Here's a photograph of an unfamiliar 30 mm critter, possibly a nymph of a grasshopper.
On a tree trunk of the trees next to the Venus Drive car park were a large number of this small 3 mm Darkling Beetle. Here's a photograph of some beetle eggs next to a pair of Darkling Beetles.
A lovely gummy-like beetle larvae was found near to the beetle eggs. This looked like it had emerged from an egg not too long ago.
Another beetle larvae, probably emerged a while back, given the darker coloration.
On another tree was this late stage beetle larvae.
The trees were full of this Darkling Beetles.
Close to the Darkling Beetle was another 5 mm shiny Darkling Beetle.
The highlight for the trip was the encounter of this 6 mm Hister Beetle (Hololepta plana). This is the second time that I encountered this beetle. A pretty strange looking beetle I must add.
On a low tree branch near to the entrance of the Venus Drive Trail was this Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis).
Next to the Fungus Weevil was a 10 mm Darkling Beetle.
The first beetle on the trail was this Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) sleeping on a leaf.
On a fallen log were several 10 mm Darkling Beetles.
On another log nearby was this 3 mm Darkling Beetle.
On a tree further down the trail was a beetle larvae. It is good to find beetle larvae as it is an indicator that the beetles are still doing well.
On the same tree with the beetle larvae was this small 4 mm Fungus Weevil.
On another tree was this 5 mm Darkling Beetle.
On the same tree was another 3 mm shiny Darkling Beetle.
Coming to a woodpile, I am glad to be able to find one of my favorite Ground Beetle (Catascopus dalbertisi).
Near to the Ground Beetle was a Rove Beetle.
Next to the Rove Beetle was a Fungus Weevil that looked very much like the Eucorynus crassicornis Fungus Weevil, except for the darker coloration of its elytra.
On another fallen tree log further down the trail was this lone Rove Beetle. This beetle was not as active as expected, probably due to the wet weather.
On the same log was a Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba) that I have not seen for a while. I am so glad to be able to see them again.
On a tree nearby was a pair of Darkling Beetle.
Another interesting encounter for the night was this Fungus Beetle (Amblypus vittatus).
As all the vegetation were wet with rain, so my focus was on tree trunks and fallen logs. On one of the many fallen logs that lined the trail, I found this small 4 mm Darkling Beetle on top of a fungus mushroom.
On the same log was a lone and motionless Rove Beetle. This is interesting as I seldom come across Rove Beetle that is so calm and motionless. It remained motionless throughout my photographing of it.
On the underside of a leaf was this Bronze color Chafer Beetle. The coloration didn't come up because of the odd angle of my flash to the beetle.
We were almost at the u-turn point of our trip when I found this Fungus Weevil (Stiboderes impressus) on a fallen log.
At the turning back point was a stump of a "broken" tree - the tree was broken in two, probably by strong wind or rain, as the stump looked very healthy. I was pretty surprised to find a few different beetles on it. The first one was a small 4 mm beetle (Martinezostes sp.)
The other beetle on the tree stump was a Fungus Beetle.
Moving next to the Martinezostes sp. beetle was another beetle.
Centimeters away was another 10 mm Darkling Beetle.
At the turn-back point, I found this Fungus Weevil hiding under a tree leaf.
Hiding within a low bush was a pair of Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis).
On a leaf of a small plant was this lone Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).
More Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta) was found on a tree log at the turn-back point.
As we were turning back, I found this black 25 mm Ground Beetle on a leaf.
Near to the Ground Beetle was another Ground Beetle (Onypterygia longispinis). It was originally on a leaf and I moved closer, it fell to the ground.
The last encounter for the trip was a later stage beetle larvae.
The trip was surprisingly fruitful given the wet weather. I was a little unhappy with the flash diffusion as it was put together in a hurry and hence cast a much stronger hot-spot than desired. Overall, it was a good trip.
