Night Walk Around The Neighborhood (23 Sep 2016)

The sky looked like it was going to rain and so I decided to go to the "wild" part of my neighborhood for my usual night macro photography session. The place used to be pretty wild but has changed greatly due to a nearby development work.

Here's a photograph of an interesting insect that I encounter at the place.

The first beetle for the trip was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus). The place was full of this type of Chafer Beetle.

Near to the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was another Chafer Beetle. I used to think that it is the female Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle but I may be wrong as I also came across mating pairs of this beetle.

Further down the "trail" was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).

Just a stone's throw away was a lone Chafer Beetle resting on a blade of lalang grass.

The surprise for the trip was the encounter with several of this lovely orange Leaf Beetle on a blade of lalang grass.

Coming to patch of low creepers, I am glad to be able to find several of this Ladybird Beetle (Epliachna admirabilis).

Near to the Ladybird Beetle was this yellow Ladybird Beetle larvae.

Walking further, a Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) was seen on a flower stalk. It was also at this time that I was "attacked" by a small bunch of the reddish-brown ant. Although the size of the ants were small at about 2 mm, their bites are pretty painful.

After the ant "attack", I quickly moved away to another spot where there was a large patch of Morning Glory plant. I am pleasantly surprised to find this metallic blue first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle.  It looked exactly like the commonly encountered metallic bronze color Leaf Beetle except that its coloration is metallic blue.

A few steps away was this metallic bronze Leaf Beetle as mentioned above. When you put the photograph of these two beetles side-by-side, the color difference became so obvious.

The last beetle for the trip was another Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna implicata).

As expected, the trip was not very fruitful except for the encounter with a first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle. Nevertheless, this can be an alternative location especially when the sky threatens to rain.

NIght Walk At Punggol Waterway Park (16 Sep 2016)

It has been raining on Friday nights for the past few weeks and hence I was not able to go for my regular macro photography session. According to the weatherman, we will have a wet September month and more rain are expected for the rest of the month. Fortunately it was dry in the afternoon despite a heavy downpour in the morning.

This week my walk is at the Punggol Waterway Park. Feeling a bit lethargic,  I decided to keep to the manicured walking path, staying away from the wilder part of the park that I have been visiting. Here's an interesting patterned Froghopper that I encountered along the path at the place.

The first beetle for the trip was a Chafer Beetle (Aprosterna pallide) that are still quite common.

The surprise for the trip was this orange Leaf Beetle that was resting under a blade of lalang grass.

The next beetle was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) that can be seen in large numbers on the leafy plants throughout the pathway.

There were not many beetles encountered as I walked the pathway along side the "river" (a man-made canal) until I came to a low bush with this Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).

On a tree nearby was this pair of mating Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). This is the first time that I find this type of beetle on a tree.

I was almost wanting to call it a day after walking for a while without finding any beetle when this lone Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) was spotted on a big leaf.

The last beetle for the trip was this small skittish Sweet Potato Weevil (Cylas formicarius) at a patch of Beach Morning Glory plant (Ipomoea pes-caprae) which seemed to be the food plant for the beetle.

The trip was not fruitful as compared to my previous trips to the place. Nevertheless, I was mentally prepared to not find too many beetles for this trip when I decided to take the "manicured" path. With the lesson learnt from this trip, I will unlikely to take the same manicured path again when I next visit the place, and stick to the wilder side of Punggol Waterway Park for more beetle actions.

Night Walk At Lower Peirce Reservoir (02 Sep 2016)

My friend HW and I decided to go to the Lower Peirce Reservoir this week for our night macro session. Although I have been to the place not too long ago, I didn't go to the place where we previously found a large colony of Epsicapha quadrimacula Fungus Beetle. To my surprise, the plants at the place have grown a lot and the place was almost inaccessible.

 

The first beetle was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).

Near to the Chafer Beetle was another beetle. I am still not clear which beetle family it belongs to.

Resting on a small bush was a lovely Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus).

Nearby on a small tree was this 2 mm Darkling Beetle which appeared black to the naked eyes but its lovely pattern became visible when zoomed in with the camera.

Coming to some fallen tree, I am glad to find several of this Darkling Beetles.

On a leaf of a low palm tree, I found several of this brown Chafer Beetle which I suspect is the female of the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle.

On a tree further down the "trail" was a small 1 mm Darkling Beetle.

Coming to a sandy patch, we found a number of this commonly encountered Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta).

Resting on a blade of grass was a 5 mm Ground Beetle (Pentagonica flavipes).

On a tree nearby was several of this shiny 4 mm Darkling Beetle.

On the same tree was this 3 mm Fungus Beetle.

As my friend HW has not walked the Lower Peirce Boardwalk before, we decided to give it a try even though I know that the chances of finding beetles along the boardwalk is not very high. Near to the start of the boardwalk, HW found a Darkling Beetle (Strongylium tenuipes) up a small tree.

At the start of the boardwalk, I came across a small patch of Clidemia hirta plant and on it was this curious looking critter. I am not sure what nymph it is but it looked a bit like a beetle larvae. Appreciate if someone can identify this critter.

There were a number of Singapore  Rhododendron plant (Melastoma malabathricum) along the boardwalk and feasting on them were scores of different Chafer Beetles.

It was only after a fair bit of walking before I find this dark bronze color Chafer Beetle.

More walking without finding any beetles until we came to a small tree where several of this shiny 3 mm Darkling Beetle were found.

On the same tree was this lone Darkling Beetle.

Not much actions along the boardwalk and I was so glad to be able to find several of this 3 mm Darkling Beetles almost near to the end of the boardwalk.

The last beetle for the trip was a small 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

This trip was interesting as I was able to revisit the site where I saw a large congregation of the Episcapha quadrimacula Fungus Beetles.