Night Walk At Venus Drive (14 Aug 2015)

My friend and I were planning to do our night macro photography session at Venus Drive with an objective of taking some photographs of the luminous mushrooms. Unlike the rainy week before, the weather this week was rather dry, which lessened the chances of us finding any luminous mushrooms. Although the place was bone dry as expected, we still managed to find some luminous mushrooms albeit that they were not the species that we were hoping for.

Apart from the luminous mushrooms, we also got a special treat of finding a pseudoscorpion during this trip. This is the first time that I encountered a pseudoscorpion at Venus Drive. A pseudoscorpion looks very much like a scorpion except for the lack of a stinging tail.

The first beetle of the trip was a Ladybird Beetle (Illeis koebelei) found 2 meters up a small tree.

On the same tree was an entirely brown Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) hiding under a leaf.

Moving to a large Elephant Ear Plant, we found a lone Ant-like Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) under one of the large leaves.

Near to the Ant-like Beetle was a large Chafer Beetle (Phyllophaga marginalis) found clinging to a dead vine.

Coming to a wood pile, a single Ground Beetle (Catascopus dalbertisi) was found a dried up tree trunk.

On the same tree trunk was a Fungus Beetle (Episcapha quadrimacula) hiding in some white fungus.

Next to the wood pile was this highly alert Long-horned Beetle (Epepeotes luscus) which promptly went under a leaf for cover when our flashlight was shining on it.

Moving further down the trail, there was a rotting tree stump where this Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba) was found.

Just when I was photographing the Darkling Beetle, my friend call out to me to see if I would want to photograph this Darkling Beetle (Phymatosum rufonotatum) that he found on a tree trunk.

Near to the Darkling Beetle was a tiny 2 mm Fungus Weevil found on some green lichens on a small tree.

The number of wood piles at Venus Drive has increased and on one of the wood piles was this skittish Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta) which was moving quickly away from my flash light.

On a low tree next to the wood pile was a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus).

On a small wood pile further down the trail was this small Darkling Beetle (Amarygmus sp.)

Next to the Darkling Beetle was a Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis).

Moving further down, a Tiger Beetle was found resting on a dried leaf by the side of the trail.

On yet another wood pile was a pair of mating Darkling Beetle.

Next to the Darkling Beetle was this small shiny Darkling Beetle (Androsus fasciolatus).

After photographing the shiny Darkling Beetle, my friend was pointing me to a small partially eaten fungus mushroom. On the mushroom were a number of this Sap Beetles "swimming" in the slime that covered the mushroom.

Just a few centimeters from the Sap Beetle was a lone Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus assamensis).

On the side of the path was this metallic bronze colored Chafer Beetle that was hiding in a low bush.

Near to the Chafer Beetle was a Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus) resting on a leaf.

Just a stone's throw from the Fungus Beetle was a Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) found on the ground next to the path. Not sure why it was on the ground though.

Although the weather was dry, the number of beetles found so far was surprisingly good. Just a few meters from the Chafer Beetle was a Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis).

On a dead log nearby was a small beetle (Martinezostes sp.)

Close to the Martinezostes sp. beetle was a Darkling Beetle with red-banded legs.

At the base of a tree was a Darkling Beetle.

Hiding under some rubber tree leaves was a Ground Beetle (Onypterygia longispinis) which looked very much like a cockroach.

On a rotten tree trunk near by were several Darkling Beetles and this beetle larvae.

Next to the rotten tree trunk was a small tree with several of this 2 mm Fungus Beetle on it.

On the same tree was a Click Beetle (Xanthopenthes schawalleri) hiding under a tree bark.

Along the way, my friend and I were 'distracted' by the luminous mushrooms and soon after taking the photographs of the luminous mushrooms, I found two of this Darkling Beetle (Strongylium tenuipes) on a small tree.

On another tree nearby was this Fungus Weevil resting on the side of the tree.

Coming to a big tree with an exposed base wet with tree sap, several of this first-time-encountered beetles were feasting on the sap.

On a small tree nearby was a Darkling Beetle that look very much like the Strongylium tenuipes Darkling Beetle encountered earlier, but it was almost half the size and differed in the coloration of the antennae. Not sure if this is the male of the Strongylium tenuipes Darkling Beetle or a different beetle altogether.

The last beetle of the trip was a first-time-encountered Soldier Beetle.

The trip was a fruitful one with us finding many beetles and photographing the luminous mushroom. Venus Drive is indeed a good place to go for macro photography.

Morning Walk At Zheng Hua Park (07 Aug 2015)

This was a special day as it was Singapore's first special and additional public holiday declared in celebration of our 50th National Day this year. As I have to run some errands in the morning near to Bukit Timah Road, I decided to check out the Zheng Hua Park which is about 15 minutes drive from Bukit Timah Road. This was the first time I am doing macro-photography at the place and was hopeful to find something interesting.

The weather looked fine on the way there but when I reached the place, the place looked wet and the sky was a little overcast. The first beetle was found at the entrance to the park and it was a Spiny Leaf Beetle (Dicladispa armigera) on a blade of Lalang Grass. This raised my hope about the place since it was only at the entrance that I already found a nice beetle.

Near to the Spiny Leaf Beetle was a low bush where this tiny Ladybird Beetle (Cryptogonus orbiculus) was found resting on a leaf.

My hope was shot lived as I walked along the walking path of the Zheng Hua Park as not a single beetle was found. It was only that I decided to stray off the main path and walk into a mud track that I found this small 1 mm Leaf Beetle on a badly eaten leaf.

Near to the Leaf Beetle was a small banana plant that I found this Ladybird Beetle (Chilocorus circumdatus) hiding under one of the leaves.

Just then, I realized that I have stumbled upon a patch of vegetable "farm". Actually, this is not really a farm but a plot of land used by the people staying around the area to grow vegetables and plants. On the leaf of an egg-plant was this Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea).

The place was full of low creepers with large yellow flowers and on them were many Leaf Beetles. I was later told that these creepers are hairy gourds plants.

Near to the orange Leaf Beetle were several other Leaf Beetles (Aulacophora lewisii).

On a plant near by was a small Ladybird Beetle which looked very much like the Cryptogonus orbiculus Ladybird Beetle, but differed in the location of the red spots.

The next beetle was found near to the Ladybird Beetle but it was so alert that I only managed to take one shot and it flew away.

Another Leaf Beetle that was flying around the place was the Lema rufotestacea Leaf Beetle.

Moving actively around the creeper leaves were several of the lovely Tortoiseshell Beetle (Cassida circumdata).

Here's another Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa) that can be found at the vegetable patch.

On a badly eaten plant was this 28-spots Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata).

There was a small wood pile near to the vegetable patch and on it were several of this Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis).

Next to the Eucorynus crassicornis Fungus Weevil was another more active Fungus Weevil.

Just when I was done photographing the Fungus Weevil, I found a small mud track which led to a small shack and another vegetable patch. In the shack was an old man resting in a chair. I greeted and strike up a conversation with him. Through my conversation, I found out that his name is Mr Yam (阮) and he is over 80 years old. He has been working the vegetable patch for years as a hobby.

Just then the sky started to rain and Mr Yam invited me to take shelter in his small shack.

Here is a photograph of the small shack after the rain.

A random shot from within the shack during the rain.

The rain finally stopped and it was time to say goodbye to Mr Yam. I took my leave and decided to call it a day as the chances of finding any beetles after the heavy rain is almost zero. Just as I was about to exit Zheng Hua Park, I found this tiny Jewel Beetle eating away on a young leaf.

The last beetle for the trip was a small 2 mm Leaf Beetle on a leaf.

The trip was interesting even though it was rather short because of the rain. Although I didn't cover much ground during this trip, I am glad to be able to find about 17 different beetles. The place looked promising and I would surely visit it again when opportunity arise in the future.

Night Walk At Venus Drive (31 Jul 2015)

After last week's light trapping trip, my interest in using light trap to lure beetles to me to photograph got the better part of me and I redesigned the light trap to be even more portable, using a DC choke to power a 20W UV florescent light. At the same time, I replaced the 12AH battery with a lighter battery.

It rained very heavily in the late afternoon and the sky still looked very much like it would rain again. Not wanting to put to waste the efforts that I have put into the redesigning of my light trap, I decided to go to Venus Drive as the place would have a better chance of finding beetles even during wet weather. Here's my light trap mounted on a tripod with a white netting around the UV tube. Effectively, it looked like a blue light lantern.  

After setting up the light trap, I decided to do my usual routine of looking for beetles. In any case, it is not good for the eyes to be staring at the UV light. The first beetle encountered was a Chafer Beetle with a a metallic bronze coloration.

The vegetation in the area was very wet and the chances of finding any beetles would be very slim. Sure enough, it was only about 10 minutes of walking before I found this Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus). Noticed that the beetle was also drenched by the rain earlier on.

Coming to a wood pike, I was rather disappointed to find only one of this commonly encountered Darkling Beetle.

More walking without finding any beetles until I came to another wood pile. This time round the fallen tree trunk had several beetles on it. There were a few Fungus Beetle (Episcapha quadrimacula) which turned out to be rather shy and quickly moved away from the torchlight's light.

Near to one of the Fungus Beetles were several Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta).

And slightly further from the group of Ceropria induta Darkling Beetle was a Ground Beetle (Catascopus dalbertisi).

More walking until I found this small Darkling Beetle hiding in a crevice of a tree trunk.

Coming to a fallen tree branch, I was surprised to find this Darkling Beetle.

Coming to the spot where I usually find one of my favorite beetles, White Ladybird Beetle. Without fail, I managed to find it under a leaf. On normal nights, the beetle would have flew off when it detected movements. This night the Ladybird Beetle remained entirely still for me to photograph it, probably due to the wet weather.

Moving to a small tree, I found a few of this mating Darkling Beetle.

On another tree was a similarly small Fungus Beetle.

More walking until I came across this Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta).

More walking until another wood pile where this small 3 mm Darkling Beetle was found.

On the same tree branch was another lovely Darkling Beetle.

Just while I was finishing photographing the Darkling Beetle, a beetle flew and hit my forehead and fell to the ground. Upon closer examination, I found a lighter brown color Chafer Beetle.

Walking down the trail, I came across this Fungus Weevil high up a tree. In order not to miss this beetle in this wet weather, I stretched to photograph this beetle for the purpose of recording the encounters on this trip.

Walking further, I was glad to be able to find this Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis).

The sky was thundering away and I decided to turn back to check on the UV light trap and call it a day. Just when I was walking back towards the light trap, a 5 mm Weevil Beetle crawling on a small tree.

On the same tree was a Rove Beetle, resting in a crevice. It must be due to the wet weather that the beetle remained very still through out the photographing.

With much anticipation, I approached the UV light trap. Much to my disappointment and yet expected, there  was only a tiny 2 mm beetle resting on the netting.

The last beetle for the trip was a Fungus Weevil.

This trip was rather disappointing and yet not unexpected because of the rain. I will likely to try this again on days with fairer weather.