Night Walk At Admiralty Park (06 Sep 2013)

It was a while since I last visited the Admiralty Park so I decided to visit the place. By the time I reached the place, the sun was about to set.

The first beetle that came into my view finder was a beetle emerging from its pupa. I didn't want to disturb the process so I only managed to snap this photo. From the coloration of the beetle, it should be the Chilocorus circumdatus Ladybird Beetle.

The next beetle was a Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis). This particular beetle was having a great time munching on a Simpoh Air plant.

On a nearby plant was this brown Chafer Beetle that looked like the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle except for the mottled coloration of the latter.

On a tree trunk further down the track was a Darkling Beetle. It is about 6 mm in size.

Coming to an area full of Straits Rhododendron plants, the Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle were out in force. I literally found several tens of this beetle on one Straits Rhododendron plant.

On another  Straits Rhododendron plant were two Aprosterna pallide Chafer Beetle, having a feast on a Straits Rhododendron fruit. This beetle can frequently be seen flying into homes attracted by the florescent light.

Another Darkling Beetle found on a nearby tree. This was slightly smaller than the earlier Darkling Beetle, measuring about 4 mm.

On the same tree was a even smaller (2 mm) Darkling Beetle. Interesting to find similar looking beetle at different sizes.

At the beginning of the trip, I was expecting to find at least one Long Horn Beetle as Admiralty Park was reported to have a number of them. Sure enough after walking for a while, I finally found this Long Horn Beetle (Epepeotes luscus) resting on a leaf.

It was also at this point in time that I remembered why I didn't visit Admiralty Park for a long time - it was because of a type of small brownish-black ant that can be found in the hundreds if not thousands throughout the park. I became a target these small ants whose bites were painful and irritating. I just then remembered that I was also badly bitten by this type of ants during my last trip to this park. Well it was too late to do anything now.

Hiding under a leaf was a Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta). It remained pretty still for me to get some nice macro shots of itself.

I was extremely irritated by the biting ants as the ants have the habit to crawl under the pants or socks and at some random time, bite hard into your flesh. This was very irritating especially when you were so engrossed in photographing a first time encountered beetle, such as this Fungus Beetle. This was the highlight of the trip as this is the first time I come across a smooth red-legged Fungus Beetle. Never know that Singapore has such kind of beetle. Wonderful find.

The ants had gotten the best of me and I decided to cut short the trip. Just before I left the place, I found this small Long Horn Beetle (~10 mm). It was hyper-sensitive and flew off after one shot from my camera flash.

This trip to Admiralty Park was not particularly pleasant due to the irritating bites of the small ants that can be found everywhere along the tracks. As soon as you stopped for a short while on the track, you will surely pick up a few of them on your shoes and pants. Even though I didn't enjoyed this trip, it was not wasted as I found the first time encountered red-legged Fungus Beetle.

Evening Walk At The Singapore Botanic Garden (30 Aug 2013)

Was around Singapore Botanic Garden so I decided to take a walk there to see if there are any interesting beetle actions in the night. The sun was about to set when my journey began.

The first beetle that I found was a surprise find - a Spiny Leaf Beetle (Discladispa armigera).

Near to the Spiny Leaf Beetle was this tiny (~1 mm) beetle. It looked like a tiny black speck until I zoomed in to see the lovely orange coloration.

The next beetle was another pleasant surprise, a small 5 mm Jewel Beetle feeding on a fern leaf. This is the second time I came across this beetle, the last was at Upper Seletar Reservoir.

Moving down to an area of some chest height bushes, I found this tiny (~2 mm) Weevil Beetle. It was very hyperactive and photographing it was a real challenge, especially in the wind.

Hidden under the lush leaves was this Leaf Beetle. It looked like the Colasposoma auripenne Leaf Beetle except that it is brownish instead of metallic in color.

On some nearby bushes were these tiny (~2 mm) beetles. They are the same shape and sizes but differed in their patterns and coloration. Pardon the quality of the photographs as it was pretty windy at the place and the beetles were very sensitive to the camera flash and flew off after just one or two shots.

Moving to an area where there are several small ponds, I was fortunate to still find a few of this Water Beetle (Donacia javana) at that moment when the sun was almost set.

Along the side of a paved path was a row of low hedges where I chanced upon this Weevil Beetle (Curculio imitator). This beetle was so alert that it immediately flew off upon my first flash shot of it.

Around the same low hedge was this lovely Ladybird Beetle (Chilocorus circumdatus).

Another small (~ 2 mm) Ladybird Beetle was found hiding between the fold of a leaf.

Coming to a part of the garden where there were a large patch of air potato plants and some tall bamboo-like grass, several of this lovely colored Leaf Beetles (Aulacophora lewisii) were found flying around looking for place to rest.

On a nearby air potato leaf was this Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna implicata) getting ready for the night.

Moving along a stretch of 10 feet tall hedges, I found this Soldier Beetle on a leaf at the base of the hedge.

I had intentionally waited for the sky to be completely dark before I headed for the primary forest area, hoping to find some interesting beetles. Much to my disappointment, I only managed to find two beetles in the area. One was a first time encountered Darkling Beetle and the other was a Chafer Beetle (Phyllophaga marginalis).

After walking for a long while without finding any beetles, I decided to head for home. While making my way to the garden's exit, I found a huge tree with 3 different sizes of similar looking Darkling Beetles on it. The smallest was 2 mm, the mid-size beetle was about 4 mm and the largest was about 6 mm.

The last beetle that I found before I exited from the garden was this brown colored Chafer Beetle.

The trip was pretty fruitful with some surprised encounters. I would probably go to this place again in the morning and not in the night, unless I wanted to have some good workout for my legs.

A Quick Morning Walk At Venus Drive (24 Aug 2013)

I had a little in-between time before the next appointment, so I decided to go for a short walk at Venus Drive. Instead of taking the usual Venus Drive trail, I decided to take a walk around the parameter of the place.

The first beetle that I encountered was this Spiny Leaf Beetle. It was highly sensitive to my camera flashes and flew away after a few shots.

Near to the Spiny Leaf Beetle under some shade was this Leaf Beetle. It looked very much like the Lema diversa Leaf Beetle but differs in having a black spot on its thorax. Also, its red color is much more intense compared to the Lema diversa Leaf Beetle that I came across previously. Not sure if it is a different type of beetle.

[After note: After searching the internet for a while, I finally managed to identify this Leaf Beetle to be Oulema sayi.]

Moving further down the parameter, I found this tiny (~2 mm) Fungus Beetle (Triplax rufipes) resting on a leaf.

On a nearby low bush was this tiny Ladybird Beetle (Cryptogonus orbiculus). This beetle looked slightly different from my previous encounter with the Cryptogonus orbiculus Ladybird Beetle - the yellow color face and the spots on the elytra were yellowish-orange as compared to reddish-orange in the next photograph, which happened to be taken further down the trip. Not sure if it is a different beetle or just some sexual dimorphism. To be confirmed.

Moving along some wild grass patch, I found this first time encountered tiny 1 mm beetle on a blade of leaf.

Moving on, I found a plant that are full of this first time encountered Leaf Beetle (Altica cyanea). It looked very much like the other metallic blue Leaf Beetle (Lema cyanella) except for the shape of its elytra.

Moving further down a patch of tall grass, I found this cool looking Spiny Leaf Beetle (Dicladispa armigera) that looked like it came from the Batman Movies.

On a nearby blade of grass was this first time encountered Leaf Beetle (Hispine sp).

A surprised find was this Net-winged Beetle clinging on to the tip of a blade of grass. I particularly like the color of this beetle.

Hiding among some thick brushes was this tiny (~2 mm) and interestingly patterned  Fungus Weevil. This is another first time encountered beetle.

Sunning itself under the hot sun was this White Borer Beetle (Xylotrechus javanicus). It remained pretty much motionless despite the numerous camera flashes at it.

Moving to a fallen log, I found one of my favorite Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus politus).

On the same log with the Fungus Beetle was this interesting beetle larvae, which moved about very quickly like a beetle.

Another Fungus Beetle was found nearby to the beetle larvae. From the look of the beetle's elytra, the beetle might had a narrow escape sometime back.

My time was up and as I was walking towards the car park, I found this hairy looking Weevil Beetle. This is also a first time encountered beetle.

Although the trip was short, I am glad that I have decided to take a different route. In view of the number of first time encountered beetles, I would gladly say that it is successful trip, albeit the route was much hotter than the shaded path that I usually take.