Night Walk At Dairy Farm Nature Park (27 Oct 2017)

The sky was dark and cloudy over at the southern and eastern part of Singapore so I decided to head north to Dairy Farm Nature Park, knowing that there is a possibility of rain also. When I reached the place, I was glad that the sky cleared up.

Here's a photograph of an interesting large caterpillar encountered at the start of the trip. I am not absolutely sure but it looked like a caterpillar of the Giant Skipper (Erionota torus).

The first beetle of the trip was a pleasant surprise - the frequently encountered but hard to photograph white Ladybird Beetle. There were several of them found under a large Elephant Ear Plant. I really like the eye color of this specimen.

On another Elephant Ear Plant was this lone Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea).

Some distance from the Ant-like Flower Beetle was this large 25 mm Chafer Beetle. It looked like the Phyllophaga marginalis Chafer Beetle but differed in its black coloration at the front part of the beetle. This could possibly be a first-time-encountered Chafer Beetle.

Near to the large Chafer Beetle was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis), found at the base of a small tree.

Moving into a less visited trail, I am surprised to find many wood piles lining the side of the trail. On one of the wood piles was this 8 mm Click Beetle.

Near to the Click Beetle was a 4 mm Ground Beetle (Dotichoctis striata) running about the tree trunk.

For this trip, I decided not to explore the usual Wallace Trail and focus on both sides of the road leading to the Wallace Education Centre. On a fallen tree next to the path was this large 15 mm Pleasing Fungus Beetle (Encaustes pranenobilis).

Next to the Pleasing Fungus Beetle was a smaller 10 mm Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus tetraspilotus).

Further down the tree truck was this 2 mm beetle, possibly a Darkling Beetle.

The fallen tree used to be a very tall tree probably about 12 meters, and on it were several of this small 2 mm Rove Beetle.

There was a large bracket fungus mushroom on the tree trunk and on it were different Rove Beetles. This was a first-time-encountered Rove Beetle. Pardon the badly taken photograph as it was moving very quickly and disappeared after one camera shot. Of the many beetles that I have photographed, Rove Beetle is one group of beetles that proofed to be a challenge to me.

Another Rove Beetle (Sepedophilus bisignatus) on the same large bracket fungus mushroom.

Moving to another large wood pile, there were several of this 10 mm Darkling Beetle found on it.

On a tree near to the Darkling Beetle were a large group (about 10-15 beetles) of 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

On a moss laden tree was a small 2 mm Fungus Beetle.

After a while of walking I finally reached the turn back point - the Wallace Education Centre. Just then I found this lovely10 mm Darkling Beetle.

Near to the Darkling Beetle was a roundish 5 mm Darkling Beetle.

The highlight for the trip was the encounter with this diurnal Checkered Beetle, still active at night.

The last beetle for the trip was this 5 mm Darkling Beetle on the side of a small tree, trapped under some spider web.

This trip was a bonus as it could have been a washed-out, but fortunately it didn't rain and I was able to carry on with the trip. Besides finding the first-time-encountered beetles, I also get to test out my new flash diffuser set-up. Overall, it was a good trip albeit slightly short given the longer time needed to go to the place for me.

Night Walk At MacRitchie Reservoir Park (20 Oct 2017)

The weather has been exceptionally hot and dry this week, a great contrast to last week's rainy weather. Logically with such dry weather it would be better to go to Windsor Nature Park as the place is always fruitful regardless of the weather, nevertheless my friend HW and I decided to go MacRitchie Reservoir Park, partly because I have not visited the place for a while and partly because HW has not been to the place at night before.

When we reached the place, it was as expected - the place was bone dry. With one week of hot and dry weather, some plants are already starting to wilt. Here's an interesting cricket on a dried up leaf. This type of cricket can grow to very large size and I ever encountered them as big as 80 mm, which is pretty amazing. For some strange reason, this cricket always remind me of Disney's Jiminy Cricket.

The first beetle for the trip was a 5 mm Darkling Beetle on a small tree.

Not much action until we came to patch of Singapore Rhododendron plant (Melastoma malabathricum) where several different Chafer Beetles were found.

Moving on, we came across a recently fallen tree where this lone Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis) was found.

Nearby was a 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

The place was so dry that even the fallen trees were mostly bone dry and hardly any beetles were in sight. After walking for a while, I was glad to be able to find a small log with several of this Darkling Beetles (Ceropria induta).

A few centimeters from the Darkling Beetle were several of this 4 mm Ground Beetle (Coptodera marginata).

While photographing another of the Coptodera marginata beetle, this 5 mm Long Horned Beetle (Eoporis elegans) was "found" just a few centimeters away.

More walking without finding any beetles until finding this 10 mm first-time-encountered Weevil Beetle on the side of a medium size tree.

Next to the Weevil Beetle was a small 5 mm Darkling Beetle (Strongylium tenuipes).

Directly opposite the trail were several of this 10 mm red legged Darkling Beetle (Strongylium sp.)

More walking until this small 5 mm Darkling Beetle found at the base of a tree.

Nearby to the Darkling Beetle, HW spotted this beetle (Darkling Beetle?) on a leaf.

Moving further down the trail, I was surprised to find this Ground Beetle (Catascopus dalbertisi) on a small healthy tree.

Coming to a dying tree, a 3 mm Dark Beetle was found on it.

On the same tree, I was thrilled to find a Long Horned Beetle (Coptops annulipes).

A stone's throw from the Long Horned Beetle was a small tree with several of this beetle larvae on it.

On the same tree was this 15 mm Darkling Beetle.

Time passed by quickly and it was time to turn back. Just at this point, a beetle pupa was found on a tree at the turnaround point.

The last beetle for the trip was a 2 mm Darkling Beetle.

Although we were not expecting much from this trip, the number of beetles encountered was still pretty decent.

Night Walk At Windsor Nature Park (13 Oct 2017)

I was feeling under the weather but the fine weather for the night was too good to be missed given that it has been raining for the whole week, so I decided to proceed to Windsor Nature Park with my friend HW. Here's a photograph of a 2 mm Springtail found at the place.

The first beetle for the trip was a 3 mm Darkling Beetle found on a small tree.

On a tree nearby were several of this small 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

On a moss laden tree near to the entrance of the Venus Loop trail was this 5 mm Darkling Beetle.

On the same tree was a Darkling Beetle larvae.

As we moved along the path leading to the Venus Loop trail, a Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) was found feasting on a leaf of a low bush. 

Near to the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle was another Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).

Further down the trail was another Chafer Beetle high up on tall bush.

Nearby on a small tree was this 8 mm Darkling Beetle.

As we enter the Venus Loop trail, I was dismay to see that many parts of the trail have been overran by the Air Potato plants, strangling many of the original vegetation there. Near to the entrance of the trail was a 5 mm Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus).

Coming to sandy patch, there was a Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) on a small tree vine.

On the tree near to the Tiger Beetle was a 5 mm Darkling Beetle.

On a rotten tree nearby was a Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis) perfectly camouflaged.

Near to the rotten tree was a small tree stump where this lone Rove Beetle was found.

Hiding on a branch of a tall bush was this Long Horned Beetle (Epepeotes luscus).

Near by was a 4 mm Darkling Beetle on a small tree.

After some walking, we came to a dying tree which I termed as a snow tree. On it were a number of beetles. One of the beetles was a 10 mm beetle which looked like a Darkling Beetle.

Near to the black beetle was another similar beetle with red legs. This is a first-time-encountered beetle.

Just centimeters from the beetle was another 1 mm beetle which look like a Fungus Beetle.

On the same tree was another Darling Beetle (Bradymerus clathratus).

On a fallen tree next to the snow tree was this 15 mm Darkling Beetle which seemed to be laying eggs into the hole in the wood.

Running around on the fallen tree were several Ground Beetles. 

The fallen tree was interesting as several different beetles were found in close proximity with each other.

Under a leaf of a rubber tree next to the fallen tree was this 8 mm Fungus Weevil (Litocerus figuratus).

On the trunk of the rubber tree was this 10 mm first time encountered Ground Beetle (Physodera eschscholtzii).

A stone's throw from the snow tree was this lone 10 mm Darkling Beetle.

On another small three, I was surprised to find this 8 mm Tiger Beetle (Cylindera versicolor). I previously came across this beetle and may have misidentify it to be Cicindela chrysippe.

 After photographing the Tiger Beetle, HW showed me this Fungus Beetle which was high up on a tall bush. Sadly, I was not able to identify the beetle from this angle.

A few tree down the trail was this interesting looking beetle larvae, with its extra long appendages .

On the same tree was a beetle pupa.

Near to the pupa was another beetle larvae.

The highlight of the trip was the encounter of this first-time-encountered Ship-timber Beetle (Atractocerus crassicornis). This was a rare encounter and what made it even rarer was that it was a mating pair. The specimen below should be a female.

Male Ship-timber Beetle (Atractocerus crassicornis).

On a Singapore Rhododendron plant (Melastoma malabathricum) were several of this 4 mm Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis).

Just a few steps away was this large 20 mm Ground Beetle (Onypterygia longispinis).

Time passes quickly and it was almost time to turn back when this Chafer Beetle appeared. Although this beetle looked like the Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) but differed in its larger size.

On a tree nearby was this dead beetle larvae. The suspected cause of death is by parasitic wasp (see the wasp on the larvae?)

On another tree was this lovely patterned 5 mm Darkling Beetle which seemed to be in the midst of laying eggs.

On a tree nearby was a beetle larvae.

The turn back point was marked by another slow tree where this Darkling Beetle was found.

The last beetle found for the trip was a Sap Beetle found among the fungus mushroom growing on the snow tree.

The trip was super fruitful, especially the encounter with the Ship-timber Beetle. The number of beetles encountered on this trip was fabulous, and I will definitely go back there in the future.