Recce Walk At Gardens By The Bay (11 Nov 2016)

Gardens By The Bay was opened in June 2012 and since then I have not visited the place for macro photography session. Taking advantage of the fine weather, I decided to go to Gardens By The Bay for a recce trip to see if the place is worth visiting for my future macro photography sessions.

Here's a photograph of the iconic Super Tree and Flower Dome.

The place was full of people, locals and foreigners alike were taking photographs of the various iconic landmarks at the place. It was only after walking for 2 hours that I encountered this 12 mm first-time-encountered Long Horned Beetle (Ceresium raripilum) at a less frequented part of the garden.

The trip was a total disappointment as only one beetle was encountered. Guessed that the place would need more time for the beetle population to be established. Meanwhile, I will probably give the place a miss for a long while to come.

Night Walk At Bukit Timah Nature Reserve ~ Durian Loop (09 Nov 2016)

The weather looks good so I decided to go for a macro session at the Durian Loop of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. I also took the opportunity to invite my young beetle-lover friend Reynard to join me for the trip. It's has been a while I last been to the place and have no idea what we will find for the night.

Here's a photograph of a Tail-less Whip Scorpion encountered at the place. Despite its fiercesome look, it was said that it is actually a rather gentle critter and would not mind being handled. Regardless of what were said, I am not about to find out if this is really true and just enjoy the look of this interesting creature.

The first beetle for the trip were several Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta) found on a fallen log.

Near to the Darkling Beetles were several of this small 4 mm Darkling Beetle (Strongylium tenuipes) found on a small tree.

A stone's throw away was a tree stump with a few bracket mushrooms growing on it. On the mushrooms were several Rove Beetle (Sepedophilus bisignatus) running frantically about.

Tucked away in the tree stump was a 15 mm Pleasing Fungus Beetle (Encaustes praenobilis).

The place was rather wet and so it was only after a bit of walking before I came across this 10 mm Darkling Beetle on a fallen tree.

On the same fallen tree was another Darkling Beetle (Eucytus anthracinus).

More walking until we came across this lone Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) resting on a leaf.

On a tree near to the Tiger Beetle were several 4 mm Ground Beetles (Pericalus tetrastigma) running about on its trunk.

On the same tree trunk was a lone 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

Moving further down the track, we came across another tree stump with some white fungus mushroom growing on it. Next to the mushroom was a small 3 mm Darkling Beetle. When I was there I thought that it was a normal small Darkling Beetle. It was only when I was processing the photographs that I noticed the tiny "horns" on the beetle.

More walking until we came to some Elephant Ear Plant (Alocasia macrorrhizos) where this lone Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) was found under one of its giant leaves.

Near by was an area where Air Potato Plants were growing wild and had taken over almost the entire place. On one of the leaves was this 10 mm Chafer Beetle (Maladera castanea).

Near to the Chafer Beetle was a patch of Aglaonema 'Gold Dust' plants where this 20 mm Mangrove Long Horned Beetle (Aeolesthes holosericeus) was found.

Near to the Mangrove Long Horned Beetle was a Leaf Beetle (Lema divresa) which I seldom encounter during my night walks.

Coming to another tree stump, I was surprised to find this lone Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus tetraspilotus) on an Air Potato leaf next to the tree stump. It has been a while I last came across this beetle.

The highlight for the trip was the encounter with this first-time-encountered 5 mm Darkling Beetle. I have previously encountered similar looking Darkling Beetle but the size and location of the yellow spots are very different from this.

On a tree near by was this pair of small 3 mm Darkling Beetle.

On the same tree was the "shell" of a beetle larvae.

Time passes quickly and it was time to leave the trail. This roundish 8 mm Darkling Beetle was found on a large tree along the side of Riffle Range Road.

As we came to the base of a road fly-over, I was surprised to find a 10 mm Click Beetle (Pectocera babai) and a 3 mm Toe-Winged Beetle on the wall of the fly-over.

The last beetle of the trip was a 10 mm Darkling Beetle found on a tree next to a bus-stop.

This trip was unexpectedly fruitful even though the weather is less than ideal. This seemed to be a good place to go for my future macro sessions.

Morning Walk At Venus Drive (05 Nov 2016)

According to our National Environment Agency, Singapore has entered into the inter-monsoon period (the transition from Southwest monsoon to Northeast monsoon), marked by increased rain showers. This also means a high probability that I may not be able to do my regular macro-photography sessions in the coming weeks.

For this week, I decided to go for a morning walk at Venus Drive since it has been a while I last did a morning walk at Venus Drive. When I set off from my house the sky was overcast and looked like it rained during the night. I proceeded with my plan and headed for Venus Drive, confident that I will still find beetles at Venus Drive even when the weather is wet. When I reached the place the vegetation there were wet with rain, thus making the chance of finding beetles very much slimmer.

Here's a photograph of an Ant-mimic Spider found resting on a leaf of an Elephant Ear plant.

The first beetle for the trip was an Ant-like Flower Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) found under another Elephant Ear plant.

The highlight of the trip came early for this trip. While I was tracking a flying Net-winged Beetle into some low bushes, I was thrilled to find this 5 mm Dung Beetle (Onthophagus leosemontis) resting on a wild pepper leaf.

As expected, not many critters were seen as I walked down the trail let alone finding beetles. It was after a while of slow walking and careful scanning of plants and trees, before I found this small 4 mm Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis). Prior to finding this Leaf Beetle, there were a few more beetles encountered but I was not able to photograph them because they were more skittish then normal. This is a little counter-intuitive to me as I would expect them to be lethargic because of the lower temperature brought about by the rain and overcast sky.

More walking without finding any beetles until this Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus quadriguttatus quadriguttatus) found resting on a leaf.

More walking until I found several of this Leaf Beetle (Argopus brevis) on their favorite food plant - Clidemia hirta. Interestingly, this usually not so skittish Leaf Beetle were super-skittish during this trip, and took me a while to catch a good shot of it.

I was glad that the rain has not dampened the activity of one of my favorite Ladybird Beetles - 3 mm white color Ladybird Beetle. Many of this beetle were seen flying about and procreating under some large leaves. It is always a challenge to photograph this beetle as it is very active and would fly away upon detecting the slightest of movements.

Moving on, I found this empty beetle larvae shell on a tree trunk. It looked like it had met with an untimely death by predation.

The last beetle for the trip was this lovely 5 mm blue metallic color Leaf Beetle (Hoplosaenidea singaporensis) found on a leaf shaded by a tree.  It was while I was photographing this beetle that the sky began to drizzle, and when the rain became heavier that I decided to call it a day.

Although this was a short trip due to the rain, I am glad to be able to photograph the Dung Beetle as it is only the second time that I found this beetle in all the years of photographing beetles. This is a short but good trip indeed.

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.