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Saturday, 12 July 2014

Morning Walk At Venus Drive (12 Jul 2014)

It rained the night before and hence I decided to go to Venus Drive for a walk as the chances of finding beetles there are much higher. Besides going there for the beetles, I am also testing out a pop-up flash diffuser as  for some unfortunate reasons my camera stopped triggering my external flash just after my photo-shoot at the Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West trip.


The first beetle that I found among the wet vegetation was a Ant-Like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) that was hiding under a leaf. In fact there were several of them under the same leaf.


The next beetle was a Leaf Beetle (Lema cyanella) which was found in a patch of tall grass. In fact there were several of this beetle in the same location. It is my hope that the National Parks Board (NParks) would leave the spot alone and not send in their grass-cutters to give the place a manicured look.


Near to the Lema cyanella Leaf Beetle was another Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa). Notice the interesting looking water droplets from the rain the night before.


Moving further, I was sadden to still find more destruction by wild boars despite the efforts by NParks to cull the wild boar population in the area. This log used to house many Fungus Beetles that I found at Venus Drive.


Looking deeper into the area, I found another fallen log that have several of this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus).


Near to the Fungus Beetles was a Net-winged Beetle (Xylobanellus erythropterus) warming up on a wet leaf.


Very soon I reached the "clearing" area. It is probably a misnomer now as the place does not looked like it was once a clearing area with only fallen trees and open soil area.


Although the place is overran by creepers and bushes, I was still able to find quite a number of beetles at the place. Here's a Darkling Beetle found resting on a leaf instead of the usual rotting log.


Among the tall bushes, I am glad to find a number of this scary looking Ladybird Beetle larvae.


The surprise find at the "clearing" was this Flower Chafer Beetle (Taeniodera monacha). It remained absolutely still while I was photographing it.


The next beetle was the commonly encountered beetle that one would usually find after rain.


On another plant nearby was a commonly encountered Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis) at the "clearing".


Resting among the thick bushes was this Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata).


On a Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum) was a Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis).


While "bashing" through the thick vegetation at the "clearing", I am glad to find a number of this white color Ladybird Beetle. This type of beetle is highly alert and would quickly fly off when they sensed movements or changes in light. This remained my favorite beetle to photograph at the "clearing".


Still at the "clearing", I found a tiny 2 mm Leaf Beetle hiding under a leaf. Please pardon the quality of the photograph as I am still trying to get use to macro-photography using the pop-up flash.


After leaving the "clearing", I chanced upon a large fallen log which has some large mushrooms growing on it. Under the cap of a broken mushroom was a 5 mm Fungus Beetle.


While I was photographing the beetle, a jogger stopped and asked me what I am photographing. He later commented that it intrigued him how we managed to find insects to photograph. It suddenly dawn on me that there are many people who may not know how the environment where I found the beetles looked like. I would attempt to show how the environment looked like, given the understanding that I do not compromise the actual locations where I found the beetles. This is to avoid poachers using the information to deplete our beetle populations. Here's a zoomed out view of the Fungus Beetle above.


On a fallen tree log was this Fungus Weevil which remained surprisingly still despite me taking easily twenty photograph of it.


A few centimeters away was a Fungus Beetle which I initially thought that it was the Eumorphus assamensis Fungus Beetle. Upon closer observation, I noticed that it has 6 yellow spots instead of four.


While moving in the bushes, a brownish insect landed a meter in front of me. I took a good look and found that it is a Fungus Weevil. This beetle was so alert that I only managed to snap this photograph before it flew off.


At a distance I saw a pile of chopped tree trunks and branches and so I quickly moved toward it as I often find different types of beetles living or feeding on such rotting logs. As I approached the tree trunk, I was glad to find this large Jewel Beetle feeding on the log.


On another tree trunk in the pile was this beetle larvae. This particular larvae looked different from the usual beetle larvae, which are lighter in color.


Along the trail path, I found this small 4 mm Click Beetle.



Approaching the original "snow" tree, a Fungus Beetle was found on a leaf.


Going further down the trail, I found an interesting looking beetle larvae. This is the first time I come across this type of beetle larvae.


On a tree nearby, I found this small 5 mm Fungus Beetle.


Higher up the same tree was this Fungus Beetle (Episcapha quadrimacula) busily feeding on some black color fungus growing on the tree.


Also on the same tree were a number of beetle larvae.


At the base of another tree was this Fungus Beetle.


When I was almost at the exit, I spotted a  Darkling Beetle feeding on some fungus..


Coming to a small pile of cut trees, I found this first-time-encountered Click Beetle.


Just a stone's throw from the wood pile mentioned above, was a Tumbling Flower Beetle.


The last beetle was a Ladybird Beetle (Epilachna admirabilis) resting on a leaf.


The trip was fruitful as I managed to find a number of beetles despite it rained the night before.

Friday, 4 July 2014

Night Walk At Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West (04 Jul 2014)

My original plan was to go to Venus Drive for a walk to test out my DIY flash diffuser, but I was held up and decided to go to the Ang Mo Kio Town Garden West instead. 


The first beetle was the common Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) which can be found through the park.


Near to the Apogonia expeditionis Chafer Beetle was another Chafer Beetle.


Just a few meters away was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).


There were some dead tree logs along the path and on it were several of this tiny 1 mm Fungus Beetles.


Next to the Fungus Beetle was a even smaller Fungus Beetle.


The surprise and highlight of the trip was the encounter with this Leaf Beetle (Lilioceris cheni). I was not expecting to find this type of beetle at the park. It was resting on a leaf under some shade.


Moving further I was surprised to find this Long Horned Beetle (Epepeotes luscus) under a leaf.


Several of these Fungus Beetles were found on a tree near by.


The place seemed to be full of surprises, I found this small 4 mm first-time-encountered Net-winged Beetle hiding under a heliconia leaf.


Yet another surprise find nearby - a Ant-like Flower Beetle. This is slightly different from the Ant-like Beetle that I found in Lower Pierce Reservoir, with its white tibia.


As mentioned in my previous blog on the place, the large colony of  Cicindela aurulenta Tiger Beetle crashed after the dry spell in January/February this year. Sadly it didn't recover since and I only managed to find two of them on the entire trip.


While photographing the Tiger Beetle, a beetle flew past and landed on the underside of a leaf. It turned out to be a Chafer Beetle, which could be a female Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle.


It was time for me to leave the place and on the way I found a fallen log with several beetle larvae on it.


Near by on another fallen log was a pair of mating Darkling Beetle. It was interesting to note that the fallen logs here are very dry and do not have much fungus growth on them.


On the same log was a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) which was very skittish and tried very hard to escape the light from my LED torch.


On the same log were also several beetle larvae.


Just as I am about to reached the "exit", I found a 6 mm Darkling Beetle on a palm tree that lined the park's main path.


Near to it on the same palm tree was a colorful beetle larvae.


Although it was a short walk, I am glad to be able to find so many different beetles especially so that it is in a neighborhood garden.  

Night Walk At Wallace Trail (01 Jul 2014)

I happened to be free and so I decided to go to Dairy Farm Nature Park's Wallace Trail for a night shoot. It was such a coincidence that I bumped into a fellow macro photographer (Lim B S) at the place and so we decided to teamed up for the walk. As my camera was set up macro shooting, I decided to use my handphone camera to a photograph of the place.


The first beetle that appear was a common Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).


The next beetle was found a rotten tree log that lined the trail. It was a Fungus Weevil (Stiboderes impressus).


On the same log was this small 3 mm Darkling Beetle.


Moving further down the trail, on another tree log was a small group of this 10 mm Darkling Beetle.


On a leave above the Darkling Beetle was this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus).


Still on the same log was this 3 mm Fungus Beetle. I always like to photograph such tiny beetles as they usually looked black to the naked eyes until you zoomed into it using your camera, and there reveal the lovely color or patterns on them.


I was surprised to find this Fungus Beetle (Stenotarsus nobilis nobilis) hiding on the side of the log. I have been looking for this beetle for many months until recently that I kept encountering them.


On a nearby tree was another tiny Fungus Beetle which looked black in color until zoomed in.


Moving on, a Leaf Beetle was found resting on a leaf. This beetle always reminds me of agar agar.


A stone's throw away from the Leaf Beetle was a Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus). It was pretty active and was moving up and down the leaf that it was on.


There was another log next to the path and I found this Ground Beetle.


Next to the log was a well camouflaged Weevil Beetle. I almost missed it until Lim pointed it out to me. Guessed that this is one of the benefits of teaming up with friends when doing macro shooting, besides the good conversations in between the photographs snapping.


We are almost a third into the Wallace Trail and we found a small group of Rove Beetles. This is a relatively hard beetle to photograph due to their constant movements. To photograph them, you will need to have a lot of patience since they will hide whenever they detect or sense light.


Finally a familiar Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus assamensis) and it felt good to be able to see them more often nowadays.


On the same log were these first-time-encountered Fungus Beetles. Initially I thought that they are Eumorphus assamensis Fungus Beetle until I noticed the slight difference in its elytra and also the red coloration on it.


On another log nearby was this Ground Beetle (Pericalus tetrastigma). It was rather skittish and tried to moved away from the light.


Near to the Ground Beetle was a tiny 2 mm Fungus Beetle.


On a dead branch nearby was a first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle.


The next beetle was a commonly encountered Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) which was resting on a big leaf.


Our original plan was to exit near to the Visitor Center but we came to a point where there was a very large tree that had fallen across the trail and block off our path. Not wanting to take any risk since it is in the night, we decided to turn back. Just then this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus mirus) was found on a leaf of the fallen tree.


Next to the Fungus Beetle was this first-time-encountered Clicked Beetle.


Turning back, we came across this first-time-encountered Soldier Beetle (Cantharidae ichthyurus) which I initially thought it was an Earwig insect, until I was processing the trip's photograph that I realized that it is a Soldier Beetle.


Just when we were almost at the entrance of the Wallace Trail, a Tumbling Flower Beetle was found resting on a crevice in a fallen log. It awoke from its slumber due to my camera flashes. This is the second time I came across this type of beetle.


After coming out of the Wallace Trail, we decided to head towards the Visitor Center via the main walk path. I decided to check out a large wood pile that I previously found. On it were several of this tiny 2 mm Fungus Beetle.


Searching around the wood pile, I found this Fungus Beetle trying to evade my torch light. Nevertheless I managed to take a few photographs of it.


After checking out the wood pile, we decided to call it day and head towards the carpark. Just then I found a pair of mating Leaf Beetle (Callispa dimidiatipennis dimidiatipennis).
[Afternote: I have misidentified this beetle and should be Callispa elegans.]


We are just a few meters from our cars and this Weevil Beetle appeared. This is the same type   Weevil Beetle that I encountered first time at the Tagore Drive area - http://beetlesg.blogspot.sg/2014/06/night-walk-along-tagore-drive-27-jun.html


The last beetle was only about 20 cm from the Weevil Beetle and it was the commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).


I was pretty surprised to be able to find a fair number of first-time-encounter beetles on this trip. The trip was fruitful indeed, especially the encounter with the Soldier Beetle. Would surely come back to this place in the future.