Night Walk At Venus Drive (28 Jun 2013)

The PSI was about 60 so I decided to take a short walk at Venus Drive to see if the haze has any impact on the place. As expected, the place looked very dry and many of the bracket mushrooms where I usually find Fungus Beetles were all dried and shriveled up.

Coming to a moss covered log, I found dozen of this 5mm size Darkling Beetles having a party on the mosses.

Moving along the bone dry trail, a Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) was seen munching happily on a leaf. Notice the big hole it made on the leaf.

On a white color mushroom was this lonely female Darkling Beetle (Cryphaeus gazelle).

Just a stone's throw away was this Fungus Beetle (Platydema ribbei) munching on a white fungus. This should be a female as it is lacking the horn-like protrusion on the head.

An old friend decided to come out to greet me. Interestingly, this is the only Eumorphus politus Fungus Beetle that I encounter on this trip. You would usually find them in large numbers at night.

On a nearby tree branch was this big Darkling Beetle (~12 mm). They were out in force tonight and can be seen all over the place.

On a dry tree log was this metallic sheen beetle (~5 mm). Like the previous Darkling Beetle, there were about 15 others on the same log as this one.

About 2 meter up a tree trunk was this beetle (~5 mm). It really was a test of endurance as I stretched out fully to get close to it. Thankfully, it was pretty cooperative and didn't move too much.

I initially thought that it is a Ground Beetle but it also looked like a Checkered Beetle.

The night was pretty interesting as I encountered 5 of this Ground Beetle (Catascopus dalbertisi). I don't usually encounter them that frequently, at least not 5 on the same trip. This is one of my favorite Ground Beetle. The color of this beetle is simply stunning.

Most people would miss this little beetle (~2 mm) when they walk pass it. Even though they are very common, they were seldom noticed because of their small size.

On a rotting tree trunk nearby, I found at least twenty of this super hyper-active Rove Beetle. Please pardon the blurry shot as it is very difficult to photograph them as they move about very quickly and tend to avoid the lights.

The next beetle is about 5 mm and it always remind me of a mole for whatever reasons. Cute little fella.

Moving past a tree, I found this lovely Fungus Beetle (~4 mm) at the base of the tree. Due to its odd position, I was not able to get a very clear shot of it. This is a different Fungus Beetle that I have encountered as the thorax looked to be brownish-red in color.

Another surprise find - an interestingly patterned Fungus Weevil Beetle. It remained very still when I photographed it. It must be sleeping as getting so close to this beetle in the day time would seem impossible as it is a hyper-sensitive beetle.

On some low bushes was this Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta). This is a wonderful surprise as I have not encountered this beetle in the night before. Even if it is in the day, they would be hyper-active and would fly off when it senses movements.

On another tree trunk was this 5 mm Weevil Beetle. It is super sensitive to movements and it was almost running away from my illumination light. Do note that when photographing this beetle is NOT to get too close as it would usually fall to the leaf litters below when it senses danger.

Another Ground Beetle was found on another tree trunk. From a short distance away, it looked like a jungle cockroach.

This Fungus Weevil was found clinging motionlessly on a tree trunk. Interestingly it didn't move during the entire "photo session".

Another Fungus Beetle was found on a dried tree trunk. This is the fourth Fungus Beetle that I come across for the night, and interestingly these are the only Fungus Beetle that I found during the trip.

Walking further deeper into the path, I found this highlight of the day. It was a Long Horned Beetle (Epepeotes luscus). It's been a while that I encountered any Long Horned Beetle at Venus Drive.

The last beetle was a Darkling Beetle. Although it is not as flashy as others in the same family, it is still an interesting beetle to photograph.

The trip was interesting as I was still able to photograph 21 different type of beetles despite that the dry condition.

Short Walk At Kent Ridge Park (13 Jun 2013)

I was around Clementi area and had some in-between time in the late morning so I decided to go to the nearby Kent Ridge Park for a short walk.

The first beetle that appeared in this manicured park was this leaf beetle (Colasposoma auripenne). The place seemed to be teeming with this type of beetle as a large number of them were seen on different plants in the park.

The next beetle looked like a Tumbling Flower Beetle. It was a rather small beetle at about 3 mm.

The next was a really tiny (< 2 mm) and hyper-active beetle. Before I can photograph it properly it flew away, leaving me with a blurry photograph. I have included it here to document what I saw during the trip.

The highlight of the trip was this Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta), a commonly seen Tiger Beetle around our parks. The surprise was that it allowed me to photograph it in close proximity without running away as they usually would.

The last beetle that I came across was this brightly colored Lady Bird Beetle. It was found resting under a big leaf.

Just when I am done photographing this beetle, my in-between time was also up. Although this is a short trip, it was still an interesting one.

Next week I will be overseas for a short break and hopefully I can still catch some overseas beetle actions.

 

Morining Walk At Bukit Timah Nature Reserve (08 Jun 2013)

The morning looked wonderful for a walk, so I decided to head for the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve. It has been a while since I last visited the place and I was looking forward to the walk. It has been raining in the night for the past few day so I was expecting that the place to be wet in the morning.



The first beetle that appeared was this Spiny Leaf Beetle. It looked similar to one of the Spiny Leaf Beetles that I came across previously but this differed in the orange coloration on the elytra (the other Spiny Leaf Beetle has its elytra entirely black).

The next beetle that appeared was a beetle that come out in large numbers after rain.

Moving down the wet and slightly muddy track, a Pleasing Fungus Beetle was found resting on a leaf next to a rotten log.

Moving along to a sunny part of the trail, a Leaf Beetle (Lema diversa) was found basking in the sun. I was taken by surprise that it remained still for a while for me to photograph it as this beetle is hyper-sensitive to movements. Guess that it is still warming up its engine.

Walking into a shaded area, a lovely Twenty-Eight Spot Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna vigintioctopunctata) landed on a leaf right in front of me. This is a cute beetle with a super long scientific name.

Walking further, I found another Spiny Leaf Beetle on a blade of grass.

Near to the Spiny Leaf Beetle was a tiny beetle (~2 mm).

Walking to a clearing, a Tiger Beetle was found motionless on a leaf. This is an interesting encounter as like all Tiger Beetles, this beetle is hyper-sensitive and yet it allowed me to photograph it without moving at all.

Moving further down the trail, I found this tiny beetle (~2 mm).

There was a black speck on a blade of grass and upon closer examination, I found this lovely beetle. It looked like a Leaf Beetle.

The surprise find was this Net-winged Beetle resting under a shade.

Hiding at the base of a fig tree was this black beetle.

The weather became warmer as I walked toward the Durian Loop. This lovely metallic beetle was resting on a leaf. Like the earlier Tiger Beetle, it also allowed me to photograph it without moving at all.

Almost at the U-turn point, this beetle appeared.

A tiny beetle (2 mm) was moving slowly on a leaf'. I initially thought that it is the tiny beetle that is in abundance after rain, but upon closer examination, it turned out to be a Silken Fungus Beetle (Triplax rufipes).

On another leaf was this nice little yellowish Leaf Beetle.

More beetles turned up as the surrounding became warmer. This Leaf Beetle was found warming itself up.

After photographing the above beetle, it took another 15-20 min before this small beetle (~2 mm) appeared.

Another cute Ladybird beetle flew past and landed on a  badly eaten leaf in front of me.

Resting on a palm tree leaf was this little beetle that looked a little like the Silken Fungus Beetle but with an orange coloration at the end of its elytra. Not sure if it belongs to the same family.

It was almost at the end of the walk and the weather has turned from cool and wet, to hot and humid.  A Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) was seen foraging on the track.

The last beetle that appeared at the end of the trip was this beetle.

The trip was a successful one as I managed to take photographs of 22 different beetles despite starting off with a wet morning.