A Quick Walk At Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (08 Mar 2013)

I was around Bukit Timah area and happened to have about 1.5 hours of in-between time, so I decided to drop by the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve for a quick walk to see if I can catch some photography actions.

As usual the carpark at the Visitor Centre was jam-packed with cars but thankfully I managed to get a nice lot for the quick walk. The weather was nice and dry and I went straight for my usual trail. This is not a very safe trail as it is a mountain bike trail and the trail is very busy with bikers on a Saturday morning. Nevertheless it is a productive trail as it is less disturbed by hikers on foot.

The first beetle that appeared was this hairy little beetle (~2 mm). It was busily moving around a piece of leaf. Not easy to photograph it especially with a light breeze blowing.

I was surprised to see a lone fungus beetle moving around on a dead log. Guess it might have stayed up late as fungus beetles usually come out in the night.

Moving down the trail, I came across this lovely Lizard Beetle (Languria mozardi) which tolerated all the camera flashes for a good 5 minutes or so.

Walking along the main path, I came across what looked like a small path and I decided to take short detour to check it out. Just a moment into the path, I saw this beautiful Net-winged Beetle (Dictyoptera aurora). This particular beetle was so sensitive that it wouldn't let me get within 1.5 meters and it would fly off. After several attempts and following it around, I gave up the idea of wanting to get closer to get a good macro shot and use the tele-zoom instead.

Still on the detour path, I came across this beautiful Leaf Beetle which is yellowish-gold in color. It remained pretty still and only to decide to move off after a few flashes.

Going back to the main path, I came across a dead log with some fresh large fungus growing on it. This could have been the results of the heavy rain a day before. On the fungus was this 2 mm beetle. It looked like a Fungus Beetle.

It was not until I was looking through the photographs at home that I noticed that the beetle was actually laying a large clutch of white color eggs. How interesting.

Moving at a much faster pace due to the limited time, I chanced upon this lovely metallic blue Leaf Beetle. At one glance it looked like the Altica cyanea but as I looked closer, it is slightly different in terms of the shape of the elytra and color of the antenna.

Just before I reached the U-turn point, I came across this 5 mm Darkling Beetle, resting on a broken blade of grass.

While I was photographing the Darkling Beetle, this Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa) decided that it want its photograph taken as it flew right in front of me. I have not been able to get a very good photograph of this beetle as it is also very sensitive to movement and would fly away when it detects movements. True enough it flew off after only a handful of shots.

A stone throw away, I found this Leaf Beetle resting in the shade.

The highlight of this short trip was this strange looking Spiny Leaf Beetle. Looking through the view finder, I discovered that this beetle is different from the Spiny Leaf Beetle (Dicladispa armigera) I came across previously, even though the coloration is the same. Like most of the other beetles, after a few shots it decided that it had enough of my camera flashes and flew off in a rather clumsy manner. Interesting beetle!

My pace of walking to go back to the Visitor Centre was quick due to the extra time taken to photograph the interesting Spiny Leaf Beetle. Walking quickly did not make me miss the opportunity to photograph this little colorful and lovely beetle.

Although this trip I was a little rushed for time, I am happy that I still managed to come across some beautiful beetles and get some nice photographs of them. 

Night Walk At Tampines Eco Green Park (08 Mar 2013)

Have been reading about this place in Tampines called Tampines Eco Green Park, so I took advantage of the nice weather to pay the place a visit. The South entrance to the park is just opposite the Sunplaza Park, about 15 min walk from the Tampines MRT.

Reached the place just when the sun is about to set. This is an interesting place as the pathway is wide and pathed with carpet grass, pretty much another manicured nature trail.

The first beetle that I came across was this strange looking Leaf Beetle, looked very much like bird poop and remained very still until it had enough of all the camera flashes.

The next beetle along the trail was this lovely Twenty-Eight Spot Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata). Super long name for a small beetle.

Near by the Ladybird Beetle was this beetle larve. Wonder how the adult looks like.

Another Ladybird Beetle but this time round almost jet black. This could possibly be Coelophora inaequalis.

After the encounter with the jet black colored Ladybird Beetle, it was no action for a good 20 minutes until I reached the North entrance of the park. Moving further north will bring me to Pasir Ris Park. I was pretty tempted to cross over to the Pasir Ris Park after such a long walk without any sighting of beetles. Just when I was comtemplating my next move, this colorful Ladybird Beetle (Heteroneda recticulata) appeared. This was a wonderful surprise as I have been wanting to photograph it for a while.

With the appearance of this beautiful beetle, I decided to stick to my original plan.

A beetle larve on a blade of grass a metre or so away from the Ladybird.

Just when I am done photographing the beetle larve, another Ladybird Beetle (Epilachna indica) turned up less than a metre away. Brilliant color but the right elytron seemed to be damaged.

Moving further down was this Chafer Beetle (Anomala variegata) hanging on tightly to a blade of grass.

The vegetation of the place changes to mostly tall grasses. I was thinking in my heart that this is a great environment for the Spiny Leaf Beetle  and true enough, a Spiny Leaf Beetle (Dicladispa armigera) appeared. Not easy to photograph this beetle as it is easily spooked and readily fly away when disturbed. After a few attempt and following after this beetle, it finally got tired and gave me a few nice close up shots. This beetle is about 5mm in size.

Knowing that this is a perfect habitat for the Spiny Leaf Beetle, I looked carefully at every black specks that were on the grasses. The hard work paid off and I found this 2mm entirely black Spiny Leaf Beetle on a blade of grass. Didn't manage to get very good photographs due to the small size and strong wind at the location.

Following the path of tall grasses, I came to a T-junction and decided to take a short detour. I am glad to have taken the short detour as this brightly colored Ladybird Beetle (Coelophora inaequalis) appeared out of a sudden along the path.

Moving along the manicured path, the vegetation once again changed from tall grasses to low bushes and small trees. This Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus) was having a greating feast with a leave.

A stone's throw from the Chafer Beetle was this beetle. It looked like a Net-winged Beetle from a short distance away, but upon closer examination it is not a Net-winged Beetle. It could be a Firefly Beetle but I didn't see it flash in the dark so cannot be certain.

Many black colored Chafer Beetles (Apogonia expeditionis) were seen munching in the low bushes.

Moving further down the trail, there was almost dried up stream and interestingly, I found a few Aquatic Beetles moving on dry ground near the stream. They were too fast for my slow camera skills and hence I was only able to capture a few shots of the Aquatic Beetle on dry ground. You can easily tell that they are Aquatic Beetles by looking at their legs, which look very different from the land dwelling beetles.

Another Aquatic Beetle.

Going futher, I found this this tiny Click Beetle (3 mm) hidding in a leaf. It was pretty sensitive to light and within a short while, it just flew away.

This was another highlight for the trip, Tortoise Beetle (Cassida circumdata). Have been looking for them among the morning glory plant but was not successful until I reached this place. A pleasant surprise.

Found this beetle on a sign post made from a tree trunk.

Just when I am almost at the end point of my trip, I stumbled upon this interesting looking beetle. It has a set of horn-like protrusions on its thorax. Looked very much like a bull.

And among the beetles with horns, were a few without horns. I supposed that these are the females.

I am so glad that I have persevered on to complete the walk in the Tampines Eco Green Park. If not, I would not have encounter these lovely and interesting beetles.

Morning Walk At Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (02 Mar 2013)

The weather for the entire week was mostly wet, so the sunny morning was not something to be missed. Without much hesitation, I made a bee-line for the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. The trail was pretty dry despite showers the night before.

The very first beetle that greeted me was a pleasant surprise. It was a small (~6mm) Spiny Leaf Beetle (Dicladispa armigera) which sat quietly on a leaf. If I am not looking out for them, I would have easily missed it along the path.

Then came another pleasant find, a cute looking beetle (~6 mm) resting on a big leaf. It was so still that I managed to get a few good closeup of it. Such a beauty!

Further into the trail, I came across this tiny beetle (~3 mm). Another 'still-life' for some good macros shots, even though the occasional wind did create some challenges when photographing such a small beetle.

Just when I was feeling glad that I had came to the place despite the bad traffic condition on the Upper Bukit  Timah Road, another tiny beetle appeared. It was a beautiful little (~2 mm) beetle with a colorful elytra that looked like a piece of candy. Photographing this beetle was not a piece of cake. Besides trying to get a good shot in the wind, I had to be super alert to watch out for cyclists cycling past at a pretty fast speed.

Moving along, I came across another tiny leaf beetle (~3 mm).

Just a few leaves away, sat this small (~7 mm) beauty underside a curled up leave. I love the color contrast of the yellow and green.

Then came a long while of walking without encountering any beetles until this tiny (~2 mm) fellow showed up. It was hiding at the join of two branches. It was a really hairy beetle I must add.

Staying very still on a leaf was this beetle (~4 mm). It looked a bit like a Click-Beetle but I cannot be sure though.

Another cute and tiny (~2 mm) beetle appeared.

The next beetle came as a big surprise. I initially thought it was some orange fungus growing on a leaf but upon looking closer, I saw a pair of tiny eyes and antennae which confirmed that it is a beetle. This is the first time I come across a beetle that looked like a 'roti prata' or indian pancake. It is likely to be part of the Tortoise Beetle family.

Just when I thought that the above beetle was the weirdest I had seen, I noticed a tiny (~2 mm) ant-like beetle. Not sure what beetle this is. The legs looked very much like those of weevil beetles but it seemed to be missing the typical snout of a weevil, or was it that it has a very short snout?

Walking further came this reddish-brown beetle. It looked like a Leaf Beetle.

A stone's throw away from the reddish-brown beetle was this ~6 mm Ladybird Beetle. It was highly

active and it was a bit of a challenge before I managed to take a few decent closeup shots of this beetle.

I reached the place where I planned to U-turn back and saw this Net-Winged Beetle. It was nice and calm for me to take some close up photographs without it being spooked.

When I was almost near the path leading to the BTNR Visitors' Centre, this comparatively bigger (~10 mm) Leaf Beetle (Lema quadripunctata) was seen sitting motionlessly near the tip of a plant. So glad that it remained still for me to take some nice closeup shots.

Just when I was done with the Leaf Beetle above, another small (~5 mm) Leaf Beetle landed on a plant nearby. I simply love the coloration  of this beetle.

Moving along, I came across more of this tiny beetle. The beetle seemed to be feeding on the water droplet on the leaf.

When I was almost at the end of the trail towards the Visitor Centre, another of this lovely beetle appeared. Don't you think it looked like Agar-Agar?

About 40 meters from the trail exit to the Visitors' Centre, was this ~10 mm hyper-active Leaf Beetle (Liloceris cheni), I almost miss the shot due to its non-stop movement. I like the strong color contrast of reddish-orange and black.

Just moments before I step out of the trail, came this ~4mm beetle. Interesting marking on the elytra.

This was indeed a wonderful trip as I come across a number of beetles that I have not encountered

before. Glad to have made the trip.