It has been a while that I last posted anything in this blog. It was due to multiple reasons for the lack of activities, but primarily due the reason that I got lazy due to Covid-19 measures, and also the rekindling of one of my "old" hobbies - inter-tidal walks which competed with the macro-photography sessions. May be I should consider starting a blog on inter-tidal walks in Singapore.
It was on one of these recent inter-tidal walks that reminded me of something that I "discovered" years ago at the Changi Beach, which I am sharing now in this blog - beetle larvae can be found on Changi Beach. Yes, you read it correctly, I "discovered" that you can regularly find beetle larvae at Changi Beach during low tides.
Here's where beetle larvae can be found at Changi Beach. You can literally find beetle larvae lying on their sides on the sand, very much like a sea-shell or the commonly encountered Pink Warty Sea Cucumber at Changi Beach. Interestingly these beetle larvae are very buoyant and are able to float in sea water.
During one of my recent trips to Changi Beach, I managed to find two beetle larvae at the beach. Out of curiosity as to what kind of beetle these larvae are from, I decided to bring them home to see if I can raise them into adult beetles. Sadly, one didn't make the trip and was dead upon arrival at my home.
When I "discovered" them years ago, I have a strong suspicion that these beetle larvae are from neighboring islands such as Pulau Ubin, Tekong Island or even Malaysia. Looking at the larvae, they are likely to be the larvae of Coconut Beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros) or Rhinoceros Beetle (Xylotrupes gideon).
Here's the photographs of the beetle larva that remained.
Upon closer examination of the beetle larva at home, it looks very much like a Oryctes rhinoceros larva. Hopefully I can keep the larva to maturity and see if my observation is correct. I will update if I am successful in raising the larva to adult beetle.
