I was away for holiday in Genting Highlands last week. Besides the usual sight-seeing and shopping, I am glad that I was able to find some interesting beetles. Here are some of the photographs of the beetles that I found there.
The biggest beetle I found was a minor male Chalcosoma caucasus, at about 50 mm in size. The reason why it is called minor male is because it lacks the usual pronounced horns that male beetles of its kind have. Sadly, I didn't come across any normal male Chalcosoma caucasus.
It must be the season for Xylotrupes gideon as I easily came across a few tens of them, albeit that they were mostly females. I only came across 3 male Xylotrupes gideon during the trip.
Here's a photograph of a female Xylotrupes gideon. I am surprised to come across so many of them during the trip. They were usually found on their backs in the car parks, but they can also be found in bushes near to bright lights.
I am glad to also found several Stag Beetles on this trip.
Motivated by what I saw in Genting Highlands, I called up HW and arranged for a night macro session at the Pasir Ris Park. The weather has been very dry over the week and hence we were mentally prepared not to find many critters during this trip. Here's an interesting looking moth that looks like a half eaten leaf.
The first beetle for the trip was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).
Not too far from the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle.
It was after some walking before finding this black and brown Chafer Beetle.
Coming to a small tree, there were several of this 2 mm Darkling Beetles moving around the tree trunk.
On the same tree were a number of pupae, some were empty while others were not. Notice also that there is a beetle larva next to an empty pupa.
Near to the Darkling Beetle was an old vine where this first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle was found, with its head buried into the wood.
More Chafer Beetles (Aprosterna pallide) encountered as we proceeded towards the spot where several Tiger Beetles colonies were found during the last trip there.
Upon reaching the Tiger Beetle spot, we were greeted by scores of Tiger Beetles (Cicindela aurulenta) resting in groups among the low bushes.
Moving further, I was glad to find a 4 mm Leaf Beetle resting on a blade of Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum).
Sharing the same habitat with the Leaf Beetle was this 3 mm Sweet Potato Weevil (Cylas formicarius) resting on another blade of Elephant Grass.
The last beetle for the trip was a pair of another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).
In all honesty, this trip to Pasir Ris Park was an anti-climax when compared to my trip to Genting Highlands. Nevertheless this was expected given the hot and dry weather that we are experiencing in Singapore.
The biggest beetle I found was a minor male Chalcosoma caucasus, at about 50 mm in size. The reason why it is called minor male is because it lacks the usual pronounced horns that male beetles of its kind have. Sadly, I didn't come across any normal male Chalcosoma caucasus.
It must be the season for Xylotrupes gideon as I easily came across a few tens of them, albeit that they were mostly females. I only came across 3 male Xylotrupes gideon during the trip.
Here's a photograph of a female Xylotrupes gideon. I am surprised to come across so many of them during the trip. They were usually found on their backs in the car parks, but they can also be found in bushes near to bright lights.
I am glad to also found several Stag Beetles on this trip.
Motivated by what I saw in Genting Highlands, I called up HW and arranged for a night macro session at the Pasir Ris Park. The weather has been very dry over the week and hence we were mentally prepared not to find many critters during this trip. Here's an interesting looking moth that looks like a half eaten leaf.
The first beetle for the trip was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).
Not too far from the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle.
It was after some walking before finding this black and brown Chafer Beetle.
Coming to a small tree, there were several of this 2 mm Darkling Beetles moving around the tree trunk.
On the same tree were a number of pupae, some were empty while others were not. Notice also that there is a beetle larva next to an empty pupa.
Near to the Darkling Beetle was an old vine where this first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle was found, with its head buried into the wood.
More Chafer Beetles (Aprosterna pallide) encountered as we proceeded towards the spot where several Tiger Beetles colonies were found during the last trip there.
Upon reaching the Tiger Beetle spot, we were greeted by scores of Tiger Beetles (Cicindela aurulenta) resting in groups among the low bushes.
Moving further, I was glad to find a 4 mm Leaf Beetle resting on a blade of Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum).
Sharing the same habitat with the Leaf Beetle was this 3 mm Sweet Potato Weevil (Cylas formicarius) resting on another blade of Elephant Grass.
The last beetle for the trip was a pair of another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).
In all honesty, this trip to Pasir Ris Park was an anti-climax when compared to my trip to Genting Highlands. Nevertheless this was expected given the hot and dry weather that we are experiencing in Singapore.
