encountered beetles. This place is definitely a good place for encountering more beetles based on this and previous trips to the place.

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