Night Walk At Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (02 Dec 2016)

The Bukit Timah Nature Reserve was re-opened not too long ago, so my friend HW and I decided to check the place out for this week's walk. We were glad that it didn't rain in the day even though it rained heavily a day before. For those who are not aware, rain during the monsoon season can sometimes last for two to three days with short intermittently stops.

HW found this interesting cicada emerged not too long ago. I particularly like the color of the wings reflecting the camera flash.

The first beetle for the trip was a 4 mm first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle found on a fallen log.

There was not much action despite walking for a while until this lovely Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) found on a leaf of a low bush.

There are many big trees that lined that sides of the trail but interestingly I didn't find any beetles or insects on them until I came to a medium size tree with several 2 mm Darkling Beetles on it. Noticed that even at this tiny size, the beetles are still playing host to really tiny mites.

More walking without finding any beetles - not even on the many fallen logs along the way. I was so glad to find this commonly encountered Darkling Beetle on a dead log.

A few trees away from the Darkling Beetle was a hyper-active small 4 mm first-time-encountered Weevil Beetle.

Just a tree away was another 4 mm first-time-encountered Weevil Beetle.

While photographing the Weevil Beetle, I felt something hit my camera diffuser. I looked around and found this Tiger Beetle on a tree branch just centimeters from me. I guessed that my camera focusing light could have attracted this Tiger Beetle (Therates dimidiatus dejeanii) to me. I am particularly pleased to be able to photograph this beetle as it is rarely encountered during the night.

At the 'turn-back' point for the trip, this black Chafer Beetle was found under a leaf. At first glance it looked like the smaller Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle, but differs in that it is much bigger and broader.

On a tree nearby was a small 2 mm Darkling Beetle.

After some walking without finding any beetles, I was glad to find this small 4 mm Ground Beetle (Pentagonia flavipes).

More walking without finding any beetle until we came to a fallen tree where a pair of this 4 mm Darkling Beetle were found on one of the tree branches.

Near to the roundish Darkling Beetle was this large 15 mm Darkling Beetle.

Coming to a large fallen tree, I found this 15 mm Click Beetle resting motionlessly on it. I was wondering if the beetle was dead and found the answer when I was processing the photograph for this blog. The reason why the beetle was motionless was because it was in the process of laying eggs in the crevices of the fallen tree.

On an older fallen log nearby was a Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta) with several tiny mites on it.

The highlight for the trip was the finding of this first-time-encountered Darkling Beetle. It looked like the normal black Darkling Beetle until it was photographed (with flash) that the purple and bronze coloration appeared.

The last beetle for the trip was a small 3 mm Darkling Beetle found on a small tree at the end of the trail.

Although the number of beetles encountered during the trip was not particularly large compared to our favorite location Venus Drive, I am happy to be able to find 4 first-time-encountered beetles. I believe that the small number of beetles found is probably due to the high human traffic on the trail during the day. Regardless, it was a fruitful trip.