Close Encounter With Coconut Beetle - Oryctes rhinoceros (09 Sep 2020)

 I got lazy. Ever since the Covid-19 Circuit Breaker was in force in early Apr 2020, my weekly routine of macro-photography was disrupted. The last time I went for a macro photography session was on 26 Jun 2020.  

Recently, someone sent me two photographs of a Xylotrupes beckeri Rhinoceros Beetle that the person found in Singapore. On first glance, I thought that it is Xylotrupes gideon, but upon closer examination it looked like Xylotrupes beckeri instead. Not aware that Xylotrupes beckeri is native to Singapore, I consulted an expert and found out that there were previous records of Xylotrupes beckeri being found in Singapore. Thanks to this Xylotrupes beckeri, my interests in beetles was once again rekindled. Hopefully, I will resume my macro photography sessions soon. Here are the two photographs that I received (PS: I have gotten permission to use the photographs):

With my renewed interests in macro photography, I was fortunate to come across a pair of Coconut Beetle (Oryctes rhinoceros):

By now, you would have noticed that the male and female Coconut Beetle look similar. To differentiate between male and female Coconut Beetle, all you need to do is to look at the tip of the beetle's abdomen. Only the female Coconut Beetle has hairs at the tip of their abdomen. 

BTW, the blog editor was changed recently and I am still getting used to the new blog editor. Nevertheless, I will keep to the look and feel of Beetles@SG. If there are differences, appreciate your understanding and continuous support. Thank you.  

Night Walk At Windsor Nature Park (26 Jun 2020)

It was slightly more than a week since Singapore went into Phase 2 of the Covid-19 circuit breaker measure. With Phase 2, parks and beaches are once again open for visitation. As such, HW and I decided to pick up our macro photography session again. To ensure a good session, we decided to go to Windsor Nature Park because we will have a higher chance of finding beetles there.

Here's a photograph of a Lowland Dwarf Gecko (Hemiphyllodactylus typus) encountered during the trip.

Leaf Beetle (Graphops curtipennis) ~  4 mm

Darkling Beetle ~ 2 mm

Fungus Weevil ~ 8 mm [First-time-encountered]

Ground Beetle (Catascopus dalbertisi) ~ 15 mm

Darkling Beetle (Ceropria induta) ~ 10 mm

Darkling Beetle~ 10 mm

Darkling Beetle (Ceropria superba)~ 10 mm

Fungus Beetle~ 15 mm

Rove Beetle~ 5 mm

Sap Beetle~ 3 mm

Fungus Weevil~ 8 mm

Darkling Beetle (Cryphaeus gazella)~ 10 mm

Darkling Beetle~ 15 mm

Beetle larvae~ 15 mm

Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis)~ 8 mm

Please Fungus Beetle (Amblyopus vittatus)~ 10 mm

Chafer Beetle~ 10 mm

Ground Beetle~ 20 mm

Fungus Weevil ~ 5 mm

Weevil~ 4 mm

Fungus Beetle (Eumorphus tetraspilotus)~ 10 mm

Beetle pupa~ 10 mm

Darkling Beetle~ 2 mm.

Darkling Beetle~ 10 mm

Making of Beetle Specimens - Part 2 (06 Jun 2020)

This is the long overdue Part 2 of the Making of Beetle Specimens post. Here are some of the beetle specimens that I managed to pin during the Covid-19 circuit breaker period. Enjoy!