Night Walk At Windsor Nature Park (26 Oct 2018)

The weather was overcast and looked like it would rain in the evening. Not deterred, HW and I decided to proceed to Windsor Nature Park for our night macro session as planned. During the trip, HW found this interesting looking cockroach that looked more like a living fossil trilobite than a cockroach.

The first beetle of the trip was a 3 mm Darkling Beetle found on a small tree next to the car park of Windsor Nature Park.

On another tree nearby was this 2 mm Darkling Beetle.

Coming to a patch of Bamboo Orchid, we were glad to find several of this Orchid Beetle (Lema pectoralis) munching on a flower.

A stone's throw away was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) having its supper of leaf.

Next to the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).

Not too far away was another Chafer Beetle (Phyllophaga marginalis).

Coming to the spot where several Elephant Ear Plant were found, I am glad to still find several of this 4 mm Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea).

At the entrance of the Venus Loop trail was a 5 mm Darkling Beetle on a rotten tree.

On a low bush near to the Darkling Beetle was a 10 mm Chafer Beetle.

Further down the trail was a 1 mm Darkling Beetle found on a patch of lichen on a small tree.

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

After some walking, we were glad to come across a huge fallen tree where a number of beetles were found on it. Several of this Ground Beetle (Catascopus dalbertisi) were found on the tree. If you looked carefully, this particular specimen was munching on a small beetle.

Near to the Ground Beetle was a 20 mm Pleasing Fungus Beetle (Triplatoma gestroi).

On one end of the fallen tree was another Ground Beetle (Physodera eschscholtzii) feasting on a carcass of a beetle larva.

On the underside of the log were several of this Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba).

On another part of the tree was this Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis) grazing on a patch of white fungus.

Moving actively on the tree centimeters from the Fungus Weevil was a Fungus Beetle (Eurmorphus assamensis).

On another part of the tree was this 2 mm Darkling Beetle.

Hiding between two Bracket Fungus Mushrooms was a 5 mm Rove Beetle.

Moving on to another huge fallen tree, there were numerous of this 10 mm Darkling Beetles all over the entire length of the tree.

There were several of this 4 mm Ground Beetle running about on it.

Near to the Ground Beetle was a 5 mm female Fungus Beetle with two smaller 3 mm suitors.

Crawling at the side of the tree was this beetle larva which was very active, making it a challenge to photograph it.

There were several Bracket Fungus Mushrooms at the side of the tree and on it was this Pleasing  Fungus Beetle.

On the underside of the tree was this lone beetle larva, munching on the black colored fungus.

The last beetle on the fallen tree was this 25 mm Darkling Beetle resting motionlessly on it.

Time flew passed quickly and it was time to turn back, and at this point HW found this 15 mm Fungus Beetle resting on a leaf.

The last beetle for the trip was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle, found on one of the many Leea rubra plants that lined the paved walkway leading to the Venus Loop trail.

I am glad that we have decided to continue as planned as even though the sky looked like it was about to rain, it didn't rain at the end. The number of beetles found during the trip was considerably many as compared to several of my recent trips. Windsor Nature Park is indeed one of my favorite place for photographing beetles.

Night Walk At Lower Peirce Reservoir (19 Oct 2018)

It has been raining almost every Friday night for the past one month, so I am glad that the weather was fair today and took the opportunity to go to the Lower Peirce Reservoir for my night macro photography.

Here's an interesting looking 4 mm Leaf Hopper at the place.

For this trip, I am going to a less visited spot at Lower Peirce Reservoir. On the way to the spot, I came across this commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) feasting on a flower. This is one of the reasons why many gardeners do not welcome beetles in their gardens.

A stone's throw away was another Chafer Beetle resting on some flower buds.

After a bit of walking, I reach the spot and found this familiar Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta) resting on a dead log.

Near to the Darkling Beetle was a 10 mm Pleasing Beetle (Micrencaustes lunulata). The reason why I chose this place was the abundance of fallen trees where many beetles can usually be found.

Just a few centimeters away was one of my favorite Ground Beetle (Catascopus facialis) on a rotten log.

Nearby to the Ground Beetle was a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus tetrapilotus) resting on a dead bracket fungus mushroom.

Next to the Fungus Beetle was a half eaten white fungus mushroom where this pair of Sap Beetle was found.

On the same log was this 3 mm Pill Scarab Beetle, all rolled up like a little round pill.

Further down the same log was this Fungus Beetle which looked like the Micrencaustes lunulata Fungus Beetle but at half its size at 5 mm.

The last beetle for the trip was a Darkling Beetle (Strongylium tenuipes) at the base of a small tree. Unlike previous encounters, this particular specimen was super active and was moving about the tree while I was photographing it.

Although the trip was shorter than usual, the number of beetles encountered was still reasonable. 

Late Morning Walk At Chestnut Nature Park (06 Oct 2018)

I happened to be running some errands around Chestnut area in the late morning and so I decided to drop by the Chestnut Nature Park for a short macro photography session. This is the first time that I am there and do not know what to expect.

The first beetle for the trip was what looked like a Net-winged Beetle hiding in the shade. I am not sure if this is a Net-winged Beetle as it lacks the netted patterns on its elytra.

A stone's throw away was another Net-winged Beetle.

Next to the Net-winged Beetle was a first-time-encountered 8 mm Fungus Beetle.

After some walking, I was pleasantly surprised to find this black Net-winged Beetle. Although this is not the first time that I encountered this entirely black Net-winged Beetle, it is the first time that I am able to get a good photograph of it. The netted pattern on this beetle is very obvious and showed why it is called Net-winged Beetle.

Sadly that's all the beetles that I came across during the walk. This was possibly due to the time and also the super hot weather, which has persisted through the entire week. Coming to a part of the Northern Hiking Loop where there were several of this scary looking signs along side the trail. Not sure if they are still valid.

The interesting thing about the Chestnut Nature Park is its clear distinction between the Hikers' trail and Bikers' trail.

Sadly, there were many illiterate bikers that used the hiking trail. When I was there for about an hour or so, I counted about twenty or so bikers riding in the hikers' trail. Beside being inconsiderate, the bikers are also a danger to hikers using the trail. I confronted several of the bikers and all sort of lame reasons were given to justify them using the hikers' trail.

I later called up NPark to bring to their attention about the unlocked gate (which I suspect the bikers were using to get onto the hikers' trail) and was given the reason that the gates are not locked in case of emergencies.  I intentionally brought this up in this post to alert hikers planning to go to the Chestnut Nature Park to look out for errant bikers even though they are on the hikers' trail. Guessed that it is no longer safe to walk in our parks. :(

Here's a shot of some of the bikers that rode on the hikers' trail. Incidentally, I confronted the person in red cycling attire and he told me that he was not riding but pushing his bike.  He continued to push his bicycle and constantly looked behind to see if I am watching. Sigh...

The Chestnut Nature Park looked promising but will have to be extra careful to look out for illiterate errant bikers! Although this trip was a short one, I am glad to still be able to find a first-time-encounter Fungus Weevil and to be able to photograph the black Net-winged Beetle.