Night Walk At Venus Drive (19 Apr 2013)

 The weather was perfect for a walk, and it was a decision between Venus Drive Trail or the Old Upper Thomson Road (which I have not tried before). In order not to risk finding nothing on a new trail, I decided to stick to the tried and tested Venus Drive Trail.

 The first beetle that greeted me was this relatively big (5mm) Darkling Beetle.



Near to the black Darkling Beetle was another Darkling Beetle of about the same size.



While examining a rather dry tree log, I was pleasantly surprised to find this Darkling Beetle (Cryphaeus gazelle) hiding in a crevice. This is a female specimen as the male has interesting horns on the top of its thorax.



Moving along some tall grass, I had a surprise find - a Leaf Beetle. This beetle is diurnal and this is the first time I come across in the night. Guessed that it is sleeping so I able to get some nice close-up shots.



Not far from the Leaf Beetle was a fallen tree where there were a dozen or more of this (12mm) Fungus Beetle.



Nearby was another different Fungus Beetle.



On the same log was the first Fungus Weevil for the night.



Further down on a rotten tree stump was this Rove Beetle. This is a difficult beetle to photograph due to its hyperactivity.



Next was a commonly encountered Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus assamensis subguttatus) on a leaf.



Near to the Fungus Beetle was this Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). Although commonly seen in parks and gardens, I rarely come across them at Venus Drive Trail.



The highlight for the trip came early with the appearance of this small (3mm) beetle on a tree trunk. It was rather shy and refuse to move while I was photographing it.



A small (3mm) Fungus Beetle appeared while I was photographing the above beetle.



On a nearby log was this completely black Ground Beetle (Platynus assimilis).



A tiny (2mm) beetle with a subtle shiny green and red coloration.



Hanging on a tree trunk was this large (10mm) long legs Darkling Beetle.



Further into the trail, there was a tree log full of fungus on it and I found the male specimen of the Darkling Beetle (Cryphaeus gazelle). Notice the horns on the thorax of the beetle.



Weaving between the fungus on the tree log was this interesting looking beetle.



On the same log was this small (3mm) beetle which it was perfectly camouflaged until it decided to move.



Hanging onto a thin branch was this lovely Fungus Beetle. I simply love the contrasting colours of this beetle.



Surprisingly on the same log, there were a few of this Fungus Beetle. It was only recently that I come across this beetle. A lovely looking beetle.



Directly below the above mentioned Fungus Beetle was a colourful Ground Beetle (Pericalus tetrastigma).



On another rotting tree trunk were several of this beetle larvae.



Moving on, I came across a tiny beetle (<2 mm). Interesting colouration.



Another highlight for the night, a Fungus Weevil. This is the first time that I come across this beetle. Lovely patterns on the beetle.



Another Fungus Beetle that I have not come across previously.



Another Fungus Weevil.



Near to the Fungus Weevil was this pair tiny (1mm) of love birds.



Another Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus).



Yet another lovely Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus diliatatus turritus).



Nearing the end of the trail was this Fungus Beetle, busily munching away fungus.



Near the place where I usually exit, a few Rove Beetle (3mm) were "dancing" around. This beetle is similar to the earlier mentioned Rove Beetle, except for the two faint white bands on it.


This was indeed an interesting trip where more photographs of beetles were added to my collection.

A Quick Morning Walk At Venus Drive (13 Apr 2013)

After running some errand in the morning, it was already 10 am plus. Nevertheless I decided to go to Venus Drive to hopefully catch some beetle actions there. The place was pretty dry due to the dry and hot week before.


The first beetle that caught my eyes was this Spiny Leaf Beetle (Dicladispa armigera). Focusing this small beetle was a challenge especially in the non-stop breeze. I only managed to take a few shots before it flew off.


The next beetle was a surprise as I didn't expect to find a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) in the late morning.


Near to the Fungus Beetle was this tiny (<2 mm) beetle. Small but beautiful.


On a near-by tree trunk was this lone beetle larvae.


Moving into a slightly shaded area, I found this beetle. It is about 3mm in size and looked like a Net-winged Beetle.


Near to the Net-winged Beetle was a tree that has quite a large patch of moss growing on it. Hiding among the moss was this 2mm beetle.


My first Leaf Beetle (Lema rufotestacea) for the day.


Moving further into the trail, I came across this hyperactive Tumbling Flower Beetle (Glipa Malaccana). It only came to rest for a moment when it met another Tumbling Flower Beetle.


The sun was almost at its highest and the heat was getting intense. Just when I was thinking to myself that there should not be any beetles in the open, there flew this lovely metallic blue Leaf Beetle. Another hyperactive fellow like the rest.


Moving on, I came to a tree which I termed as snow-flake tree. The reason for calling it this name is because of the tiny wood dust that drift down from the top of the tree. The wood dust is likely to be caused by some wood boring beetles.

Hiding in the shade at the base of the tree was this Fungus Beetle. At a glance, it looked very much like the earlier Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus), but upon closer examination, it seemed to be a different Fungus Beetle.


Along the track there was a big fallen tree, overgrown with different types of fungus mushrooms. Resting on a piece of dead leaf on the tree log was this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus politus). I particularly like like the shape of the elytra of this Fungus Beetle.



It was almost at the end of the trail that I came across this 2 mm beetle. It was tough photographing this beetle in the breeze. Pardon the quality of the photograph as I almost gave up taking any photograph of this beetle in the non-stop breeze.


The highlight of the trip came almost at the end of the trip. I happened to past by the Fungus Beetle Paradise spot and decided to check it, but knowing in my heart that I will unlikely to find Fungus Beetles in the hot noonday sun.

I am glad that I did as the detour gave me a chance to photograph this small (4 mm) lovely Fungus Beetle.


Although the trip was a short one, it was still a fruitful one especially because of finding two Fungus Beetles that I have not come across previously.

Night Walk At MacRitchie Reservoir (05 Apr 2013)

The weather was dry for the entire day and so I decided to make a night trip to the MacRitchie Reservoir. The place looked bone dry, especially all the dead tree logs that lined some part of the trail.

The very first beetle that greeted me was this 20 mm Long Horned Beetle. It was very alert and only allowed me to photograph it for a short moment before making its way into the darkness.

The next beetle was a  Darkling Beetle resting on a dried up tree branch. Like the Long Horned Beetle, it only stay still for a few shots and wandered away.

Another Darkling Beetle on a nearby tree.

To my pleasant surprise, I found a few of this small (5 mm) Ground Beetle running around a piece of dry dead log.

After a short walk, I finally came across a Fungus Beetle, munching on a bracket fungus. It was so shiny that it reflected the fungus that it was feeding on.

On a tree trunk I came across a Darkling Beetle which I initially thought was the Strongylium erthrocephalum, but the size and coloration of its legs seemed to say otherwise.

Another Darkling Beetle found on the same tree trunk as above. This Darkling Beetle is different from the earlier encountered Darkling Beetles as it is very much bigger (7~8 mm).

A tiny (3 mm) Fungus Beetle munching its way on a dead log. Lovely patterns on its elytra.

As I shined my torchlight around, some movements on a piece of log caught my attention. A small beetle (5 mm) that I have not seen before. It was highly active and have not stopped the moment I first noticed it. It was a quite a challenge to even get a good shot of it.  It looked very much like a Flower Beetle (same family as the Tumbling Flower Beetle).

Another Fungus Beetle, happily munch the white fungus on a log.

In a near by plant was this tiny (3 mm) Orange-Brown Click Beetle.

A stone throw away was this common Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). It looked like it had eaten a big chunk of the leaf already.

Looking closely at a tree trunk, I found this  perfectly camouflaged small (7 mm) Weevil Beetle.

Then came this beetle, not too sure if it is a Darkling Beetle or a Fungus Beetle. It looked different from the other Darkling or Fungus Beetle because of the big eyes.

On a dead log was this tiny beetle (3 mm). It looked like a Net-winged Beetle from the side, albeit a little bit hairy.

The highlight of the trip was finding this peculiar looking Leaf Beetle. I am surprised to see it in the night. It remained pretty still for me to take some close-up shots, until it decided that it had enough of my camera flashes. I particularly like the shape and color of the antennae, looked like candy.

Another "night walker" Leaf Beetle (Colasposoma auripenne). I have always thought that they are diurnal beetle and I am pretty surprised to see them still actively munching on leaves in the night.

Perching upside down on a tree trunk was this Long Horned Beetle (Epepeotes luscus). It was super alert and I only managed to take 2 shots of it before it flew off into the bushes.

On a nearby tree was this Ground Beetle. It was busily munching on the tree bark that it is oblivious to my camera flashes. This relatively big (18 mm) Ground Beetle seemed to be pretty common, especially at Venus Drive.

A Fungus Weevil (15 mm) decided to join in the photography session. It was super active and moved quickly along a dead tree trunk. Fortunately, it decided to take a break and gave me an opportunity to photograph it.

While I was wondering what happened to all the Fungus Beetles as I didn't see many of them around even though the place was full of dead tree logs, a Fungus Beetles (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) decided to come out.

While photographing the Fungus Beetle, a Fungus Weevil came out to join in the party. It blended beautifully with its background and I didn't notice it until it moved.

I was almost at the end of the trip and found this Fungus Beetle. At a glance it looked very much like the earlier Fungus Beetle  (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) but the shape of the front spots looked different.

This was the last of the beetle before I reached the end of my trip, and it had to be super active and alert. It never stopped moving around. I have taken many shots of this 7~8 mm Fungus Weevil but most of the shots were bad due to its constant movement. Fortunately, there are still one or two good shots out of a dozen of them taken.

The trip started off slow but as the night grew deeper, more beetles came out. It was a pleasant trip with the finding of four interesting beetles.