Going to Venus Drive would give a higher chance of finding beetles despite the dry and hazy weather. Here's a shot of a frequently encountered critter at Venus Drive - a Singapore Tarantula (Phlogiellus inermis).
The first beetle for the trip was a small 3 mm Fungus Beetle found on a palm tree that lined the car park at Venus Drive Park.
The night seemed to be for the Darkling Beetles as there were many of this 8 mm Darkling Beetle on many of the tree alongside the car park.
On another tree was a small 3 mm Darkling Beetle.
To my surprise, this Fungus Beetle was found on a blade of grass. Fungus Beetles are usually found on rotten wood where fungus mushrooms were found, so finding a Fungus Beetle on grass is considered special.
Moving into a stretch of thick grass undergrowth, I was thrilled to find this 10 mm Weevil Beetle sleeping on a leaf.
On a low tree nearby was a lone Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).
Coming to the place where there are several large Elephant Ear plants, I was glad to be able to find a Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) resting under one of the leaves.
A 5 mm Darkling Beetle was found on a fallen tree near to the Ant-like Beetle.
On a woodpile nearby were several of this 10 mm Darkling Beetle.
Centimeters from the Darkling Beetle was a number of this beetle larvae.
On the same tree log was this hyperactive Fungus Weevil (Eucorynus crassicornis).
Although the place was not as dry as expected, the number of beetles encountered was much lesser than before the haze started. On a low bush, I was glad to be able to find several of this bronze colored Chafer Beetle.
Near to the Chafer Beetle was a 2 mm Darkling Beetle on a small tree.
On the same tree was a 1 mm Fungus Beetle. This tiny beetle seemed to have some battle scars on its elytra.
Moving on to another woodpile that lined the foot path, a lone Fungus Beetle (Episcapha quadrimacula) was found on it.
On the same woodpile was a pair of mating Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta).
As mentioned in my earlier blog, the number of woodpiles at Venus Drive has increased a fair bit. On another woodpile nearby was a Ground Beetle (Catascopus dalbertisi). This is one of my favorite Ground Beetle because of its lovely metallic coloration.
On the same fallen tree in the woodpile was a red-legged Darkling Beetle.
Moving further to a small patch of Singpore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum), there were several Leaf Beetles (Argopus brevis).
Next to the Leaf Beetle was a small fern plant and on it were several Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta).
Time passes quickly and it was about time for me to turn back, just then I found a Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus).
On the same fallen tree was another type of beetle larvae.
On my way out, I encountered a group of night macro photographers who just started their trip for the night. At the place where I met the photographers, I found a pair of mating Click Beetle (Xanthopenthes schawalleri)
The last beetle of the trip was a pleasant surprise as I have not encounter this type of beetle for a while. It was a Chafer Beetle (Aprosterna pallide) and it used to fly into homes in the night. I remember that this was the type of beetle that I used to play with when I was just a kid. I would tie a sewing thread to its hind leg and it fly. It was very much like "walking" the beetle.
The trip was not exceptionally fruitful but it was a good test for my double-diffuser setup for my camera. I am glad that the double-diffuser setup work pretty well in reducing flash hot spots on the beetles, but more work would still need to be done as I was not able to get rid of the reflections of the camera lens on shiny beetles.
