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Monday 17 November 2014

Morning Walk At Mandai Lake Road (17 Nov 2014)

I was on leave and happened to be around the Mandai Lake Road in the morning, so I decided to take a walk along the road to see if it yields any beetle actions in the day. This is the same stretch of road that I took the other night  (http://beetlesg.blogspot.sg/2014/10/recce-walk-near-singapore-night.html).


The first beetle that I encountered was a Leaf Beetle (Altica cyanea) and it took me a while before I found it. Photographing the beetle was a challenge due to the frequent gushes of wind caused by passing cars along the road.


The weather was rather warm and there were not much critters to be found except for the occasional one or two grasshoppers. At this moment I was wondering if it was a mistake to even consider walking the road given the not so fantastic results of the night walk previously. Just then I spotted a tiny 2 mm Ladybird Beetle hiding from the hot sun under a leaf.


Moving on, I was surprised to find a Leaf Beetle (Colasposoma auripenne) under the shade of another leaf as they should be very active at this time. I guessed that the weather is really warm that even the diurnal beetles are hiding in the shade.


After finding the Leaf Beetle hiding under the leaf, I decided to check under heavily shaded areas for beetles. Sure enough I found another tiny 2 mm Ladybird Beetle (Cryptogonus orbiculus) hiding between the branches of a low tree. Sadly this beetle was super alert and flew off just after one shot.


After walking for a while without encountering any other beetles, I decided to turn back and call it a day. As I crossed over the side of the road, I was glad to be able to find a Spiny Leaf Beetle on a blade of grass in a tall grass patch.


Coming to some badly eaten small elephant ear plant, several of this Leaf Beetle (Aulacophora frontalis) were hiding under the leaves.


On the same leaf was another Leaf Beetle.


I am almost at the place where I started and I chanced upon a patch of bamboo plants where there were several of this entirely black Ladybird Beetle. This beetle is so shiny that you can see the reflection of my flash diffusers and camera lens on it. It looked like the Variable Ladybird (Coelophora inaequalis) Beetle but lacks the yellowish-brown coloration at the head.


Next to the Ladybird Beetle was a really tiny beetle which is less than 1 mm in size.


The last beetle for the trip was a first-time-encountered Fungus Beetle with a lovely metallic blue coloration. It was found on a relatively dry fallen tree and it seemed that it was feeding on some white fungus that is growing under the tree bark.


The place is not too fruitful compared to the other locations and my conclusion for the place would be low on my to-visit list since having visited it in both night and day.

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