Morning Walk At Windsor Nature Park (15 Feb 2020)

I woke up early today and so decided to go to the Windsor Nature Park for my weekly macro photography session. Here's a photograph of an interesting looking fungus mushroom which looked very much like sea anemones.

Fungus Beetle (Episcapha quadrimacula) ~ 15 mm

Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) ~ 10 mm

Fungus Beetle ~ 8 mm

Long Horned Beetle (Thranius bimaculatus) ~ 18 mm

Fungus Beetle (Eumophus westiwoodi) ~ 10 mm

Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus mirus) ~ 10 mm

Long-toed Water Beetle ~ 3 mm

Jewel Beetle (Habroloma lepidopterum) ~ 2 mm

Fungus Beetle ~ 4 mm

Shiny Fungus Beetle ~ 3 mm

Shiny Fungus Beetle ~ 3 mm

Shiny Fungus Beetle ~ 3 mm

Darkling Beetle ~ 2 mm

Beetle larva ~ 8 mm

Fungus Beetle ~ 10 mm

Leaf Beetle (Arcastes biplagiata) ~ 8 mm

Leaf Beetle ~ 4 mm

Straight Snout Weevil ~ 3 mm

Pintail Beetle (Glipa malaccana) ~ 10 mm

Leaf Beetle (Galerosastra sumatrana) ~ 8 mm

Fungus Beetle (Stenotarsus pardalis) ~ 8 mm

Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) ~ 3 mm

Yellow Orchid Beetle larvae ~ 10 mm

Night Walk Along Island Club Road (29 Mar 2019)

For the past 2 months the weather in Singapore has been hot and dry.This makes my usual beetle macro photography sessions exceptionally challenging as can been seen from my blogs for the past 2 months (or lack of). To my pleasant surprise, we had a few days of heavy rain this week and the sky continue to look like there are more rain to come.

Seizing the opportunity, HW & I decided to go to the Island Club Road for this week night macro photography session. We have not try this stretch of the road that leads to the Singapore Island Country Club, which fringes the Windsor Nature Park.

The vegetation at the place looked very much alive as compared to my recent few trips, and we were hopeful that we can find something interesting during this trip. Here's a photograph of a lovely looking moth encountered during the trip.

No surprise to us, the first beetle that we encountered was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).

While photographing the Chafer Beetle, HW called out to me that he found a 4 mm Leaf Beetle.

HW reached the place earlier and found this 4mm Shiny Fungus Beetle which he showed me after we met up. It has been a while I last photographed this beetle.

After walking for a short while, I found this 10 mm dark bronze color Chafer Beetle resting on a badly eaten up leave.

While exploring an open spot along the road, I was surprised to find this commonly encountered Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta).

At the spot were several fallen trees and on one of them was this 5 mm Rove Beetle. I am rather fortunate as this particular specimen did not run away from my lights and allowed me to photograph it with relative ease.

A stone's throw away was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle.

Near to the Chafer Beetle was a 8 mm first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle. This beetle looked similar to another Leaf Beetle but differs in color. The beetle I encountered on previous trips was metallic green in color, whereas this specimen was metallic bronze in color.

Coming to a small Elephant Ear Plant, I am glad to find this 4 mm Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea).

After some walking without finding any other beetles except the commonly encountered Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle, this Weevil Beetle was a welcomed sight.

Near to the Weevil Beetle were several 1 mm Fungus Beetles on a small tree.

The last beetle for the trip was a 3mm first-time-encountered Lead Beetle.

Although the number of beetles encountered during this trip was not remarkable as compared to the trips before the dry weather, the trip was still fruitful as different types of beetle were found, especially the two first-time-encountered beetles.

Recce Trip to Lentor Avenue (08 Feb 2019)

For this week, my friend HW and I decided to recce the Lentor Avenue for future macro-photography sessions. As this was the first time that we were there, we did not know what to expect.

The weather for this week has been dry and it can be clearly seen  from the limpy and dried plants at the place. There were not many critters encountered due to the dry weather. Here's a photograph of an Oriental Whip Snake(Ahaetulla prasina) encountered during the trip.

The first beetle for the trip was a 20 mm Darkling Beetle hiding in a crevice of a large tree.

Like in previous trips, these 2 mm Darkling Beetles were found in large numbers on trees.From the shriveled up moss you can easily tell how dry the place was.

The surprise find for the trip was this diurnal Tiger Beetle (Therates dimidiatus) resting on a leaf. This beetle was too alert and only a few shots were taken before it promptly flying away into the bushes.

The next beetle was a 8 mm Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) found at the base of a small tree.

The highlight of the trip was a first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle (Stenotarsus militaris) found under a white bracket mushroom.

Near to the Fungus Beetle was a 3 mm Darkling Beetle in the crevice of a small tree.

Further down the trail was a patch of Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum) plants where several of this commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) were found.

Another surprise find during the trip was this 3 mm Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) found under a leaf of a tall bush.

The last beetle for the trip was a small 5 mm Leaf Beetle.

The recce trip was considered to be successful as we managed to find a number of beetles despite the dry weather and us being distracted to move onto a Park Connector Network. We should be returning to the place for future macro photography  sessions.

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.