Night Walk At Lower Peirce Reservoir (02 Sep 2016)

My friend HW and I decided to go to the Lower Peirce Reservoir this week for our night macro session. Although I have been to the place not too long ago, I didn't go to the place where we previously found a large colony of Epsicapha quadrimacula Fungus Beetle. To my surprise, the plants at the place have grown a lot and the place was almost inaccessible.

 

The first beetle was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).

Near to the Chafer Beetle was another beetle. I am still not clear which beetle family it belongs to.

Resting on a small bush was a lovely Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus).

Nearby on a small tree was this 2 mm Darkling Beetle which appeared black to the naked eyes but its lovely pattern became visible when zoomed in with the camera.

Coming to some fallen tree, I am glad to find several of this Darkling Beetles.

On a leaf of a low palm tree, I found several of this brown Chafer Beetle which I suspect is the female of the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle.

On a tree further down the "trail" was a small 1 mm Darkling Beetle.

Coming to a sandy patch, we found a number of this commonly encountered Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta).

Resting on a blade of grass was a 5 mm Ground Beetle (Pentagonica flavipes).

On a tree nearby was several of this shiny 4 mm Darkling Beetle.

On the same tree was this 3 mm Fungus Beetle.

As my friend HW has not walked the Lower Peirce Boardwalk before, we decided to give it a try even though I know that the chances of finding beetles along the boardwalk is not very high. Near to the start of the boardwalk, HW found a Darkling Beetle (Strongylium tenuipes) up a small tree.

At the start of the boardwalk, I came across a small patch of Clidemia hirta plant and on it was this curious looking critter. I am not sure what nymph it is but it looked a bit like a beetle larvae. Appreciate if someone can identify this critter.

There were a number of Singapore  Rhododendron plant (Melastoma malabathricum) along the boardwalk and feasting on them were scores of different Chafer Beetles.

It was only after a fair bit of walking before I find this dark bronze color Chafer Beetle.

More walking without finding any beetles until we came to a small tree where several of this shiny 3 mm Darkling Beetle were found.

On the same tree was this lone Darkling Beetle.

Not much actions along the boardwalk and I was so glad to be able to find several of this 3 mm Darkling Beetles almost near to the end of the boardwalk.

The last beetle for the trip was a small 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

This trip was interesting as I was able to revisit the site where I saw a large congregation of the Episcapha quadrimacula Fungus Beetles.

Morning Walk At Lower Peirce Reservoir (14 May 2016)

I sent my car for servicing near to the Lower Peirce Reservoir and so I decided to go there for a walk. The last time I was there in the morning was almost 6 months ago. The place was slightly wet with the morning dew when I was there.

Here's a photograph of a Jumping Spider (Thiania bhamoensis) that many of us fondly remembered as Fighting Spider. This is because as young boys, we would catch them and put them together to fight. We would keep them in metal candy or match boxes with a leaf, and occasionally feed it with ants or houseflies. Such was the simple pleasure of our childhood.

The first beetle for the trip was a treat as it was a first-time-encountered 8 mm Darkling Beetle (Strongylium sp.) on the side of a small tree. It looked similar to the Strongylium tenuipes Darkling Beetle but differs from the size of the white coloration on its legs.

The next beetle was a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) on a fallen log.

On the same log was this beetle larvae moving about actively on the log.

About a meter away from the beetle larvae was another similar larvae but it met its untimely death of predation by another beetle larvae.

Moving further down the trail, I  was happy to still be able to find this Fungus Beetle (Epsicapha quadrimacula) moving about in the day. You would usually find this type of beetle in large number at Lower Peirce Reservoir at night.

The surprise for the trip was the encounter with this Net-winged Beetle (Lycostomus porphyrophorus) on a blade of grass. It was still covered with dew, probably due to the overcast sky.

Coming to a small track, I decided to make a detour and explore the mud track. Nothing much along the track except for several of this hyper-active Tiger Beetles (Cicindela aurulenta). It is always a challenge photographing this beetle in the day as they would constantly be running and flying around.

A stone's throw from the small mud track, along the main track was this metallic colored Leaf Beetle.

Along the track was a large fallen log and on it was a lone Fungus Beetle.

Directly on the opposite of the track where the Fungus Beetle was this Ladybird Beetle larvae on a rubber tree leaf.

Moving into the trail with a thick tree canopy, I found this 2 mm Leaf Beetle hiding under a leaf.

Near to the Leaf Beetle was a lovely Ladybird Beetle (Illeis koebelei) on a leaf.

After some walking, I was glad to find this 2 mm first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle on a leaf.

The sky became dark and it started to rumble with thunder, so I decided to turn back. Just then I found this Leaf Beetle (Hoplosaenidea singaporensis) resting on a leaf, probably preparing for the impending rain.

The highlight of the trip was this 8 mm first-time-encountered Dung Beetle resting motionlessly on a yellow leaf.

The last beetle for the trip was a Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis) hiding under a leaf.

The trip was unexpectedly fruitful with 3 first-time-encountered beetles, A good trip indeed!

Short Night Walk At Lower Peirce Reservoir (04 Mar 2016)

The sky was reddish and looked like it was going to rain soon, so I decided to go to the near by Lower Peirce Reservoir for my weekly walk.

Here's a photograph of a brood of spider hatchlings found during the trip.

The first beetle for the trip was a Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis) found among the vegetation that lined the entrance. I was pretty surprised to find a number of them moving actively among the leaves in the night. I have always thought that these are diurnal beetles.

Near to the Leaf Beetle was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).

The number of critters encountered was strangely low, so I was thrilled to be able to find a colony of Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta).

After walking for a while without finding any beetles, this Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) with its yoga pose was a welcomed sight.

Coming to a fallen log, my eyes caught sight of a Rove Beetle that was moving very fast on the log. While I was trying to photograph the Rove Beetle, this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus assamensis) was found motionless at the base of the log.

After some waiting, I finally managed to get a shot of the Rove Beetle, albeit that it was not a well taken photograph because of its constant movement.

More walking without finding any beetles, until I came across this spider web with two beetles on it.

The sky started to drizzle lightly and I decided to call it a day. Just then, I found a Chafer Beetle (Maladera orientalis) on a half eaten leaf.

This trip was unexpectedly short due to the rain, but nevertheless I still managed to find some beetles.

Morning Walk At Lower Peirce Reservoir (21 Nov 2015)

My best friend Cameron messaged me in the morning to ask me if I would join him and his daughter Samantha for a spider hunting trip at Lower Peirce Reservoir. Samantha is currently researching the Cosmophasis umbratica Jumping Spiders for her university studies, and so I gladly agreed especially since the disappointing trip the night before.

Although the focus of the trip was to find Jumping Spiders, I took the opportunity to also look for beetles, albeit that we are only looking among the Ixora plants (Ixora congesta). The first beetle encountered besides the Jumping Spiders was this lone metallic colored Leaf Beetle, resting under a leaf.

The highlight of the trip for me was the encounter with this first-time-encountered 3 mm Weevil Beetle on a stalk of Ixora flower.

There were a number of this small 1 mm Leaf Beetles found among the leaves of the Ixora plants.

Although the intention of the trip was to look for Jumping Spiders, I am glad to be able to find some beetles, especially the first-time-encountered Weevil Beetle.