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Friday 11 September 2015

Morning Walk At Venus Drive (11 Sep 2015)

Today is Polling Day for the nation of Singapore and it is a Public Holiday. My original intention was to have a night walk the night before, but thanks to our neighbor country Indonesia, the pollutant index was about 198 psi the night before. It was very unhealthy to be outside with the pollutant index being so high, hence the trip was postponed to the next day.

After doing my duty as a Singaporean, I decided to go to Venus Drive for a short walk. The weather for the past week has been dry, so the chances of finding beetles is very much lesser. Nevertheless, I proceeded with the trip because I was also very eager to test out my double-diffuser set-up after learning about double-diffuser used in photo studio.

The first interesting sight at the place was a small flock of Scaly-breasted Munia (Lonchura punctulata) foraging among some tall grass patch. It was so refreshing to see them hoping from one grass stalk to another.


The first beetle for the trip was a Ant-like Beetle (Anthelephila cyanea) resting under a rubber tree leaf. It was quite a challenge photographing this beetle as the wind was blowing very strongly and continuously.


The next beetle was a small 2 mm Leaf Beetle (Eucyclomera nigricollis), munching away on a leaf.


It was not a very good start as it was only about another 30 mins before I encountered this Fungus Beetle (Episcapha quadrimacula) feasting on a fungus patch on a fallen log.


The highlight of the trip was the encounter with this Long Horned Beetle (Oberea clara). It has been a while I last encountered this beetle.


Near to the Long Horned Beetle was a small 3 mm Pintail Beetle.


Walking further down the path, a Ladybird Beetle larvae  was found resting on a leaf.


After another 10 minutes of walking, another Pintail Beetle (Mordellistena cervicalis) was found resting motionlessly on a leaf in the shade.


More walking without finding any other beetles, until this Tumbling Flower Beetle (Glipa malaccana) suddenly landed on a leaf in front of me.


Near to the Tumbling Flower Beetle was one of my favorite beetles - a white Ladybird Beetle. This particular specimen is the whitest among all the white Ladybird Beetles that I have encountered so far.


More walking without finding any beetles until this first-time-encountered 2 mm Leaf Beetle, resting on a leaf. It was super alert and flew off after just one photograph.


Further down the path was another first-time-encountered beetle. Not sure what family it belongs to, but it looked like a Soldier Beetle.


After some more walking, I was pleasantly surprised to find a Pintail Beetle (Mordella fasciata) resting on a leaf. It has been a while I last photographed this lovely beetle.


It was about two hundred meters from the exit that I found this colorful Leaf Beetle (Arcastes biplagiata) on a badly eaten leaf.


About fifty meters from the Arcastes biplagiata Leaf Beetle was another lovely metallic blue Leaf Beetle.


The last beetle for the trip was also Leaf Beetle (Altica cyancea) resting on a leaf by the edge of a stream. It was a challenge photographing this beetle due to the fear that I might fall into the stream.


Although the trip was not as fruitful as previous trips at Venus Drive, it was considerably good given the dry weather. I am also happy with the results of my double-diffuser set-up which reduces the flash hotspot significantly.

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