Night Walk At Tampines Eco Green (29 Apr 2016)

It was more than 3 years that I last visited Tampines Eco Green, and so I decided to go there for the night even though it rained heavily in the early afternoon. When I reached the place, it was still pretty wet and this can only meant that the chances of me finding beetles would be pretty slim.

Here's a photograph of an interesting encounter at the place - a Striped Kukri Snake (Oligodon octolineatus). It has been many years since my last encountered with this particular type of snake.

The first beetle for the trip was a Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) which looked as if it just emerged from the ground not too long, given the mud stains on it.

It was only after some walking before I encountered this metallic colored Leaf Beetle.

I started with the Forest Trail but the name got me wondering as the trail has more tall grass than trees. Among the wet tall grass was this CHafer Beetle (Aprosterna palide) which turned out to be super hyper-active, and it promptly flew off after a few photographs.

More walking and searching among the tall grasses before I found this lone Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) munching on a leaf.

Apart from the name of the trail, I am also very curious as to why the tree that lined the trail were pretty much sterile or critterless. It was quite interesting that I didn't find any Darkling Beetles on the many trees that I checked, until this particular tree where I found a small colony of this 1 mm Darkling Beetle.

More walking before I came across another tree where several of this 2 mm Darkling Beetles were found. Noticed the super tiny greyish-blue critters that were near to the beetle? Not sure if they are Springtails.

I was rather bored due to the lack of beetles, until this curious young cat decided to accompany me for the rest of the journey. It would some times run ahead of me and then would zip between my legs. It would stopped to check out "things" and later run ahead of me. It was pretty entertaining to have this cat around, especially when I was not able to find any beetles despite me being extra thorough when scanning the plants and trees on both sides of the trail.

More walking before I found this Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) resting on the under a leaf of a low tree.

The last beetle for the trip came as a pleasant surprise and also a fitting end to the trip. I was least expecting to find this lovely colored Darkling Beetle (Strongylium erythrocephalum) on a rotting log.

The trip was worse than expected as I only found 8 different beetles, even though I walked for more than 2 hours, before call it a day.  Nevertheless I was able to test out a newly DIYed, lighter and less bulking flash diffuser. Looking back at the number of beetles I found during the previous trip to the place (3 years ago), I wondered if the dismal results this trip was due to the wet weather or was it the sad of things at the place.

Night Walk At Tampines Eco Green Park (08 Mar 2013)

Have been reading about this place in Tampines called Tampines Eco Green Park, so I took advantage of the nice weather to pay the place a visit. The South entrance to the park is just opposite the Sunplaza Park, about 15 min walk from the Tampines MRT.

Reached the place just when the sun is about to set. This is an interesting place as the pathway is wide and pathed with carpet grass, pretty much another manicured nature trail.

The first beetle that I came across was this strange looking Leaf Beetle, looked very much like bird poop and remained very still until it had enough of all the camera flashes.

The next beetle along the trail was this lovely Twenty-Eight Spot Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata). Super long name for a small beetle.

Near by the Ladybird Beetle was this beetle larve. Wonder how the adult looks like.

Another Ladybird Beetle but this time round almost jet black. This could possibly be Coelophora inaequalis.

After the encounter with the jet black colored Ladybird Beetle, it was no action for a good 20 minutes until I reached the North entrance of the park. Moving further north will bring me to Pasir Ris Park. I was pretty tempted to cross over to the Pasir Ris Park after such a long walk without any sighting of beetles. Just when I was comtemplating my next move, this colorful Ladybird Beetle (Heteroneda recticulata) appeared. This was a wonderful surprise as I have been wanting to photograph it for a while.

With the appearance of this beautiful beetle, I decided to stick to my original plan.

A beetle larve on a blade of grass a metre or so away from the Ladybird.

Just when I am done photographing the beetle larve, another Ladybird Beetle (Epilachna indica) turned up less than a metre away. Brilliant color but the right elytron seemed to be damaged.

Moving further down was this Chafer Beetle (Anomala variegata) hanging on tightly to a blade of grass.

The vegetation of the place changes to mostly tall grasses. I was thinking in my heart that this is a great environment for the Spiny Leaf Beetle  and true enough, a Spiny Leaf Beetle (Dicladispa armigera) appeared. Not easy to photograph this beetle as it is easily spooked and readily fly away when disturbed. After a few attempt and following after this beetle, it finally got tired and gave me a few nice close up shots. This beetle is about 5mm in size.

Knowing that this is a perfect habitat for the Spiny Leaf Beetle, I looked carefully at every black specks that were on the grasses. The hard work paid off and I found this 2mm entirely black Spiny Leaf Beetle on a blade of grass. Didn't manage to get very good photographs due to the small size and strong wind at the location.

Following the path of tall grasses, I came to a T-junction and decided to take a short detour. I am glad to have taken the short detour as this brightly colored Ladybird Beetle (Coelophora inaequalis) appeared out of a sudden along the path.

Moving along the manicured path, the vegetation once again changed from tall grasses to low bushes and small trees. This Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) was having a greating feast with a leave.

A stone's throw from the Chafer Beetle was this beetle. It looked like a Net-winged Beetle from a short distance away, but upon closer examination it is not a Net-winged Beetle. It could be a Firefly Beetle but I didn't see it flash in the dark so cannot be certain.

Many black colored Chafer Beetles (Apogonia expeditionis) were seen munching in the low bushes.

Moving further down the trail, there was almost dried up stream and interestingly, I found a few Aquatic Beetles moving on dry ground near the stream. They were too fast for my slow camera skills and hence I was only able to capture a few shots of the Aquatic Beetle on dry ground. You can easily tell that they are Aquatic Beetles by looking at their legs, which look very different from the land dwelling beetles.

Another Aquatic Beetle.

Going futher, I found this this tiny Click Beetle (3 mm) hidding in a leaf. It was pretty sensitive to light and within a short while, it just flew away.

This was another highlight for the trip, Tortoise Beetle (Cassida circumdata). Have been looking for them among the morning glory plant but was not successful until I reached this place. A pleasant surprise.

Found this beetle on a sign post made from a tree trunk.

Just when I am almost at the end point of my trip, I stumbled upon this interesting looking beetle. It has a set of horn-like protrusions on its thorax. Looked very much like a bull.

And among the beetles with horns, were a few without horns. I supposed that these are the females.

I am so glad that I have persevered on to complete the walk in the Tampines Eco Green Park. If not, I would not have encounter these lovely and interesting beetles.