Night Walk At Ang Mo Kio Garden West (26 Jul 2019)

I was on holiday in Genting Highlands recently and found some beetles. Comparing the number of beetles encountered during my previous trip to Genting Highlands, it was a great disappointment as I only encountered a handful of beetles during this trip. Nevertheless, here are some of the beetles encountered there.

For this week night macro session, HW wanted to explore the remaining part of the Ang Mo Kio Garden Park West which we didn't get to do during our last trip there. The first critter that we encountered was this interesting looking Praying Mantis that looks like a stick.

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

A short walk from the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was another brownish-black Chafer Beetle.

After a while of walking without finding any beetles, this commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) was a welcomed sight.

A stone's throw from the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle was another Chafer Beetle.

The last beetle encountered was a small group of Water Beetle (Donacia javana) usually found on water lilies or lotus leaves in a pond.

The number of beetles encountered on this trip was rather disappointing, but not unexpected given the current hot and dry weather in Singapore. 

Night Walk At Dairy Farm Nature Park (05 Apr 2019)

The weather for the week was surprisingly wet, having thunder storms for a good few days. Today the sky was overcast and there were reports of heavy rain in some part of Singapore. For this week's night macro photography session, I decided to go to the Dairy Farm Nature Park.

My original plan was to go to the usual Wallace Trail for the session, but changed at the very last minute to explore a trail that I seldom go. The vegetation at the trail was very wet, an indication that it just rained a short while ago. Not deterred I decided to press on with the trip, knowing that the chances of finding any beetles will be very slim.

Along the trail was a small "pond" which more like a big puddle of water where there were a dozens of this small backswimmers.

To my pleasant surprise, I found a small 8 mm Water Beetle (Diplonychus rusticus) resting at the side of the "pond".

After walking for a while without finding any beetles or critters, this lone Chafer Beetle was a welcomed sight.

Walking further down the trail, there was a patch of badly eaten Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum) where dozens of this commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) were found.

More walking before finding this lone Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) having its dinner.

Coming to a small fallen tree, I was surprised to find this 10 mm Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta).

The last beetle for the trip was another Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba) on another fallen tree.

Although the number of beetles encountered on this trip was miserable as compared to many of my trips, the encountering of the Water Beetle made the trip worth the while. Will definitely go back to this trail when the weather is better.

Night Walk At Pasir Ris Park (30 Nov 2018)

The weather today was surprisingly better than expected, with only some short showers through the day. HW and I planned to go to Pasir Ris Park for this week's macro photography session and so we proceeded there as planned. As expected, the condition of the place was not ideal with many part of the ground being "soggy" due to the heavy rain during the week.

Here's a photograph of some interesting looking 3 mm flies on a blade of grass.

As expected, the first beetle for the trip was the commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) feasting on some closed leaves. Due to the rain, even this commonly encountered beetle was only seen 3 times during this trip.

The vegetation grew back after all the construction works at the place that we usually visit. To my pleasant surprise, there were many of this 5 mm shiny bronze-color Leaf Beetle.

The highlight of the trip was the encounter of this first-time-encountered 3 mm beetle on a small blade of grass, while I was waiting for HW to reach the place. From its appearance, it looked like a Water Beetle. You might be wondering how can it be that a Water Beetle can be found on land? It is interesting to note that even the Water Beetle can fly and this is how they move from one body of water to another, especially during the dry season where their watery homes dried up frequently. Nevertheless, I may be wrong as this is only the second time that I encountered a Water Beetle on land since I started photographing Singapore's beetles since December 2012.

Further down the path was a spot where there were many Elephant Climber plants (Aniseia nervosus) and on one of the leaves was this lone 10 mm Tortoiseshell Beetle (Laccoptera nepalensis).

It was after a while of walking before we came to a sandy patch of ground where a colony of Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) was found. There are easily a few tens of them resting close to each other.

On a small tree nearby was a 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

The last beetle for the trip was a 2 mm Darkling Beetle. Sadly, no more beetles encountered after this.

This trip was not very fruitful partially due to the wet weather and partially because we decided to go through a different path. Nevertheless, it is still a good trip as I managed to find a first-time-encountered beetle on this trip.

Night Walk At Yio Chu Kang Road (09 Jan 2015)

My friend and I were looking forward to checking out the stretch of "wilderness" along Yio Chu Kang Road for the whole week but the weather for the entire week has not been good. Surprisingly, the weather for the day was dry and so we proceeded as planned. To our dismay, just as we set off for the walk the sky start to drizzle slightly. Possibly due to the drizzle, several of this lovely flat worm were found on the trip. The identity of this flatworm is not confirmed but it was previously suggested that this could be Bipalium vagum. I did a search on the internet and found another similar looking flatworm by the name of Bipalium kewense.

The first beetle was a Ant-like Flower Beetle hiding under a large leaf.

The next beetle was a surprise find - a Net-winged Beetle (Lycostomus porphyrophorus) resting on a leaf.

The place was not very productive and it was only after a long walk before I found this Darkling Beetle resting on the tip of a leaf.

After walking for another long while without finding any beetles, this small 4 mm Leaf Beetle was a welcomed sight.

Coming to a patch of banana trees, I was glad to find this first-time-encountered 3 mm orange color beetle. Not too sure if it is a Fungus Beetle or a Darkling Beetle, but it looked to me more like a Fungus Beetle.

Not too far from the orange beetle above was a Long Horned Beetle (Aeolesthes holosericeus) resting on a baby elephant ear plant.

It was another long while before we found a fallen tree and on it were several of this lovely Darkling Beetle.

On the same log was another commonly encountered Darkling Beetle.

Near to the fallen log was a patch of low bushes and on one of the leaves was this 2 mm Leaf Beetle.

Nearby was a Chafer Beetle (Maladera orientalis) resting on a leaf.

The last beetle for the trip was a first-time-encountered small 3 mm Water Beetle found in a small puddle of stagnant water.

The trip was not a fruitful one given the number of beetles found, even though I still managed to find two first-time-encountered beetles. I would probably think twice before going back to the place.

Night Walk At Lorong Halus (07 Feb 2014)

For this trip I decided to go to the Lorong Halus Wetland as I have not been to the place at night before. At the same time, I also wanted to try out the twin flash that I bought on-line recently.  After having tried out the extension tube with my Tamron AF70-300 mm lens previously, I decided to put everything together and test all of them out together. Although this works well together, the weight of the entire set up is a little heavy to my liking.

The weather was dry as it has not rained for almost a month. Plants and grass were turning brown and can been seen in many parts of Singapore. At Lorong Halus, what used to be lush green bushes and plants were now brown and dying, with many brown dead leaves lined the path. Thankfully while I am writing this blog, the sky darkened and started to rain heavily. Hopefully this heavy rain will bring back the lush greenery that we have taken for granted in what we called ourselves as City in a Garden, Singapore.

The place was bone dry even though it is just next to the Punggol-Serangoon Reservoir. This gave me a bad feeling that the trip will not be a fruitful one. The first beetle that greeted me was a 3 mm Fungus Beetle.

Near to the Fungus Beetle was a lone Darkling Beetle which turned out to be a first-time-encountered beetle. This beetle is different from the commonly encountered Darkling Beetle in that it has a much longer body (elytra).

Moving to a small mud puddle (which I remembered it to be a large pool of water when I last visited the place), several of this first-time-encountered Water Beetle were seen swimming in their fast dwindling watery home.

The next beetle was a tiny Fungus Beetle that is less than 2 mm in size.

The highlight of the trip was finding several of this 10 mm first-time-encountered Firefly Beetle (Pteroptyx valida). This is an easy beetle to locate in the dark due to its blinking greenish-yellow at its abdomen.

Nearing the end of the trail, several of this commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) were seen on the Water Sensitive Plant (Neptunia natans). Notice the chew marks on the leaf?

On a tree were several pupae which looked like the earlier Fungus Beetle.

Just before I exit the trail, this Soldier Beetle (Crudosilis ruficollis) was seen resting on a blade of grass. It was a welcomed sight as the number of beetles encountered during this trip was really very low.

This trip was not very fruitful given the number of beetles encountered, but having three first-time-encountered beetles make the trip worth the while. 

Evening Walk At The Singapore Botanic Garden (30 Aug 2013)

Was around Singapore Botanic Garden so I decided to take a walk there to see if there are any interesting beetle actions in the night. The sun was about to set when my journey began.

The first beetle that I found was a surprise find - a Spiny Leaf Beetle (Discladispa armigera).

Near to the Spiny Leaf Beetle was this tiny (~1 mm) beetle. It looked like a tiny black speck until I zoomed in to see the lovely orange coloration.

The next beetle was another pleasant surprise, a small 5 mm Jewel Beetle feeding on a fern leaf. This is the second time I came across this beetle, the last was at Upper Seletar Reservoir.

Moving down to an area of some chest height bushes, I found this tiny (~2 mm) Weevil Beetle. It was very hyperactive and photographing it was a real challenge, especially in the wind.

Hidden under the lush leaves was this Leaf Beetle. It looked like the Colasposoma auripenne Leaf Beetle except that it is brownish instead of metallic in color.

On some nearby bushes were these tiny (~2 mm) beetles. They are the same shape and sizes but differed in their patterns and coloration. Pardon the quality of the photographs as it was pretty windy at the place and the beetles were very sensitive to the camera flash and flew off after just one or two shots.

Moving to an area where there are several small ponds, I was fortunate to still find a few of this Water Beetle (Donacia javana) at that moment when the sun was almost set.

Along the side of a paved path was a row of low hedges where I chanced upon this Weevil Beetle (Curculio imitator). This beetle was so alert that it immediately flew off upon my first flash shot of it.

Around the same low hedge was this lovely Ladybird Beetle (Chilocorus circumdatus).

Another small (~ 2 mm) Ladybird Beetle was found hiding between the fold of a leaf.

Coming to a part of the garden where there were a large patch of air potato plants and some tall bamboo-like grass, several of this lovely colored Leaf Beetles (Aulacophora lewisii) were found flying around looking for place to rest.

On a nearby air potato leaf was this Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna implicata) getting ready for the night.

Moving along a stretch of 10 feet tall hedges, I found this Soldier Beetle on a leaf at the base of the hedge.

I had intentionally waited for the sky to be completely dark before I headed for the primary forest area, hoping to find some interesting beetles. Much to my disappointment, I only managed to find two beetles in the area. One was a first time encountered Darkling Beetle and the other was a Chafer Beetle (Phyllophaga marginalis).

After walking for a long while without finding any beetles, I decided to head for home. While making my way to the garden's exit, I found a huge tree with 3 different sizes of similar looking Darkling Beetles on it. The smallest was 2 mm, the mid-size beetle was about 4 mm and the largest was about 6 mm.

The last beetle that I found before I exited from the garden was this brown colored Chafer Beetle.

The trip was pretty fruitful with some surprised encounters. I would probably go to this place again in the morning and not in the night, unless I wanted to have some good workout for my legs.