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Friday 21 November 2014

Night Walk At Pasir Ris Park (21 Nov 2014)

The original plan that my friend and I had was to go to a wild part of Pasir Ris that I had not visited for years. When we reached the location, I was sadden by the massive construction that was happening at that place. Going onto our plan B, we went back to the previous location that we visited at Pasir Ris Park - Night Walk At Pasir Ris Park (31 Oct 2014). Instead of taking the same route, we decided to check out another path, but it turned out to be a very slow start.

Here's a shot of a Club Silverline butterfly (Spindasis syama) at the place. I frequently encounter resting butterfly in the night and this is a first time encounter with this type of butterfly.


Unsurprisingly, the first beetle for the trip was a commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Apogonia expeditionis) which seemed to have came out in numbers for this trip.


Equally in large numbers was another commonly encountered Chafer Beetle (Adoretus compressus).


Interestingly, there were quite a few of this Chafer Beetle (Aprosterna pallide) which used to be very commonly encountered. This is the type of Chafer Beetle that like to fly into homes in the night, probably attracted by the florescent lights used in our homes in Singapore.


As we move down the path, more encounters with the Apogonia expditionis and Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle. Here's a shot of a female Adoretus compressus Chafer Beetle.


The walk was becoming boring as the number of critters encountered was very low and so we decided to pick up our pace towards the previous location where we encountered a lot more beetles. Just then we came across a first-time-encountered Long Horned Beetle (Pterolophia melanura).


It was a good distance between where we were and the previous spot, and in between I was only able to find this small 5 mm Darkling Beetle on a tree.


We finally reached the spot and the first beetle to greet us there was this Chafer Beetle (Apogonia aequabilis).


After seeing Chafer Beetle after another along the path, we were thrilled to finally find a Ladybird Beetle (Henosepilachna implicata), even though its elytra was slightly damaged.


The first Tiger Beetle (Cicindela aurulenta) for the night. This is also the "sign-post" that we have reached the Tiger Beetle colony at the place. The number of this type of Tiger Beetle found at the place was amazing. You literally find them on every other leaf or plant as you walk around the area, so much so that we didn't even stop to take any photograph of them after a while.


Immediately after the Tiger Beetle colony, I found this lovely colored Darkling Beetle (Strongylium erythrocephalum) at the base of a small tree.


On the same tree were several of this small beetle. With my previous wrong identification of the Darkling Beetle as Fungus Beetle, I am beginning to wonder if this is also a Darkling Beetle instead of Fungus Beetle. This type of beetle is commonly found on healthy trees without any fungus growing on them, which possibly means that it is likely to be a Darkling Beetle than a Fungus Beetle.


Higher up on the same tree was a beetle larvae, possibly that of the beetle above.


There were a number of spiders at the place and it was not surprising to find beetles being caught in their large web. Here's  a shot of a spider having a Aprosterna pallide Chafer Beetle for dinner.


Moving to a low grassy patch, there were several of this small 5 mm Leaf Beetle. I am surprised to notice the large mandibles that this Leaf Beetle has.


We are almost at the end of the path and I was pleasantly surprised to find this bright orange Leaf Beetle. This is only the second time that I encountered this type of Leaf Beetle. Sadly, it was at an odd position.


Passing some chest level bushes, my friend asked me whether a dark patch of stuff are beetle larvae, and I was surprised to find that they were indeed beetle larvae of the Tortoiseshell Beetle.


We reached the end of the path and it was also about time to leave, but we decided to linger a little longer to check out another part of the place. I am so glad to be able to find this Tortoiseshell Beetle (Laccoptera nepalensis).


Near to the Laccoptera nepalensis Tortoiseshell Beetle was another surprise find - a lovely Ladybird Beetle (Heteroneda recticulata).


The last beetle for the trip was a Chafer Beetle (Anomala variegata) feasting on the flowers of a low tree.


Although we had a slow start for the trip, I am glad that we are still able to find a number of beetles on this trip. After having experienced the slow start, we told ourselves that we will go directly to the spot where we found beetles the next time we decide to go there.

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