Afternoon Walk At Venus Drive (22 Oct 2016)

It has been a long while that I did my macro-photography session in the afternoon and so I decided to go to Venus Drive, knowing that the chances of finding beetles in the afternoon will be much higher than other locations.

Here's an interesting photograph of a patch of small fungus growing on the underside of a dead tree.The fungus reminded me of ice cream popsicle.

The first beetle for the trip was a Pintail Beetle. I was fortunate as it remained motionless despite the constant flashing from my speedlite.

Near to the Pintail Beetle was a small patch of huge Elephant Ear plant where several of this Ant-like Flower Beetles were found on the underside of a leaf.

The sky was overcast with thunder rumbling continuously and it seemed like it will rain any time. Just at this moment, I saw a white dot flew under a leaf and immediately I know what it was - one of my favorite beetle, a white Ladybird Beetle. The distinctive feature for this beetle is its lovely greenish-blue eyes.

Under a leaf of a plant near by, I spotted a similar White Ladybird Beetle but noticed that it has black eyes instead of the greenish-blue eyes. Not sure if it is a mutation as it seemed to be less sensitive to my camera flashes.

 As expected, it was only a while of walking before I found this large group of Tumbling Flower Beetle (Glipa malaccana).

Next to the Tumbling Flower Beetle was a small 5 mm Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis) on a leaf.

More walking before I spotted this Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis).

On a tree nearby was this resting Darkling Beetle in a crevice of a small tree.

Coming to a fallen tree, I was glad to find several of this Fungus Beetle on it.

On the same tree trunk were several of this lovely Net-winged Beetle.

More walking without finding any beetles until I noticed this 7 mm Weevil Beetle flew in front of me and landed on a leaf.

The rumbling of thunders above continues and I decided to pick up my paces before it rain.  When I was almost at the exit, I found several of this small 2 mm Darkling Beetles on a large tree.

On the same tree was a tiny 4 mm Fungus Weevil.

On a small tree nearby, I was glad to see several of this beetle larvae.

Just a stone's throw away from the beetle larvae was this tiny 4 mm fist-time-encountered Fungus Weevil (Apolecta transversa).

I was surprised to see that the antennae of the beetle was almost 7 times its body length.

The last beetle for the trip was a big surprise - it was a 4 mm first-time-encountered Fungus Weevil resting on the side of a tree. It was very skittish and flew off after one photograph.

This was an interesting trip and I am glad that the decision to do an afternoon walk was a right one, despite the mosquitoes and heat. Finding two first-time-encountered beetles was a real bonus for the trip.

Short Night Walk Along Pasir Ris Road (14 Oct 2016)

It has been raining on Friday nights for the past few weeks and hence I was not able to go for my usual night macro photography session. It once again rained in the morning but the weather looked fine in the evening, and so I decided to check out a stretch of road along Pasir Ris Road that I found on Google Map previously.

An interesting encounter when I first reached the place was this group of wild boars foraging at an open area near to the main road. It was a rather big group with about 20 of them, big and small. In order not to startle them, I decided not to use any camera flash to photograph them.

The first beetle I found at the place was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus). There were many of this Chafer Beetle along the road.

Near to the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was another Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). This is another type of Chafer Beetle that can be found all over Singapore.

Near to the a group of the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle. I used to think that this Chafer Beetle is the female of the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle, but started to think otherwise when I saw a mating pair of the beetle during one of my walks.

There were no other type of beetle encountered (apart from the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle) when I walked along the path until this lone orange Leaf Beetle was found under a blade of grass.

It was just about now that the sky started to thunder and tiny rain droplets started to fall. Sadly, the light drizzle turned into a heavy thunder storm and thus bringing my night walk to a sudden end. Hopefully the weather next week will be better.

Night Walk Around The Neighborhood (23 Sep 2016)

The sky looked like it was going to rain and so I decided to go to the "wild" part of my neighborhood for my usual night macro photography session. The place used to be pretty wild but has changed greatly due to a nearby development work.

Here's a photograph of an interesting insect that I encounter at the place.

The first beetle for the trip was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus). The place was full of this type of Chafer Beetle.

Near to the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle was another Chafer Beetle. I used to think that it is the female Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle but I may be wrong as I also came across mating pairs of this beetle.

Further down the "trail" was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).

Just a stone's throw away was a lone Chafer Beetle resting on a blade of lalang grass.

The surprise for the trip was the encounter with several of this lovely orange Leaf Beetle on a blade of lalang grass.

Coming to patch of low creepers, I am glad to be able to find several of this Ladybird Beetle (Epliachna admirabilis).

Near to the Ladybird Beetle was this yellow Ladybird Beetle larvae.

Walking further, a Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) was seen on a flower stalk. It was also at this time that I was "attacked" by a small bunch of the reddish-brown ant. Although the size of the ants were small at about 2 mm, their bites are pretty painful.

After the ant "attack", I quickly moved away to another spot where there was a large patch of Morning Glory plant. I am pleasantly surprised to find this metallic blue first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle.  It looked exactly like the commonly encountered metallic bronze color Leaf Beetle except that its coloration is metallic blue.

A few steps away was this metallic bronze Leaf Beetle as mentioned above. When you put the photograph of these two beetles side-by-side, the color difference became so obvious.

The last beetle for the trip was another Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna implicata).

As expected, the trip was not very fruitful except for the encounter with a first-time-encountered Leaf Beetle. Nevertheless, this can be an alternative location especially when the sky threatens to rain.

NIght Walk At Punggol Waterway Park (16 Sep 2016)

It has been raining on Friday nights for the past few weeks and hence I was not able to go for my regular macro photography session. According to the weatherman, we will have a wet September month and more rain are expected for the rest of the month. Fortunately it was dry in the afternoon despite a heavy downpour in the morning.

This week my walk is at the Punggol Waterway Park. Feeling a bit lethargic,  I decided to keep to the manicured walking path, staying away from the wilder part of the park that I have been visiting. Here's an interesting patterned Froghopper that I encountered along the path at the place.

The first beetle for the trip was a Chafer Beetle (Aprosterna pallide) that are still quite common.

The surprise for the trip was this orange Leaf Beetle that was resting under a blade of lalang grass.

The next beetle was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) that can be seen in large numbers on the leafy plants throughout the pathway.

There were not many beetles encountered as I walked the pathway along side the "river" (a man-made canal) until I came to a low bush with this Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis).

On a tree nearby was this pair of mating Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). This is the first time that I find this type of beetle on a tree.

I was almost wanting to call it a day after walking for a while without finding any beetle when this lone Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea) was spotted on a big leaf.

The last beetle for the trip was this small skittish Sweet Potato Weevil (Cylas formicarius) at a patch of Beach Morning Glory plant (Ipomoea pes-caprae) which seemed to be the food plant for the beetle.

The trip was not fruitful as compared to my previous trips to the place. Nevertheless, I was mentally prepared to not find too many beetles for this trip when I decided to take the "manicured" path. With the lesson learnt from this trip, I will unlikely to take the same manicured path again when I next visit the place, and stick to the wilder side of Punggol Waterway Park for more beetle actions.

Night Walk At Lower Peirce Reservoir (02 Sep 2016)

My friend HW and I decided to go to the Lower Peirce Reservoir this week for our night macro session. Although I have been to the place not too long ago, I didn't go to the place where we previously found a large colony of Epsicapha quadrimacula Fungus Beetle. To my surprise, the plants at the place have grown a lot and the place was almost inaccessible.

 

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

Near to the Chafer Beetle was another beetle. I am still not clear which beetle family it belongs to.

Resting on a small bush was a lovely Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus).

Nearby on a small tree was this 2 mm Darkling Beetle which appeared black to the naked eyes but its lovely pattern became visible when zoomed in with the camera.

Coming to some fallen tree, I am glad to find several of this Darkling Beetles.

On a leaf of a low palm tree, I found several of this brown Chafer Beetle which I suspect is the female of the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle.

On a tree further down the "trail" was a small 1 mm Darkling Beetle.

Coming to a sandy patch, we found a number of this commonly encountered Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta).

Resting on a blade of grass was a 5 mm Ground Beetle (Pentagonica flavipes).

On a tree nearby was several of this shiny 4 mm Darkling Beetle.

On the same tree was this 3 mm Fungus Beetle.

As my friend HW has not walked the Lower Peirce Boardwalk before, we decided to give it a try even though I know that the chances of finding beetles along the boardwalk is not very high. Near to the start of the boardwalk, HW found a Darkling Beetle (Strongylium tenuipes) up a small tree.

At the start of the boardwalk, I came across a small patch of Clidemia hirta plant and on it was this curious looking critter. I am not sure what nymph it is but it looked a bit like a beetle larvae. Appreciate if someone can identify this critter.

There were a number of Singapore  Rhododendron plant (Melastoma malabathricum) along the boardwalk and feasting on them were scores of different Chafer Beetles.

It was only after a fair bit of walking before I find this dark bronze color Chafer Beetle.

More walking without finding any beetles until we came to a small tree where several of this shiny 3 mm Darkling Beetle were found.

On the same tree was this lone Darkling Beetle.

Not much actions along the boardwalk and I was so glad to be able to find several of this 3 mm Darkling Beetles almost near to the end of the boardwalk.

The last beetle for the trip was a small 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

This trip was interesting as I was able to revisit the site where I saw a large congregation of the Episcapha quadrimacula Fungus Beetles.