Night Walk At Old Upper Thomson Road ( 08 Sep 2017)

It has been a long while since I last walked the Old Upper Thomson Road and hence I decided to go there for the night's walk. When I reached the place, I was rather disappointed because the vegetation at the place were soaking wet with rain. It must have rained very heavily in the late afternoon. Nevertheless since I am already there, I decided to continue with the trip.

Here's an interesting critter that I came across during the trip. The insect look like a Stick Insect but upon closer examination, it looked like a Praying Mantis. This is the first time I encounter this and am not sure what it is. It looked very much like a Stick Mantis. Not sure if this is a juvenile or adult specimen as it is only about 15 mm in length.

I was not hopeful to be able to find any beetles on this trip because of the rain, but I was pleasantly surprised to be able to find this small 2 mm Darkling Beetle near the base of a large tree.

Near to the Darkling Beetle was another larger 10 mm Darkling Beetle, taking shelter in a crevice in the tree trunk.

Moving on I found this muddy looking Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) feeding on a leaf.

Walking along the road, I chanced upon a spot where there were a number of fallen trees. On one of the fallen trees was this Darkling Beetle.

On a tree stump nearby was this Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis). This is also where the Stick Mantis was found.

Next to the tree stump was a thin vine where two of this 3 mm beetle (Hyberis araneiformis). Notice the small mites that infested the beetle.

A stone's throw away was a Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba) on a fallen log.

High up a small tree nearby was this small beetle larva.

On a rotting log next to the tree was this small 2 mm beetle (likely Darkling Beetle).

On another fallen tree branch was several of this lovely patterned Darkling Beetles.

High up another tree was a 5 mm Fungus Weevil. As it was high up on the tree, I was only able to photograph it from its rear.

This sole Darkling Beetle was found on a rotting log near to the Fungus Weevil.

On another tree was this roundish 5 mm Darkling Beetle.

The highlight of the trip was the encounter with this Fungus Beetle (Spathomeles rizali), found under a fallen tree.

A few meters from the Fungus Beetle was a 5 mm Darkling Beetle found on a small tree.

The last beetle for the trip was this Fungus Weevil (Habrissus omadioides).

As expected, the trip was not too fruitful due to the rain but it holds potential that more beetles would be found if the weather is not so wet.