Night Walk At Island Club Road (15 Nov 2019)

For this week's night macro photography, HW and I decided to go to the Island Club Road for a walk. Although it rained in the day time, the place was still relatively dry. Here's a photograph of a Stick Insect encountered at the place.

The first beetle was a 10 mm  Fungus Beetle found a fallen tree.

It was after a while of walking that I came across another Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus tetraspilotus) resting on a leaf.

Some distance away was another fallen log where there were several large fungus mushrooms growing on it, and inside the mushrooms were several of this 3 mm Silken Fungus Beetle (Triplax rufipes).

The highlight for the trip was this first-time-encountered Ground Beetle (Chlaenius virgulifer). It was hyperactive and was crawling around the ground very quickly. Sadly I was not able to catch any good shot of the beetle.

On a small tree along the route was a 5 mm Darkling Beetle.

More walking without finding any critters and this interesting looking beetle larva found on a fallen log was a welcomed sight.

On the same log was this Rove Beetle which was a challenge to photograph with its non-stop movement across the log.

More walking before finding this 5 mm beetle (Martinezostes sp.) on a rotten standing tree.

Near to the Martinezostes sp. beetle was a 3 mm Darkling Beetle on a small tree.

The last beetle for the trip was a Long Horned Beetle (Epepeotes luscus) which happened to land on HW's flash diffuser.

Although the trip was not as fruitful as expected but finding the first-time-encountered Ground Beetle was worth the trip, albeit that I didn't manage to get a good shot of the beetle.

Night Walk At Windsor Nature Park (06 Sep 2019)

The weather in Singapore has been hot and dry for the past few weeks, as such I have not gone for any night macro photography session as the chances of finding beetles in such dry weather will be very slim. Thankfully it rained several times this week, so HW and I decided to go to Windsor Nature Park for a try.

The place was dry as expected but it was not bone dry, probably due to the rain earlier in the week. The good news was that vegetations were not withered as expected and they looked green and alive. The surprise find for the trip was the encounter of a large patch of luminous mushroom, which we didn't expect to find during this period of hot and dry weather.

The first beetle encountered was a Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis) found on a log that lined the area under reforestation.

On another fallen log near by was a pair of commonly encountered Darkling Beetles. Notice how dry was the log that the beetles were on.

Next to the Darkling Beetles was a Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) resting on a leaf.

On a small tree nearby was a 5 mm Darkling Beetle. It is quite common to find similar looking Darkling Beetles, only differing in size which can range from 1 mm to 10 mm.

Walking further down the trail, a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) was found resting on some leaves.

On a small tree nearby was this 2 mm orange color Fungus Beetle.

There was quite a number of fallen log and many of them were dry without any fungus growth. On one of the logs was this 10 mm Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba).

On the same log was a 5 mm black color Ground Beetle that blend perfectly into the black background.

Still on the same log was a small 4 mm Darkling Beetle.

On another fallen log was this 10 mm Fungus Beetle.

Going further down the trail, there were several sawed logs that lined the path. On one of the logs were several of this 10 mm Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta).

On another log that lined the path was this Ground Beetle (Catascupos dalbertisi).

Near the underside of the same log was a 5 mm beetle (Martinezostes sp.)

Moving further, there was a 10 mm Ground Beetle. Although the beetle looked like the Ground Beetles that I usually encountered at this place, it is half the size of the similar looking Ground Beetle. Not sure if this is a different type of Ground Beetle or it is because of sexual dimorphism.

Near to the fallen log was this lovely Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) resting on a leaf.

A stone's throw away was this 20 mm Ground Beetle resting on a fern leaf. This is the normal size Ground Beetle that I mentioned earlier on.

Moving on, a bronze colored Chafer Beetle.

The highlight of the trip was the encounter of this diurnal Leaf Beetle (Hoplosaenidea singaporensis). It has been a while I last encountered this beetle. I especially like the metallic blue coloration of the beetle.

On a leaf nearby was this 20 mm Ground Beetle (Onypterygia longispinis).

High up on a tree next to the path was this 5 mm roundish Darkling Beetle.

Time passed by quickly and it was time for us to end the trip. Near to the exit was a patch of West Indian Holly (Leea guineensis) where different Chafer Beetles were found.

The trip was surprisingly fruitful given the hot and dry weather we are experiencing in Singapore. Windsor Nature Park was indeed a right choice of visit for this trip.

Long Walk To Windsor Nature Park (22 Feb 2019)

The weather has been hot and dry for the past few weeks. Thankfully it rained on the first two days of this week, but it was short lived as the few days after were back to the hot and dry weather.

For this week, my friend HW and I decided to start earlier and walk from MacRitchie Reservoir to Windsor Nature Park.

Here's a photograph of a Long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) family encountered during this trip.

The first beetle for the trip was a Darkling Beetle (Strongylium sp.).

The highlight of the trip came early, a 15 mm Chafer Beetle (Holotrichia geilenkenseri) under a palm leaf. I first encountered this beetle many years back and identified it as Holotrichia geilenkenseri, but looking back I am not sure if the identification is accurate. Nevertheless, I will continue to use this name until someone inform me otherwise.

There were not many critters encountered let alone beetles, possibly due to the hot and dry weather. It was only after a while of walking before I found this lone 5 mm Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis) on a small leaf.

More walking without finding anything until this 5 mm Leaf Beetle turned up on a small twig.

After a while of walking, we finally reached the Windsor Nature Park. The place was very much the same as the trail leading from MacRitchie Reservoir - bone dry. Surprisingly, we still managed to find a number of beetles. Here's a photograph of a lovely Leaf Beetle with a bluish tinge.

On a tree nearby was a 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

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

There were a number of fallen trees along the side of the trail and on them were several of this 10 mm Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba).

A short distance away, at the base of a small tree was this 4 mm Fungus Weevil.

Interestingly there were several of this Ground Beetle along the trail.

More walking without finding any beetles until we detoured into a spot where there were several fallen trees. This Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus) was found on a palm leaf.

At the base of a small tree at the spot was this matte black 5 mm Darkling Beetle.

On one of the fallen trees were several of this 10 mm Darkling Beetle. This type of Darkling Beetle are commonly found on fallen tree in the night.

On the same log was this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus assamensis).

Near to the Eumorphus assamensis Fungus Beetle was another 10 mm Fungus Beetle.

Next to one of the fallen tree was a small tree where several of this Ambrosia Beetle was found. It was quite a challenge to photograph them as they were actively moving around, attempting to avoid the focusing light of my camera.

Moving further down, a bronze colored Chafer Beetle was found on a small plant, but it "drop" promptly when we started to photograph it. Thankfully, it "dropped" onto a dry leave and we were able to photograph it.

Moving to another spot where there were several logs lining the trail, and on it was this lone Ground Beetle.

The surprise of the trip was the encountered of this pair of Long Horned Beetles (Epepeotes luscus). This photograph gives a good feel of the size difference between the male (left) and female.

The next beetle was fortunate that it didn't got crushed as it was on the ground just a meter from the Long Horned Beetle. This is a Darkling Beetle.

Moving on to an older fallen tree, I found this well-camouflaged Fungus Weevil under the tree.

Next to the fallen tree was a dead tree branch where this 25 mm Pleasing Fungus Beetle (Triplatoma gestroi) was found.

Moving on, we came to a relatively sandy spot and was surprised to find this lone Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta).

Time passes by quickly and it was almost time to turn back. Just then this Chafer Beetle was found by HW.

On a fallen long were several of this first-time-encountered beetle larvae.

Still on the same log, we managed to find two of this interesting Martinezostes sp beetle.

The last beetle encountered on the same log was this 8 mm lovely Darkling Beetle.

The trip was not as fruitful as expected, it was still fruitful given the dry weather.