Macro Photography in Singapore

Prosperity Froggie

2012-01-20T23:55:00.002+08:00

We would usually expect to see frogs or toads in our night shoots if it rained in the day. This night promised as such, as we set forth to locate the prosperity frog (it's just a name we gave it) after a day of rain.

#1 Found the prosperity froggy, thanks to Marcus and James. Nyctixalus pictus.

#2 Prosperity Froggie because it is orange. 大吉大利！

#3 Oblivious to our presence, we could even rotate the froggie around on the leaf without it jumping off. Extremely flat little froggie.

#4 Close up on the face.

#5 Placed the flash under the leaf to get an "X-ray" of the froggie.

#6 Marcus found another one!

#7 Looks the same alright

#8 Another close up

#9 This Wolf Spider (Pardosa sp.) mother was carrying her egg sac

#10 Going closer

#11 And closer!!

#12 Possibly a Kidney Garden Spider (Araneus mitificus)?

#13 Harvestman with a spikey green back

#14 Side view highlights the spikes

#15 Unique looking bug with cyan stripes on it's abdomen

#16 Usual scorpion on a tree bark

#17 Lighted with Ultra Violet

#18 Ultra Violet mixed with flash

#19 Not so common scorpion, Hemiscorpiidae?. Refused to stop moving. Some of them had smaller pincers, which I suspect to be females of the same species?

#20 Tiny tail, I wonder how it manages to sting the prey? Likely to swing from the side like a crocodile.

#21 Lighted with Ultra Violet again.

#22 Final shot. I was waiting for a mating pair but they just wouldn't come out from beneath the tree bark.

To find out why scorpions glow under Ultra Violet light, refer to my previous post:

Why do Scorpions Glow Under UV light?

#23 Scarab beetle?

#24 Couldn't retract it's wings

#25 Two dragonflies at rest

#26 They were beautifully covered with dew

James blogged about this trip here.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Ovipositing Wasps

2012-01-14T23:53:00.001+08:00

Oviposition is the process of laying eggs with little or no embryonic development within the mother. Some wasps need to lay their eggs inside foreign hosts. The mother goes in search of larvae of other bugs beneath the wood/bark using her antennae, and is able to pierce her ovipositor through to the foreign host to lay her eggs. (Source: Giant Ichneumon Wasp)

We found a tree with numerous wasps, possibly Stephanidae in various stages of oviposition. In fact, many of them were ovipositing again and again on the same tree, allowing us to witness the entire process. Unfortunately, many were also found way above our eye-level and we ended up with shots at weird angles.

#1 Top view of the wasp, possibly Stephanidae

#2 Close up on the head - a beautiful small red head.

#3 Side view of the wasp

#4 Beginning the "drilling" into the tree trunk with her extremely long ovipositor

#5 Rear view, showing that the ovipositor had already been pierced through a significant distance.

#6 Ovipositor completely driven into the tree trunk

#7 The wasp remained in this position for a few minutes

#8 Top view

#9 Another oviposition in progress while an ant comes by to disturb

#10 Final shot before we made our way into the trail

#11 Warming up with planthopper

#12 Another planthopper? Very cute, almost like a ladybird.

#13 A branch-hugging spider, likely to be a species of Dolophones (Araneidae). Kindly IDed by David Court.

#14 More of the abdomen can be seen in this pic

#15 View from behind.

#16 A beautiful planthopper nymph with the trademark "fibre-optic" tail.

#17 Lynx Spider (Hamadruas sp.) top view

#18 Front view

#19 Assassin bug

#20 Top view of the assassin bug

#21 A large tailless whip scorpion (Amblypygi)

#22 Full body view. The body alone spanned about 2cm. This was the last shot before the rain came pouring down.

James blogged about this trip here.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Micro Movements in the Cyrtarachne

2012-01-06T23:53:00.012+08:00

2 years ago, I posted some examples of bugs which exhibit micro movements when they appear to be at rest when viewed with the naked eye. It was only much later that I managed to document this movement in the Bird Dropping Spider (~~Pasilobus sp.~~ Cyrtarachne fangchengensis) when I found one and actually remembered to shoot it. :P

Observing the Micromovements of Bugs (Oct 2010)

Note: ID corrected to Cyrtarachne fangchengensis according to the Singapore Biodiversity book.

#1 The Bird Dropping Spider (~~Pasilobus sp.~~ Cyrtarachne fangchengensis) with an unidentified fly plastered onto the abdomen

#2 The micro movements. I do not have any verified theories to these movements, but my first thought was that it was due to the movement of digestive juices in the spider. David Court had suggested that it could also be a anti-predator warning device.

#3 A juvenile Huntsman Spider

#4 Unidentified eggs, looked like golden eggs!

#5 Female Wolf Spider (Pardosa pseudoannulata?) carrying an egg sac

#6 Front view of the same wolf spider

#7 A Jumping Spider (Siler sp.) captured this planthopper nymph while we were observing it.

#8 It loved to raise it's 2 fore-legs in this manner. To ward off predators perhaps?

#9 Yes, still doing it. Surrender? lol

#10 Back view. Very colourful abdomen

#11 Top view. We were hoping that this was a peacock spider, but it was not to be. :P

#12 Relatively large Crab Spider (Angaeus rhombifer)

#13 Top view of the crab spider

#14 Unidentified caterpillar, with a very stout body and vibrant colours

#15 Better view of the patterns on it's body

#16 Close up of the head

#17 A very small Spitting Spider (Scytodes sp.)

#18 Leaf-like Katydid

#19 Male Huntsman (Heteropoda tetrica)?

#20 Face shot to show the eye arrangement

#21 Cute little ladybird

#22 Tree Stump Orb Weaver (Heurodes turritus) or Poltys sp?) ID provided by David Court.

#23 Side view of the tree-stump wannabe. The abdomen is thinner than the previous ones that I had shot before:

Looking Like a Tree Stump.... Spider (Oct 2011)
Hunt for the Tree Stump Orb Weaver (Jun 2010)

#24 Managed a portrait shot. This was already focused to infinity with the Raynox 250 slapped on.

#25 Another Crab Spider (Angaeus rhombifer)

#26 Front view of the eyes.

#27 This spider caught my eye with the jade-green abdomen. Probably a Kidney Garden Spider (Araneus mitificus)

#28 Unidentified fly?

#29 Wandering Spider (Ctenus sp.) on the ground, munching on a roach

#30 Found this dead Mantidfly on the way out of the trail. :(

The complete album can be viewed here.

First Shoot of 2012 at Dairy Farm

2012-01-01T23:36:00.001+08:00

First shoot of the year and everyone seemed to be finding lots of goodies! I was late due to work, but managed to get a few unique subjects. heng ahhh

#1 First subject was found along the main path. This Wandering Spider, possibly Ctenus floweri. Not sure what it was eating though!

#2 Getting a slightly different view

#3 Close up on the head

#4 It was busy flossing it's mandibles after the meal

#5 It allowed me to get close.. really close

#6 Another closeup

#7 Beautiful unique Huntsman Spider (Sparassidae)

#8 Lanky legs with smooth graduating colours

#9 Top view to show the leg colours

#10 Closer top view

#11 Jumping Spider (Salticidae), possibly a female Pancorius

#12 Close up on the patterns on the head

#13 Someone found this scorpion (Lychas scutilus?) mama with her relatively mature brood on piggyback. She was also eating a ground spider.

#14 Illuminated with UV light.

#15 Close up on the face

#16 Scorpion head with prey

#17 How many scorpion stings??

#18 Clearer view of the scorpion with prey

#19 Close up on the mama's sting

#20 This kiddo jumped off and it was her first step to independence, scampering away from her mama.

#21 Wide-Jawed Viciria heavily engulfed in fungus

#22 I cleared the fungus a little to reveal the Salticid's eyes.

#23 Close up. Can see that the eye was dented.

#24 Not sure what kinda worm this is?

#25 Reddish looking weevil. Several of them beside the steps.

#26 Side view. Lazy to remove the Raynox so had to settle with a cropped view.

#27 Yet another weevil

#28 Huntsman Spider (Sparassidae)

#29 A very unique beetle. Possibly Atractocerus?

#30 Side view to reveal the antennae

#31 Full-bodied view.

#32 Purplish looking House Centipede. Likely to be fresh from the molt.

#33 Harvestman that most of us call the gummybear.

James blogged about this trip here.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Chestnut Discoveries

2011-12-30T23:45:00.001+08:00

Was supposed to go to Dairy Farm but made a mistake with the dates and ended up at Chestnut Avenue instead. A number of interesting finds left us with more weird names for the little critters!

#1 A really tiny bug that David found. Interestingly, the eyes stood up like that of a crab, and the antennae was thick and leaf-like. We called it the muscle bug. lol

#2 Top view. This bug was barely 2mm long!

#3 Head shot focusing on the eyes and "muscles"

#4 Slightly angled view

#5 Lots of Praying Mantises along the trail, spotting one in every few meters.

#6 Found a beautiful one and took some handheld shots with the Raynox attached.

#7 My favorite angle. Love the colours! The 3 little jewels between the antennae are the Ocelli, which function as eyes as well.

#8 Found lots of mozzies flying around me too

#9 Unfortunately, this one seemed to have gotten to me and is sluggish enough to let me shoot.

#10 Took another shot for insurance. :P

#11 Top view. Maybe useful to ID if I get some weird disease from the bite!

#12 A Common Mormon sleeping under a leaf

#13 Tried to go a bit closer

#14 This was the closest I could get

#15 Bored due to lack of subjects, and took shots of this ant

#16 James found this little velvety mite

#17 Relatively large Salticidae.

#18 Large eyes!

#19 A female with large abdomen. Pregnant?

#20 Harvestman from the leaf litter

#21 It took a break, while I continued to shoot

#22 Portrait of a very large weevil, almost an inch long. Didn't take much pics while Ben was going at it.

#23 Pretty little Crab Spider, a female Boliscus tuberculatus

#24 Top view.

#25 Taking a poop. The white substance could be guanin, a nitrogen-rich excretory product.

#26 Look at the abdomen. See any face with thick eyebrows? :)

#27 Back view, as it moved non-stop

#28 Last shot but out of focus. :(

#29 Masked Hunter, an assassin bug nymph. See the eyes?

#30 Here's how it'd look normally

James blogged about this trip here.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Why do Scorpions Glow Under UV light?

2011-12-17T23:58:00.005+08:00

Many macro shooters have come to know that the scorpion's exoskeleton glows a bright cyan under Ultra Violet (UV) light. But few know why or how.

Why the need to glow?
After scouring around for answers, the most commonly accepted answer was... that the scorpion's cuticle or exoskeleton functions as a giant secondary eye, collecting light information and relaying it to the nervous system. It is believed to be used by the scorpions to detect shelter, as being under shelter would block the light signals on it's body. Douglas Gaffin of the University of Oklahoma "blindfolded" the scorpions and found that they could still detect light. See link here.

There is another theory that the nocturnal scorpions have properties in it's exoskeleton that repels UV light, protecting it from the sun. Scorpions normally hunt at night and are tuned for the light and temperature conditions. If it requires to move in the day for any reason, this might help to re-radiate solar energy from the sun.

How did it glow?
As for HOW the glow came about, further scouring found that the mature exoskeleton accumulates a chemical called beta-carboline, which glows under UV.

#1 Had everyone practising UV shots with my UV torch, this shot used flash to fill the background. This Lychas scutilus is quite commonly found in Singapore.

#2 Same composition, but purely lit by UV light

#3 A pair of scorpions on the tree bark, again with fill flash

#4 The same pair lighted with only UV light.

#5 Different scorpions glow as well! Possibly Hemiscorpiidae, Liocheles australasiae.

#6 Even the black forest scorpion glows. Without the UV light, it would appear completely black.

#7 A mother with babies on her back. As mentioned earlier, the chemical causing the glow accumulates on mature exoskeletons. That's probably why the babies do not glow.

#8 Another old picture of a scorpion with babies. The scene was lighted with a red light, showing again that the babies do not glow under UV light.

Some other simple finds at Nangka Trail...

#9 James found this common male Tarantula (Phlogiellus sp.) on the leaf litter.

#10 It ran off in hiding after this shot

#11 A very small female Bird Dung Spider (Pasilobus sp.)

#12 A beautiful Huntsman Spider (Olios sp.)

#13 Closer view of the face

#14 Wider view of the body

#15 A tiny Amblypygi, resident of Nangka Trail.

#16 A baby Tarantula (Phlogiellus sp. running around on a rock.

#17 Ground Spider (Mallinella cinctipes) with supper

#18 Pisauridae, probably Sphedanus (previously Eurychoera) quadrimaculata. ID kindly provided by David Court.

#19 View from a lower angle

#20 Close up on the face

#21 Male Crab Spider (Cebrenninus rugosa) ID kindly provided by David Court.

James blogged about this trip here.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Bringing Folks from Malaysia on a Mantidfly Hunt

2011-12-17T13:48:00.002+08:00

Liew WK was in town over the weekend and had been an admirer of the Mantidfly which we could find quite easily in Singapore. Apparently not as common in Malaysia, the pictures we posted eventually lured them to our humble lion city.

We did a walk around Durian Loop, and found only 1 solitary Mantidfly near the entrance, but at a significant height above us. Can see cannot shoot! Just as we were about to leave, Tay spotted yet another Mantidfly near the entrance. This time, we were determined not to lose sight of it, and chased it around for a good 2 hours. During the chase, we found about 2 or 3 other Mantidflies on the same tree!

#1 I had just one shot of the Mantidfly, but its ok enough. :P Most opportunities were given to our guests, and we're glad that they did not go back empty handed! Here's Liew's capture of this beautiful bug.

#2 Spotted a Scorpion Tailed Spider (Arachnura sp.) high above us. Hard to take a good shot as it moves violently with every teeny weeny breeze. More on this spider posted here: The Scorpion Tailed Spider and other bugs named after scorpions.

#3 Side view

#4 Colourful katydid in blue, green, black

#5 Blowing bubbles... this phenomenon has never been scientifically explained convincingly. Some possible suggestions to explain this...

To cool down
To excrete excessive liquids
To give off scents to attract opposite sex when ready to mate
To clean their mouth parts
Runny nose (!??!!)

Here's an interesting article discussing about this phenomenon: Fly bubble blowing.

#6 Side view

#7 A rather large Jumping Spider (Salticidae)

#8 What big eyes you have!

#9 Terrestrial Ribbon Worm. Ivan Kwan had an interesting blog post about this: Ribbons: Terrestrial Nemerteans of Singapore.

#10 Trying to get a cobra-like pose

#11 Look at the tiny little eyes!

#12 Moth mimicking a dead leaf

#13 Beetle

#14 Female Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila pilipes). Was going to shoot the mating sequence but the male scrambled off while I was setting up my tripod. :(

The complete album can be viewed here.

Eunuch Spiders

2011-12-13T13:43:00.002+08:00

We all heard of eunuchs. But what about eunuch spiders? Impotent males? Castrated males?? How did they reach such a state?

Had a day off from reservist and found myself at Dairy Farm looking for interesting bugs. There, I found a male St Andrew's Cross Spider (Argiope sp.) but with it's palps missing. One could almost think that it was a female spider with the absence of the palps.

This male Argiope could have lost both it's palps in a mating sequence, therefore becoming a complete eunuch. They sometimes stay in the female's web to chase away other males that may arrive. This ensures that the first male remains as the only male parent! (Information kindly shared by David Court)

#1 The male St Andrew's Cross Spider. Normally the palps would be swollen and visible from this angle, but they are gone now.

#2 A slightly different angle. Somehow, this male wasn't near to any web of a female. It might have been separated earlier.

#3 Ant-mimicking sac spider?

#4 This ~~malayan water monitor lizard~~ clouded monitor lizard (Thanks to Ivan for correcting this) came out to greet me

#5 Derbidae with a very odd purplish hue

#6 Slight shift in angle gives it a very different background

#7 Closer view

#8 Lichen Huntsman (Sparassidae) shot under natural light. I almost pressed my hands on it while shooting the Derbidae above. These are quite good at camouflaging themselves on tree barks.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Kitchen Table Macro Photography

2011-12-03T23:50:00.001+08:00

A night trip to Ubin with high expectations but drenched by the wet weather. The sky opened right after our dinner and we stood around the restaurant waiting for the rain to stop. Some of us could not stand waiting and ended up taking umbrellas out to look for subjects.

End result was a mini photoshoot on the restaurant (more like coffeeshop) table.

#1 Up close with a changeable lizard

#2 Hugging the leaf with an ever shocked face

#3 Started to climb around

#4 A younger changeable lizard on the restaurant table. To lighten my load, I left the flashes on the table...!

#5 And this was how I shot the pic. lol. Thanks to Lance for taking this photo. Flashes triggered wirelessly.

#5 Really skinny, we can see the rib cage here.

#6 Took the reflection as well since the table was so shiny!

#7 Last shot before we gave up and headed back to mainland.

With our incredible luck, the rain stopped while we were waiting for the ferry at the jetty!!!

Up Close with a Bird Dung Crab Spider

2011-11-26T23:53:00.003+08:00

We've seen several variants of bird dung spiders before. They come in various colours (just like dung) and in very odd shapes (just like dung). A night shoot at Chestnut Avenue allowed us to find a crab spider masquerading as a piece of bird dung, and it had an oddly human-like face.

#1 Top view of the female Bird Dung Crab Spider (Phrynarachne sp.). Very wet and reflective, and some said the top looked like some sticky peanut snack...

#2 Face view. It is in it's closed up position, and will remain motionless even if you touch it.

#3 Close up on the face. Ok... it wasn't really that motionless

#4 Normal close up shot of the face

#5 3D rocking animation of the face

#6 Yet another face view, but at a slightly lower angle

#7 After leaving it alone for a while, it decided to ditch it's shitty disguise, stand up and move around, possibly to hunt

#8 It did this whenever Melvyn moved his camera away

#9 Animation of what happened. Likely to be a threat display to warn incoming predators. But sometimes, it may do this to release some chemical to lure its prey.

#10 Became a walking piece of dung

Just for reference, here are some of the past dung spiders that I had shot before.

#11 This was shot early in the morning. The bird dung spider was busy dismantling it's web to look like shit for the rest of the day. When night falls, it would weave it's dangling web again. Details posted here: The Walking, Drooling Bird Dung.

#11b How the bird dung spider chews

#12 Comes in bright yellow. It is even more striking when resting on a young red leaf. Details posted here: A Beautiful Piece of Shit.

#13 One of the more common bird dung spiders. This animation shows how the pattern on it's abdomen changes. Details posted here: What's called a Spider and a Scorpion, but is actually neither?.

#14 A very small one, also likely to be a bird dung crab spider, guarding her egg sac. Details posted here: Ubin's Scorpions and Many Other Critters

#15 A very dark piece of dung. Details posted here: The Huntsman Spider's Babies

A rather short night shoot, with most of the time dedicated to a dung lookalike. But there were some other finds as well...

#16 Sleeping wasp with an incredibly thin waist. Envy of all girls...

#17 Found quite a few of these red assassin bugs on tree trunks

#18 Planthopper? Very brightly coloured.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Return of the Whip Spider

2011-11-20T22:37:00.002+08:00

The name "Whip Spider" often refers to the Tailless Whip Scorpion in certain literature. But the whip spider I'm highlighting in this post, is sometimes known as a Twig Spider as well. At rest, this deceptive creature looks just like a plain twig dangling in mid-air.

#1 I used to see this Whip Spider (Ariamnes flagellum) at Admiralty Park, but that was a long time ago. Here, we found a female again and with prey! The prey is likely to be a Big bellied spider (Tylorida ventralis).

#2 Didn't stay still, as it juggled with the prey

#3 Still playing around

#4 Twisted itself around

#5 Even tried some yoga poses

#6 Here's another one that I took some time ago, running around, seemingly busy preparing it's web

#7 Not looking very friendly there

#8 The camouflage

#9 And yet another time when the female was protecting it's egg sac

#10 Close up on the egg sac and mother

The morning had some other usual finds as well.

#11 A tiny Laglaise's Garden Spider (Eriovixia laglaisei). It looked like it had some arrows stuck on it's legs!

#12 Velvet Ant, a.k.a. Cow Killer walking about on this leaf endlessly. These are actually wingless wasps that pack a really painful bite!

#13 Closeup on an unknown Salticid, possibly Evarcha sp.

#14 Hallo Mr Blackface!

#15 Some kinda beetle?

#16 Mating Net-Winged Beetles

#17 Victor found this cute Copper Cheeked Frog.

#18 It bathed under the sun, and the light shone through little kermit!

#19 Last shot before it hopped away

#20 Dragonfly. I'm bad with dragonfly identification... anyone with help? =D

#21 A pair of mating weevils, really slowly doing it

#22 Longhorn Beetle (Xystrocera festiva)

#23 Top view to confirm it's identity

#24 Two-Tailed Spider (Hersilia sp) on tree trunk, quite a colourful one!

#25 Close up on the abdomen

The complete album can be viewed here.

Singapore Has Mantidflies!

2011-11-13T14:23:00.002+08:00

This is far from the first sighting of a Mantidfly (Mantispidae) in Singapore. But it is something that many of our Malaysian counterparts rarely see, and on the wish list of many. We were checking out the usual Mantidfly spots as some of our Malaysian friends were going to visit in December and we promised to show them the Mantidfly. =D

The spot appeared barren at first, and almost everyone had moved on until Vincent spotted a large one that seemed to be laying eggs!

#1 Jackpot! A different species (or gender) from the ones we shot before. And looked like it was laying eggs, or was highly constipated.

#2 Side view of the beautiful Mantidfly. Light brown in colour, while the others we saw before were yellow with more distinct black stripes.

#3 A shot that I took some time ago. This was the yellow Mantidfly, but had lost one of it's forelegs.

#4 Side view of the "Tiger" Mantidfly

#5 Close up on the eyes and forelegs

While hunting for Mantidflies, we found some other interesting critters too.

#6 Juvenile St Andrew's Cross Spider comes home to find a big meal waiting in the web!

#7 Turned out to be a beautiful red Derbidae?

#8 Closest shot I managed. For the record, it flew off leaving the little Argiope writhing in anger. lol

#9 Record shot of a Portia spider

#10 Alfred found this beautiful crab spider. At first glance, it looked like a typical orb weaver.

#11 Closing in to verify that it is a crab spider. :P

#12 Beautiful red stripes on the side of it's abdomen

#13 Yet another angle. Can't get enough!

#14 Like any other crab spider, it opened it's legs once it got irritated

#15 A very colourful but unidentified bug, look at the awesome fibre optics! lol

#16 Top view reveals intricate patterns on it's back

#17 Top-front view

#18 Head shot, which reveals the fibre optics behind again. :)

#19 Ant-snatching Assassin Bug Nymph (Acanthaspis). A large one, revealing the details of the heads of all it's victims.

#20 Interesting Jumping Spider. Pity I didn't manage to get more shots before it disappeared.

#21 Wasp to entertain us while we took turns to shoot the Mantidfly.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Ubin's Scorpions and Many Other Critters

2011-11-06T23:59:00.013+08:00

Explored Pulau Ubin late into the night with the usual gang and found some spots occupied by scorpions. An interesting collection, some not often found on mainland.

#1 Found this scorpion hiding behind a tree bark while facing a bristletail. Would it makan??

#2 Think it got uncomfortable with our presence and went running about on the tree trunk, revealing just a tiny tail. It had exceptionally large claws compared to other scorpions, but that small tail did not really match up! Looked like someone who went to the gym and always focuses on building up the arms while forgetting the legs (suggested by Debby Ng)!

#3 The scorpion was behaving very well, so it allowed me time to paint it with ultra violet light! The sides of the scorpion did not illuminate as much under ultra violet light, resulting in a dark purple hue. If you looked close enough, there's also a bubble of water at the mouth!

#4 Point of view of a scorpion's prey

#5 Next up is a tiny fella. Not exactly a scorpion, but I'd put them together anyway. :P The pseudoscorpion is also known as a false scorpion. I have an earlier post on it: The Teeny Weeny Pseudoscorpion

#6 Incredibly small at 2 to 3mm, most would have missed it

#7 No eyes! At first we thought it was dead, but while shooting this, the claw moved. It could still be dead with some movement due to the muscles loosening or stiffening.

#8 The last batch of scorpions were extremely skittish. We had to remain quiet and approach very slowly when we tried to shoot what looked like the Black Forest Scorpions. Here's 2, each guarding their own burrows.

#9 They got pretty scared of our torch lights as well, so focusing was really difficult. Anyway, UV light again!

#10 Another one that came out to greet us. Even after they retreated, we waited around for a few minutes and they came straight back out! Pity it was blocked by that stick.

Ok that's all for the scorpions. We had quite a catch for the rest of the night as well. Looks like we'll be back again pretty soon...!

#11 Looks like Phantom crane flies? (family Ptychopteridae) 5 of them line up for some synchronized dancing.

#12 Lots of these deep red bugs around.

#13 Juvenile Cotten Stainer?

#14 Salticid guarding what seemed like an egg sac

#15 Going closer

#16 The mother-to-be at the edge of her egg sac.

#17 Looks like spider-eating wasp? Waited around for it to catch some spiders but to no avail.

#18 Beautiful spider guarding her egg sac. Looks like some kind of bird dung crab spider?

#19 A Huntsman spider (Sparassidae). The palps reflected a tinge of blue from the flash light.

#20 Another view of the head

#21 Full body view. One leg seems discolored, probably a new one from the latest molt.

#22 Closer view from the top

#23 Lots of Bark lice (Psocoptera)

#24 Assassin bug nymph camouflaged on the tree trunk. Can you see it?

#25 Side view doesn't reveal much as well, but the spikes look really cool!

#26 Portia spider. Didn't take much of this as it kept jumping about. Had an earlier post about this spider: Portia - The Intelligent Hunter

#27 One of my favorite finds of the night - a female Wide Jaw Viciria guarding her eggs.

#28 Counting her eggs.... easily 50 of them there!

#29 Face to face with a clear view of her wide jaws.

#30 Melvyn found this male weevil with a yellow powdery surface. Seen this at Pulau Tekong before as well.

#31 Looking up close, the legs appear scaly as well and they give off a metallic turquoise shimmer.

#32 Melvyn found this female Trap Jaw Ant (Odontomachus). Looks like an injured queen, or alate.

#33 Top view of the injured trap jaw ant queen

#34 Baby faced longhorn beetle! Last saw this at Venus Drive, but no ID yet.

#35 Side view of the longhorn beetle

#36 Top view. Hopefully this gets me an ID!

#37 Another longhorn beetle resting on a tree trunk

#38 Side view reveals it's details more clearly

#39 View of the face

#40 Ground beetle, very fierce looking eyes

#41 A large weevil with interesting debris-like back

James blogged about this trip here

The complete album can be viewed here.

A Night of Hairy Huntsman Spiders

2011-10-29T23:52:00.003+08:00

A night into Nangka Trail led to several sightings of Huntsman Spiders - really hairy ones. If we didn't have the ID, they'd be fondly called the Orang Utan Spiders. Because of the long hair perhaps?

#1 First one was a juvenile

#2 This had a really dark shade of orange

#3 Front view

#4 Didn't really like me and had the legs open for a moment

#5 Bright red stripes

#6 Head shot

Lots of other findings other than the huntsman spiders. I dropped by Venus Drive to take some shots of the Ypsotingis as I didn't get any good shots of it in the previous week.

#7 Ypsotingis, with 2 enlarged cysts on it's back

#8 Somehow, it refused to stop moving once I started to take aim. Might be very sensitive to the focusing light.

#9 Details on the wings

#10 Side view

#11 Some bioluminescent mushrooms were also spotted on a dead log

#12 Not many mushrooms, so I just zoomed into 2 that were close to each other

#13 Katydid with a dark green body and white legs.

#14 Founds some eggs... where's the mother???

#15 There she is! A Epeus flavobilineatus counts her eggs once she returned.

#16 My Precious!!

#17 All round protection as she turns round and round.

#18 Wolf Spider rests on a leaf

#19 Adult Assassin Bug

#20 Top view of the wings

#21 This spider tends to spin webs on a single leaf

#22 Tailless Whip Scorpion (Amblypygi), almost a permanent resident of Nangka Trail

#23 Close up shot of the Amblypygi

#24 A golden coloured Robberfly. Flew off after I took this shot. :(

#25 "Santa Claus" Longhorn Beetle. Might have been dead for some time as the fungus engulfed it's body.

#26 White Striped Wandering Spider

#27 A large House Centipede devouring a cockroach

#28 Side view, with the background lighted up using a torch

#29 A beautiful scorpion with it's sting perched high up

#30 View from above

#31 Sac Spider head shot

#32 Paradise Tree Snake? Not sure, it slithered off after this shot

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Teeny Weeny Pseudoscorpion

2011-10-25T23:56:00.003+08:00

Pseudoscorpions are tiny little critters that prey on other insects - usually much bigger than themselves. They resemble scorpions due to their 2 powerful pedipalps/pincers which contain venom for capturing prey.

Pseudoscorpions have 8 legs, and are so small that most people - even macro shooters - miss them out. Most that I had seen were smaller than 5mm in length.

Here's a little video about these little critters:

#1 Found this Pseudoscorpion clinging on tightly to a beetle's leg

#2 The beetle was running around now and then, but the little pseudoscorpion just held on

#3 Here's how the pseudoscorpion looks like when the beetle was desperately trying to run away from it

#4 Off the beetle goes again, dragging the predator along

This night trip at Venus Drive was originally targetted at glowing mushrooms. We did find a few initially, but just a few. Targeted to find a huge cluster which would look like Pandora, but not much luck there.

#5 Over 1cm in diameter, this was the brightest mushroom we found. Shape doesn't look like the much talked about Filoboletus manipularis but it glows too!

#6 Side view reveals yet another glowing kiddo

#7 Melvyn found this cluster, but it had already been partially destroyed

Next, we bashed around and didn't stay on the main trail for long. :P

#8 Wandering spider eating another spider. Exact species to be determined.

#9 Caught with food in the mouth

#10 Climbed up and let me have an easier angle

#11 Got irritated with my presence and started running around

#12 What beetle is this? Keeps itself curled up.

#13 Golden Comb Footed Spider (Chrysso sp.) tending to her newborns. Interestingly she almost always keeps herself flat on the leaf.

#14 Mouldy longhorn beetle. Been seeing more of these lately. Due to wet weather?

#15 Side view of the moulding longhorn beetle. Horns were already gone?

#16 Nope! It still had its horns!

#17 Very cute large-eyed cricket

#18 Another view of the cutey

#19 Ant-mimic spider (Mallinella sp.) having supper

#20 Record shot of the Ypsotingis. Finally found the tree after staring at many others. But once I got down to start shooting... the sky opened and saw all of us scampering out of the trails. Will be back to shoot more of this fella.

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here.

The Story Behind Stalk Eyed Flies

2011-10-23T13:21:00.003+08:00

I often encountered a particular family of flies that had their eyes on extended stalks. Their heads resembled a hammerhead shark, which led to many calling them the hammerhead flies.

The Stalk-Eyed Flies belong to the family Diopsidae. The extended stalks occur in the males, and are sometimes completely absent in females.

The ones I found seem to have shorter "stalks" and had the same hammer-styled heads, so I'm not completely sure that they belong to the same family as the Stalk-Eyed Flies.

Here's a video documenting how they pump their stalks to their full lengths after emerging from the larva.

This article documents an encounter with another similar looking fly.

#1 The bizarre head

#2 Face to face. Their eyes were not as wide apart as other Stalk-Eyed Flies

#3 Close up shot

#4 I've actually shot this 2 years ago, and it looked a lot more like a stalk-eyed fly

Just a short trip, so just a few other finds. :)

#5 A family of newborn Thrips (Order Thysanoptera)

#6 Flower Chafer (Cetoniidae)? Not sure.

#7 Bess Beetle (Passalidae), likely to be Aceraius rectidens.

#8 Closeup on the Bess Beetle's head, showing the comb-like antennae

#9 A really tiny Praying Mantis. There were quite a lot of them the day before, but when I got to the spot, only 1 was left.

#10 Another record shot of the tiny fella.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Looking Like a Tree Stump.... Spider

2011-10-21T23:23:00.002+08:00

Many spiders adopt different methods to camouflage themselves. In the previous post, the Scorpion-Tailed Spider disguised itself amongst dead leaves. In another post from last year, I documented the findings of a Tree Stump Orb Weaver.

It was a wet night near NTU where I found the Tree Stump Orb Weaver (Poltys illepidus) busy catching prey. It was the first time seeing it with it's legs spread apart.

#1 Tree Stump Orb Weaver in the middle of it's web. At first glance, I thought it was a common garden spider, but the legs were smooth on the inner joints and hairy on the outer joints.

#2 Guess I spooked it as I got close, and it tried to close up, pulling the web together with it

#3 It was from this view that I realized that this fella resembled a tree trunk

#4 Closer view

#5 It climbed to the edge of the web, and perched on a branch, doing it's favorite thing

#6 While it remained stationary, it gave me the opportunity to do a 3D image. =D

#7 Closeup with better view of it's face. The legs closed up such that only the hairy parts were visible. Perfect camouflage.

#8 Yet another 3D rendition of this creature

#9 Top view, can't tell much from it

#10 Changeable Lizard hugging a branch

#11 What you get when the lights don't fire properly

#12 Lynx Spider devouring a grasshopper

#13 Cycad Blue? Sleeping and ridden with dew drops, but probably too small to see in this pic

#14 Acisoma panorpoides

#15 Wanted to take a close up of a sleeping damselfly!

#16 Closest I could get before it flew off

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here.

The Scorpion Tailed Spider and other bugs named after scorpions

2011-10-16T19:26:00.004+08:00

Many spiders and bugs are named according to their appearances, while some according to their behavioral traits. The Scorpion-Tailed Spider (Arachnura genus) obtained it's name from it's long appendage that resembles a scorpion's tail. This "tail" looks like parts of a dead leaf and contains no sting, unlike a real scorpion. The tail only exists in females, while the males are tailless and as in many other spiders, could be 10 times smaller than the female.

#1 When it was first found, the scorpion-tailed spider was dangling in the middle of it's web. To complete it's disguise, some real leaf litter was used to decorate the web.

#2 It fidgeted around as some prey got caught on the web

#3 A closer look - it had 3 dew drops hanging from it's body!

#4 I fumbled when removing my tripod and the spider got spooked into this position. Quickly took a last shot!

#5 Here's a real scorpion hanging from above me, with the tail in an upright position.

#6 Tailless Whip Scorpion (Amblypygi). Yet another subject which had adopted the scorpion name for it's claw-like appendages

#7 Closer look at it's face

#8 Whip Scorpion (Uropygi)

#9 Pseudoscorpion (Pseudoscorpionida) are really tiny critters often found clinging onto larger insects

#10 Water Scorpion (Nepidae) with a scorpion-like pose while underwater. Looks completely different when above water!

Some other random shots from the same area:

#11 Doing what they were born to do

#12 Praying mantis with what looks like the remaining bits of a winged-insect

#13 Closer look at the supper

#14 A Brown Huntsman (Heteropoda venatoria sp.) carrying her egg sac.

#15 Looks like a hole has opened up in the egg sac!

#16 Spiderlings spotted!

#17 The spiderlings look pretty impressive

#18 Ant mimicking spider (Mallinella), albeit not very good at doing it. lol.

#19 Mwahhahahaha... evil laugh with plan to take over the world. Hawkmoth larva, not sure which hawkmoth though.

#20 Full view of Dr Evil, almost 2 inches long

#21 This was found just beside the hawkmoth larva. At first I thought that it belonged to a hawkmoth as well, but found that hawkmoths pupate underground and not like other moths or butterflies which pupate on branches or leaves.

Singapore has Giraffes too!

2011-10-07T13:19:00.002+08:00

Giraffe Weevils, also known as Leaf-Rolling Weevils are not commonly seen in Singapore. Most are known to be extremely skittish and take off quickly when human presence is detected. It is distinct for it's exceptionally long neck, especially in the males.

In Chinese, these cute critters are called 长颈捲叶象鼻虫. Literally translated to "Long-Necked Leaf-Rolling Elephant Nosed Bug". When about to lay eggs, the females would roll a leaf up on it's host plant. Midway through the leaf-rolling process, it would deposit it's eggs and continue rolling the leaf until it looks like a popiah (springroll).

Here's a video of how the giraffe weevils fight with their long necks, mate, and construct their leaf-rolled nests

Here's another video (in Chinese) of the leaf-rolling process:

Some giraffe weevils had been discovered in Singapore recently and many macro shooters had been visiting them. Til date, the host plants seem to have suffered considerably, with leaves broken off, vegetation flattened and nests dropped. Hopefully as the furor wears off... they'd be able to reproduce without disturbance again.

#1 A female Giraffe Weevil. Look closely and you'd notice that she's doing her morning poo poo.

#2 She was taking very long... so I had more shots of the same view. @.@

#3 Face view, she peered curiously at my camera

#4 And began cleaning her face

#5 Started wandering around the leaf

#6 And wondering when I'd stop shooting

#7 Record shot of the top view

#8 And here's what she looks like when she's about to take flight

While I only observed the Giraffe Weevils over 2 weekends, no males were spotted. I began wondering how they managed to reproduce.... :P Hope to see a male appearing soon and we'll have more giraffes in Singapore!!

Colourful World of Hoppers

2011-10-01T23:17:00.003+08:00

Following the previous post on lantern bugs, this post shares the other findings from the same trip.

Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae) are a bizarre yet beautiful family of bugs. Some sport a myriad of colours, while some have bushes of fiber-like tails.

#1 Going up close to it's face, which literally looked @.@ Beautiful blue and red stripes on the face, with orange streaks across the eyes.

#2 Record shot, this shows the fiber-optic-like tail

#3 Some have much bushier tails!

#4 This pair of leaf hopper nymphs had striking red stripes. Many said that the stalk resembled some part of the human anatomy.......

#5 Some look really bizarre

#6 We also found a very handsome Portia Spider. I had posted about this spider in an earlier post - Portia - The Intelligent Hunter

#7 Side view shows the irregular outline and perched hind legs

#8 Jumped around curiously.

#9 Beating its chest, trying to act like king kong or tarzan

#10 Got bored, so practised with flies

#11 And watched others drool

#12 Weird looking planthopper

#13 Record shot of another view

#14 Female Big-jawed spider (Tetragnatha sp) with eggsac

#15 Record shot of a net-casting spider, waiting it's dinner! This spider waits all night for unsuspecting prey to wander under it's net, and lunges down with the net to capture the prey.

I had posted videos and more details on this net-casting spider (aka Ogre-Faced Spider) here - Hunting Ogres in Singapore.

The Elusive Lantern Bugs

2011-10-01T13:19:00.024+08:00

Lantern Bugs (Fulgoridae) often sport bright patterns, and are highly sought after by macro enthusiasts. Unfortunately, they are also favorite targets amongst collectors and poachers. Hence, the locations of most sightings are usually not revealed in public.

The last published sightings of a lantern bug in Singapore was in 2009 by Dr Leong Tzi Ming, with only a few unconfirmed private sightings in the past 2 years. If you have other sightings or record shots of any lantern bugs in Singapore, please do let me know via my email (see right at the end of Behind This Blog). I would be very keen to find out more. :)

I was very privileged to have some good friends bringing me to (yet another) undisclosed location where some of the lantern bugs could be found, albeit for a particular season only. It was one of the most beautiful species compared to the others I've seen online, and sight to behold indeed! Appreciate if anyone has the exact ID for this.

#1 Found the first Lantern Bug at over an inch long! I was told that they sometimes open their wings to reveal a metallic blue body!

#2 Top view. This bug loves to sway from side to side, very much like a praying mantis.

#3 And then there were 2...! Stitched from 2 separate photos.

#4 The 2 got together intimately. We excitedly thought they were going to mate... then my friend said they were both males... sian.

#5 Another shot of the almost gay couple

#6 Ok owning up.. there were actually 3 of them walking about on the tree trunk

#7 Managed to stitch a stretch of photos when the 3 of them stood in a straight line!

#8 This was the closest they got together, a lovely threesome portrait :)

#9 The slow trek upward... WAIT FOR MEEEE!

#10 Alternatively, follow the leader!

Other than lantern bugs, there were a few other finds, but I didn't spend too much time on them as I knew that I could find them elsewhere. More in the next post!

Sorry, no idea on locations as I was also led around on car through many unmarked turns. Hope these lantern bugs continue to flourish, and bring as much excitement to their visitors in many more years to come.

Bugs with Transparent or Translucent Bodies

2011-09-24T23:51:00.003+08:00

Once in a while, we come across bugs which allow light to pass through their bodies. Some are naturally translucent, while some appear to have a bubble of air trapped in their bodies, making them appear transparent in those parts.

The following information and some of the IDs have been kindly contributed by David Court.

I had wondered why certain bugs had air bubbles in their bodies. They were significantly large with respect to their bodies and did not appear to be of any use to them, unlike what nature usually did. Some possible theories...

1) Molting fault
When separating the new exoskeleton from the old, some bugs might need to expand their bodies to push out of their old exoskeleton. In doing so, some might pump up an air bubble in their bodies. Perhaps after doing so, these bugs failed to release the trapped air and lived on with the anomaly?

2) Infection
Maybe an infection by bacteria, fungus or worms?

3) Parasites
Perhaps some parasitic wasps had inserted eggs into the bug's body

This night at Mandai Track 15. I found a Golden comb-footed spider with a see-through abdomen - quite a sight!

#1 A huge air bubble resides in the abdomen of the female Golden comb-footed spider (Chrysso sp)

#2 When the flash was too harsh, the bubble was not as visible. This spider has distinct red-coloured joints at its legs

#3 Trying to see through with a back-light

#4 A glimpse at it's face

#5 View of the underside

And now for the other finds of the night... :)

#6 A cluster of mushrooms on a tree trunk

#7 A pair of mating grasshoppers

#8 They didn't seem to like my presence and disconnected :(

#9 Several of these Harvestmen (Opiliones) running amok on the dead leaf litter

#10 Back view. We can see the extended forelegs that act as feelers and curved endings.

#11 Planthopper with a "fibre optic" tail

#12 It was moving non-stop, managed to capture it when it was turning around

#13 A back-lit view of it's tail

#14 Close-up of a sleeping dragonfly littered with dew

#15 Top view

#16 David found this female Lynx Spider (Hamadruas sp), which we called the Jungle Lynx (not official name of course).

#17 It jumped off when Ben was shooting it, and it took me quite a long while to find it again! This time, it wasn't as tame and walked around the leaf.

#18 Preparing to jump off!

#19 Big ant small ant

#20 Female Ogre-Faced Spider (Deinopis sp)

#21 Male Ogre-Faced Spider (Deinopis sp)

#22 Coliadinae. Don't have full shot of the wings to confirm the exact ID.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Green Corridor via Sunset Way

2011-09-17T13:31:00.002+08:00

Made another trip to the abandoned railway track via Sunset Way, but this time in the day. The Green Corridor also organized a walk on the same day, but oddly, we did not see the big group that attended the walk. Maybe they turned back at the Clementi tunnel that was flooded.

#1 Leucauge spider. Identified by rows of curved hairs on the femurs of the fourth leg, but they are out of focus in this picture. :P

#2 A planthopper that had grown mouldy

#3 Female Ant-mimicking sac spider (Castianeira sp). Doing hand-held shots with the Raynox for this one, and couldn't really get the subject in frame.

#4 Managed a head shot of the ant-mimicking sac spider, but obviously one of my flashes was not firing (forgot to change the settings back to wireless control)

#5 A bright coloured fly, ID not known

#6 Tried hard to get the body in focus but it kept moving around

#7 A shy husband and wife pair of Big-bellied spiders (Tylorida ventralis). They were actually mating, but changed to this position when I approached, trying to look innocent.

#8 Wasn't too long before they got back to their business - male attempts to insert pedipalps

#9 Still at it after some time

#10 Found yet another horny couple at eye-level on this tree branch

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here.

Do Bugs Mutate?

2011-09-09T23:59:00.002+08:00

Bugs from the same species usually look identical to us. But sometimes, we do see weirdos appearing. Are they oddities? Mutants? Or just another species unknown to us? Did they evolve due to the environment (e.g. under sunlight)?

Did a night walk at the Lornie trail, and James found a pink katydid. Possibly mutated? Discoloured?

#1 The pink Katydid

#2 Found numerous Harvestman (Opiliones) scampering around the dead leaf litter

#3 Top view of Sir Daddy Long Legs

#4 Twig spider, aka Whip Spider, aka Twig-Like Feather Legged Spider

#5 Wenzhan found this tiny Praying Mantis

#6 It didn't really want to stay still for me, until it found some food to feast on

#7 Peering up at my camera

#8 Done with food - brush teeth!

#9 Weevil playing dead.

#10 Trap Jaw Ant (Odontomachus) found on the dead leaf litter. Never stopped to pose... just went on and on and on and on...

#11 Closer view of the trap-jaw ant

#12 Stink bug nymph? Quite a few of these at a junction where we stopped

#13 It had the similar 2 spots on its back as the one Melvyn found in Gunung Santubong

#14 The one from Guning Santubong, but with more fascinating patterns on its back

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here.

Gunung Santubong Beach, Kuching Day 4

2011-08-30T13:08:00.009+08:00

[ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 ]

Final day of our short trip, and we chose to spend the last morning in Kuching at the beach. Not to relax, but to find the elusive white robberfly!

Permai Beach

#1 Found this robberfly having breakfast while on my way to breakfast

#2 A white millepede resting on a leaf

#3 Another Robberfly with breakfast, helping to clean up the mosquito population

#4 A wasp-mimic robberfly that David found by the beach

#5 Didn't move much, so I could go closer.. and closer!

#6 We were on our knees at the beach, attracting curious stares

#7 Just what were we chasing?

#8 Our macro super hero shows us what he captured

#9 I made my attempts much later, and everyone helped me to track the robberfly

#10 The white Robberfly. Looks really exotic.

#11 Clearest shot I got, going as low as I could get.

#12 Look at the "beard"!!

#13 Closeup on its body

#14 Record shot, top view

#15 Melvyn found several of these treehoppers. They had bunny-like ears in place of the usual horns. This pair was mating. Another one had little kids in front of it, but I missed that shot. Everyone was rushing back to pack their bags in time to leave for the airport.

#16 Interesting poster at the airport. Not allowed to bring mangoes out of the country because of... weevils!?

With that, our 4D3N trip has concluded. Many thanks to Lance for organizing the trip and attending to the many little details, to Melvyn and Wyn for finding so many subjects for us, to David for looking after us when leeches attacked his bag and Nick for entertaining us with his Kailan orders. :P Pity that I lost one walkie talkie at Kubah, but there were many memories that we brought back, and lots of photos! Just wondering if David brought back any leeches...

Read the other posts from this trip:

Kubah National Park, Kuching Day 3

2011-08-29T23:59:00.006+08:00

[ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 ]

Day 3 and we're venturing into foreign grounds at Kubah National Park. Some of us in the group had visited this park a couple of months ago and had a good catch, so things are looking bright for us on this day!!

Kubah National Park

#1 Melvyn found this bug while waiting for our transport. Either an assassin bug or leaf footed bug?

#2 Side view, but it's "straw" was blocked

#3 Beautiful back with 2 rubies!

#4 Closer look

#5 Managed to get the driver to drop us off at the waterfall shelter, saving us a long walk up the slope.

#5b Not allowed to write or carve your own name. Can I carve everyone else's name then?

#6 Lance wasted no time in searching for the tiger beetles that he chased during his last trip here, and found one for David to shoot at the edge of the mini cliff.

#7 Lance tried to hold onto David while doing the shot, but this picture turned out to be really suggestive....

#8 Attempting to show the danger in taking his shot, but don't think you can see the drop off?

#9 Melvyn found a number of leeches, but think we forgot to keep an eye on them and wondered if they ventured into our bags

#10 A tiny Lynx Spider that David found.

#11 Top view of the Lynx Spider

#12 Front view, revealing the face of Monkey King!

#13 A Boxer Mantis that Melvyn found. Very tiny fella.

#14 Found this fat weevil resting right beside the shelter

#15 Took many shots of this weevil, but it was windy and pictures appeared blurry

#16 Another side view

#17 Can't get enough of it!!

#18 Looks a little bit like a Monkey Hopper

#19 Front view, very thin head with a body about 5mm long

#20 Melvyn spotted this tiny praying mantis on a mossy tree, at the frog pond

#21 The side view reveals a very dinosaur-like outline!

#22 Speaking of dinosaurs, this Trilobyte Larva looks like something from the Jurassic era too!

#23 Closer look at its face

#24 Side view showing its really funky tail

#25 Record shot of the top view

#26 A toad found in Rayu Trail with interesting red spots on its back

#27 A shot of us shooting the toad

#27 Close up on its back. Rayu Trail didn't have much subjects for us, and we quickly headed out to the main road.

#27 Melvyn preparing his camera to take a group photo

#28 Gathering near the start of the trail. We were all very hopeful of finding lantern bugs.... and kept looking up at the trees.

#29 Hunting here and there for lantern bugs

#30 Found ourselves out of the trail very quickly. No lantern bugs!!! Why does Melvyn always have that expression in photos anyway?

#31 We got on the main road back to the entrance, and found a few of these grasshoppers

#32 Territory of pitcher plants. Melvyn said there were leeches there, so nobody wanted to go in this area for too long

#33 David spotted this female Giraffe Weevil. First time seeing it and everyone got excited, but it disappeared after we took a couple of shots. Sadded.

#34 Net Winged Beetle

#35 Beautiful Damselfly with metallic coloured wings and black tips. Thanks to Melvyn and Wyn for the extra batteries, I ran flat after this shot!

#36 How Melvyn took his shot, with Wyn in the background going "don't shoot meeeee!"

#37 Lance found this queer looking Praying Mantis. Very tiny and mobile little one.

#38 Didn't manage to get much shots of this guy as we got disturbed by leeches on David's bag

#39 Yet another head shot!

#40 Side view of the beautiful mantis

#41 The famous leech on David's bag that got him all jumpy

Seafood Dinner

#42 Finally got some decent food on the way back from Kubah!

#43 Seafood dinner ain't complete without crabs

#44 After a satisfied meal. The lemon chicken was tasteless however, and Nick only told us never to order it, after we ordered it. -.-""

Night Shoot at the Cabin

#45 Taking a short break before doing another round of shoots!

#46 Decided to stay in the cabin as a weevil decided to visit us

#47 Silhouette of the weevil on my diffuser

#48 Melvyn's pretty pretty finger to show the size of the weevil. Wyn's going to do some nail art on that nail some day...

#49 The reason that we could spend so much time shooting this weevil was this... it was flightly and always ended up somewhere around us after the flight.

#50 Peering over the leaf

#51 The weevil had a deep orange texture

#52 Otherwise, it was like any other weevil

#53 Away it flew!

#54 How the wings looked like before the flight

#55 I wanted to take a head shot of the preflight, but this was the closest I got

#56 This just about sums up the night. We released the weevil outside, felt sorry for the numerous flights it made after everything. But it kept landing on our neck, our face, our diffusers, our cameras, our windows, our tshirts, our pants, etc. Each time we put it back, it flew onto us again!

Read the other posts from this trip:

Gunung Santubong, Kuching Day 2

2011-08-28T23:59:00.005+08:00

[ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 ]

Day 2 of our trip, and we were all hopeful for more exotic finds. We realized... that we seemed to find more subjects in front of our cabin than in the jungle trails! James mentioned that maybe a trail that has more human traffic would chase away larger animals (that feed on insects) and that might allow the insect population to flourish. On the other hand, would more larger animals lead to lesser insects?

Permai Rainforest Resort Jungle Trail

#1 I was all ready to go earlier than the rest, and found this stick insect right outside our door! Beautiful orange and green colours!

#2 It preferred to dangle than to stand up. More comfortable I guess?

#3 This Katydid was perched along the railings right outside our cabin as well.

#4 Close up on its face, with the cyan coloured mouth parts

#5 Front view of the katydid, since it seemed happy to be basking in the morning sun

#6 Lance took several shots of the Katydid as well.

#7 A silly shot. Shooting a leech on Nick's butt?

#8 Many robberflies in this area. Every time we walked to or from our cabin, we'd almost definitely find robberflies

#9 Pair of mating damselflies. Too high up to get a nice shot. :(

#10 A dead Whip Scorpion (Uropygi)

#11 All the gory details in natural light as the subject wouldn't move, but there were flies hovering over it. :(

#12 Record shot of the view from the top

#13 And a shot of us taking pictures of the whip scorpion

#14 Moved the claws open, seemed like a really messy mouth it had!!

#15 The couple pounces on Lance as he unsuspectingly shoots the Whip Scorpion

#16 Melvyn found this Malaysian Dead Leaf Mantis (Deroplatys lobata)

#17 It had a very elegant body

#18 And perches like a cobra when viewed from the front. I took MANY shots to get this angle, as it refused to keep still.

#19 Evidence of the peekaboo session we had

#20 Can't get enough of this guy

#21 Got sick of me and decided to move away

#22 It went back to a tree trunk and climbed up way out of our view

#23 Bright yellow mushrooms littered the trail.

#24 A red assassin bug? Believe it or not, thats all that I managed to shoot for the entire day. Lots of climbing around but not a lot of finds.

Night Shoot at Our Cabin

#25 Big, lazy weevil

#26 A large stick insect (5 inches) with green coloured thorns on its body

#27 Side view of the huge fella

#28 He really looked like Megatron from the recent Transformers movies...

#29 Side view of Megatron

With a lesser than expected catch on our 2nd day, we were not as hopeful for the subsequent 2 days to march into the same trail again. We then decided to make a day trip to Kubah National Park and find the real bugs of Borneo!!

Stay tuned for Day 3...

Read the other posts from this trip:

Gunung Santubong, Kuching Day 1

2011-08-27T23:59:00.007+08:00

[ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 ]

Did a 4D3N macro trip of nothing but bug hunting at Kuching, Sarawak! Gunung (Mount) Santubong was our destination, as a guide in Perak had recommended the place. Was it as bug-filled as claimed?? Read on to find out...

p/s: Most "behind the scenes" pictures were from David and Melvyn's camera and published with their kind permission. Only the bugs were from my camera. :P

The Flight - All Set and Ready to Go!!

#1 Group photo at Singapore Changi Airport, before checking in our luggage. We were worried that our luggage was overweight, but found that the reading was lower if we positioned the luggage horizontally! heh. Oh, notice the bright orange bag? Not sure which china man it belonged to.

#2 Found that my photo was already published in the bookshop! But but but... white balance was obviously off!?

#3 Made a version of the page with the white balance properly corrected. Click on the picture for a slightly larger version.

#4 Quick 1.5 hour flight and we're here in Kuching!

Kuching - Preparation

#5 First stop had to be food. What food is famous in Sarawak? Kolo Mee? Apparently the driver told us that Kolo Mee is only available in the mornings... but we found one anyway! A food center called Xiang Xiang something something. We also found another place called Ho Say Liao. Wonder what food they'd sell....?

#6 Eager to tuck in. But the food didn't look too enticing...

#7 Plain looking Kolo Mee. Not a very happening lunch, but the mint herbal tea was nice!

#8 Stocked up on cup noodles in case we got really hungry after the night shoots. Nick had a shopping list and even bought eggs, boxes of tissue, and... of course, canS of tuna. :)

#9 Armed with a shit load of groceries, we happily trooped towards our resort on a minivan.

Arrival at Permai Rainforest Resort

#10 Dumped all our bags on the floor upon arrival, together with our loot from the supermarket

#11 Looks very resorty, no?

#12 Lance figuring things out at the reception

#13 Very nice! They had a tractor to magically teleport our luggage to our cabin, which we found to be a 10 minute walk away from the reception (upslope). Couldn't help doing silly poses before the walk!

#14 All ready to load the luggage up on the tractor!

#15 The supposed tree house! Not wrapped around a tree as I expected leh.. and no, we didn't stay in this one. :)

#16 David tried to take a photo for Mel and Wyn but a big orange lantern bug appeared behind them.

#17 Before reaching our cabin, we found a robberfly resting on Nick's bag while the tractor romped on bumpily. We tailed the tractor closely, and managed to steal a couple of quick shots! A little dark as I didn't setup my flashes - the tractor driver was waiting for us to unload our bags. Paiseh la.. :P

#18 Finally reached our cabin! 3 bedrooms with 3 beds each. Only had 6 of us, so 2 to a room it shall be!

#19 When we were heading out to lunch, Melvyn couldn't help looking around and found a little crab for us to warm up with.

#20 Bigger pic of the crab

#21 Close up on the little fella. We found several others hiding in rocks in resort!

#22 Beautiful shield bug nymph, also just outside our cabin

#23 The sun began to set and we took a group pic to mark the start of our bugathon!

#24 Reached the cafe and dumped all our gear on the table. Attracted quite a lot of attention when we lugged (okok.. only my tripod was big) our gear around.

#25 Waiting for our dinner. The food wasn't fantastic. At over 10-20RM for each simple plate of fried rice or (kungfu) kway teow, it was more expensive than we expected. The best part was... there were 6 of us and they served each plate 1 by 1 in slow motion... zzz.z..zz.. oh, thats also where the Legend of the Kai Lan started!

#26 Kuching means cat. This native feline was also impatiently waiting for our food...

Night Shoot at Jungle Trail

After a long draggy dinner, we finally went on our first real shoot at a trail that leads out from the cafe.

#27 Looks like a little Click Beetle resting on a light post. Has a really big head!

#28 Found a Soldier Fly resting on a leaf. Didn't budge despite my clumsy flashes bumping on the branches!

#29 Since it was so well behaved, I took a close-up shot of its eyes!

#30 One thing that this trail had, was a wide variety of Stick Insects (Phasmids)

#31 Top view record shot

#32 Copper-Cheeked Frog found somewhat below a bridge. The rest went down for closer shots while I took this shot from above with my 180mm. :)

#33 Beautiful crab with bright red claws!

#34 Another shot of the cute crab

#35 Scorpion captures a cockroach for supper

#36 Planthopper nymph. Didn't manage to take a good shot before it jumped away! :(

#37 A really tiny Longhorn Beetle (Cerambycidae). I was looking for the scorpion that dropped into the leaf litter, but found this tiny guy instead and thought it was a planthopper initially.

#38 Top view. The 2 black spots are actually humps on its back.

#39 Clinging on tightly to the branch

#40 It looked at me!!!

#41 Yet another Stick Insect! This one had a bright red stripe along its body

#42 Melvyn found another one, same species

#43 Top view to show the red stripe

#44 Close up of its head!

#45 On our way back, the Copper-Cheeked Frog had hopped up to meet us!

#46 A large Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda Boiei) which I thought was a Lichen Huntsman initially. On closer inspection, it was green!

#47 Closer look at the H. Boiei

#48 This spider had 2 strands of hair combed to the front

#49 The real stick insect (that looks like an innocent twig). About 5 inches long perhaps? Background lighted up with a torch.

#50 Tortoise Beetle. Forgot to take other angles of it. :(

#51 Male crab spider, very tiny and has a "old" looking face

Thats all for the first night! Stay tuned for the shots from subsequent days... more bugs and less of ourselves. :P

Read the other posts from this trip:

A Cicada's New Skin

2011-08-21T14:35:00.004+08:00

The Lornie Trail is a popular jogging track in the weekends. While exploring this trail, we found a little Cicada that was about to molt. We hovered around the area, and true enough, the little one emerged with a new vibrant looking skin!

#1 Initially, it looked like some odd, dark coloured bug

#2 On closer look, it looked like a cicada ready to emerge! It was twitching occasionally, and looked like it was going to crack open anytime now

#3 Clumsy us got too excited and knocked onto the branch... the poor fella dropped to the ground!! Luckily, the molting process continued and we saw it emerging from its shell!

#4 Giving itself the final push to squeeze out of its molt

#5 Looks like a fish indeed... hmmm..

#6 The wings were still shriveled, and we were worried that they could not form completely while on the ground

#7 We managed to bring it back to a tree trunk to cling on, and watched the wings unravel slowly, a sight to behold!

#8 Wings almost fully extended

#9 Wings in full bloom, and it changes colour slowly. I suspect that it would turn green just like the other common cicadas in Singapore

#10 Last view of the cicada before we said bye bye to it

#11 Found this wasp sleeping on a thin branch

#12 Shot this from a lower angle, so that I could get the sky into the background to produce a smooth blue gradient

#13 It decided to wake up and fly away eventually

#14 A tiny Eucharitid wasp, all over the trail

#15 Head shot of the cute fella

#16 Walked by the reservoir and took some shots of the pond skaters

#17 They look... blue!! Very nice patterns on the body.

#18 An orange coloured cranefly

#19 Beautiful Four-lined tree frog (Polypedates leucomystax).

#20 Quite large, but camouflaged nicely on the brown leaf

#21 Really sleepy frog, didn't budge when I went closer

#22 Well camouflaged bug on a tree trunk. Has a duck-bill, possibly a Fulgorid planthopper?

#23 Side view of the otherwise almost unnoticeable fella

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here.

The Weevil's Wedding Vows

2011-08-20T23:53:00.007+08:00

To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.

Found a tree with a number of weevils that sport an irregular surface, like random debris on their bodies. Some played dead when I approached, but interestingly, two decided to stop in front of each other, locked in embrace, as if exchanging wedding vows. lol

Then how do they exchange rings huh?

#1 Slowly... but surely, they approached each other

#2 "Arms" locked and holding each other, they started their yada yada vows!

#3 Cute little cricket. Most think that they are grasshoppers. As a general guideline, grasshoppers and locusts have short antennae, while crickets and katydids have long ones. All of them belong to the same order Orthoptera.

#4 A very odd looking cricket, with much smaller eyes than usual, like that of an ant.

#5 This fat little longhorn beetle flew all over the place and landed on some of our jeans as well. Decided to land on this tree trunk where I took a record shot.

#6 Spotted this ant-mimic sac spider moving its abdomen in circles. Seems to be busy building its nest for its eggs?

#7 Closer look at the mother-to-be

#8 The find of the night - an adult male Damarchus workmani (Thorell 1891). ID kindly provided by David Court.

#9 Side view. Victor spotted it at the steps, roaming around.

#10 Closer view from top. This may look a little like a trap-door spider, but it actually houses itself in silk-lined burrows.

#11 Front view. The adult male comes out to roam at night, in search for a mate.

#12 Just for fun, here's a 3D animation of the front view.

#13 Getting closer. 4 mites spotted at its jaws. Seems to be common amongst this species.

#14 And even closer!

#15 The younger Damarchus workmani looks like this

#16 Typically parks itself at the entrance of its burrow, in wait for prey

#17 Spotted another Masked Hunter on the way out. This was much bigger than the other one posted here. It is actually an assassin bug nymph that sticks debris on itself for camouflage.

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Kent Ridge Kampong

2011-08-13T23:23:00.007+08:00

A quick walk in Kent Ridge Park late into the night. Saw more lovebirds than bugs in this well manicured park!

Victor said that he used to live there, where it used to be a kampong. Hard to imagine that with what it looks like today.

#1 Mating pair of bugs. Could be broad-headed bug or squash bug. Didn't have the top view to verify.

#2 Closer view on the one that was busy sucking

#3 Large beetle about 2.5cm long. Saw a few of them at this size, contented with nibbling on leaves.

#4 Up close to its face!

#5 An orange robberfly. The rest of the group found at least 3 others, but all flew away before it was my turn to shoot. :P

#6 Beautiful caterpillar. Larva of the Orange Awlet (Burara harisa consobrina). Information on the butterfly here.

#7 Face of the cat. Wonder if the locations of the spots have anything related to feng shui... lol

#8 Another caterpillar, with a strikingly sharp and long tail. Not sure of ID though.

#9 Found several of these lizards. Appeared dull brown initially, but turned out to be yellow

#10 Another lizard. This had a slight orange hue.

#11 Huntsman Spider doing some tai chi. Spotted this fella running around on a pile of dead leaves. The reflection from its eyes gave its location away.

#12 Up close with the hairy guy

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Little King of Camouflage

2011-08-08T23:59:00.004+08:00

Did a warm up night shoot with the gang before we head to Kuching next week for a buggathon, and found an Assassin Bug (Reduviidae) nymph that covered itself with debris, making it almost impossible for us to spot it if it stood on soil.

Also known as the Masked Hunter (Reduvius personatus), this assassin bug secretes a sticky substance that covers its entire body (even the antennae and legs) which attracts dust and small particles to stick to it. The result, is a well camouflaged little bugger!

#1 Who would've thought that this patch of dirt... is an assassin bug?

#2 Side view, and the eyes are revealed! If you need help... it is facing the right in this picture.

#3 View from the front. Paints a rather majestic picture especially when its shape is more defined.

#4 Close up on its eye for those who struggle to see that it is a bug

#4b A cousin! Ant-snatching Assassin Bug that collects ant carcasses on their body.

#5 Longhorn Beetle (Cerambycidae), quite a common species in our local parks but yet to identify it.

#6 What looks like a Sac Spider capturing a cricket

#7 Found this dude running about on the ground

#8 Wider view. Huntsman?

#9 It had a distinct yellowed eye on the left. Wonder if it got blinded?

#10 White-Striped Wandering Spider (Anahita sp.)

#11 Had a closer look, really glassy eyes!

#12 Bluish palps with outward claws

#13 Closer view of the palps

#14 Some water on its face that led to the glassy look.

#15 Harvestman (Opiliones), ran away after this single shot

#16 Lacewing found under a leaf, looks quite similar to the Mantidfly without the mantid arms. Also flew away after 1 shot before I could adjust the lighting... not my night!!

#17 Lots of scorpions spotted, and just as we were talking about baby scorpions, this mama appeared with some rather big babies.

#18 Melvyn had a UV torch with him and helped me to light up the subject in this pic. Adult scorpions glow in this manner under UV light, while the kids take a while before it adopts this iridescence.

#19 Victor found this Sac Spider and shared with everyone. Unfortunately, it too ran off after 2 shots.

#20 Last shot before it ran off

#21 A "gummy bear" Harvestman playing dead.

#22 Looks authentically dead right??

#23 Stuck to its acting even when I flipped it over. Usually takes quite a while before it willingly starts to move again.

#24 Found this pair of leafhopper nymphs while searching for the harvestman that dropped to the leaf litter eventually

#25 Since it was National Day eve and the little duo sported colours of the national flag, did a picture to wish Singapore a happy birthday!

The complete album can be viewed here.

How do Bees Sleep at Night?

2011-08-06T23:53:00.027+08:00

A night trip to Singapore Botanical Gardens with the Macromaniacs. Made a few new friends and made fun of the old ones. :P Thanks to Colleen for organizing the trip!

One of the subjects highly sought after during night shoots, are sleeping insects. They would not be as skittish and would allow you to shoot from shorter distances without chasing them away.

#1 James found these sleeping bees, probably Blue-Banded Bees (Amegilla). There were 3 of them, but the 3rd one was about 2 body lengths below so I chose not to include it in this shot.

#2 Another angle to see how they gripped onto the stalk. Only the mandibles were in contact, the rest of the body remained dangling

#3 Closer look at the sleepy head, showing the mandibles close-up

#4 Side view, but the mandibles were out of focus. lol

#5 Thought I should take a full body shot too. You can see that the legs were not in contact with the stalk and it is supported purely by the grip with it's mandibles

#6 OOPS! It started to wiggle as I fumbled around with my camera and touched the stalk accidentally.

#7 Tiny frog, looks like the Painted chorus frog (Microhyla butleri). Lots of them croaking by the lily pond.

#8 Look into my eye.... for a tiny water droplet. :P

#9 Top view. Had Raynox on so I couldn't get the full body in

#10 Found this Lacewing Nymph crawling around non-stop. I let it crawl on my finger and it stabbed me (again). Was bitten before and had photos in an earlier post.

#11 Close up on a caterpillar. ID unknown.

#12 Male Trithemis aurora

#13 Female was just nearby!

#14 Spotted this interestingly blue and weird dangling creature

#15 Turned out to be a Robberfly! High up and on unsteady ground, so I took a handheld shot and off I went~

#16 James found several of these Spitting Spiders along the wooden railings

#17 Just another shot of this tiny fella

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here.

Exotic (looking) Caterpillars in Singapore

2011-07-30T23:41:00.003+08:00

Caterpillars to many, are simply plain green or black little worms. However, they do come in all shapes and sizes, with exotic or even majestic looks.

I chanced upon a Death’s Head Hawk Moth caterpillar (Acherontia atropos), about 2 inches long and dangling from a leaf at night. With its bright yellow surface, I tried 3 different lighting methods to illuminate the background.

Which do you prefer? :)

#1 First shot with full flash, leaving the distant background black as it was night time. Highest contrast and clarity, but some may argue whether its natural or taken to a studio?

#2 Used a long exposure and directed a strong torch to the vegetation in the background. Looks almost like daylight now! Bokeh lovers may prefer this.

#3 And finally, an in-between. I preferred this as the dark green background gives a more natural feel, while preserving a dark background for the caterpillar to stand out.

Did a poll at Clubsnap....

11 chose the black background
5 chose the bright background
4 chose the dark green background

Looks like my choice was the least popular... lol

Here are some other odd-looking caterpillars found in Singapore's parks.

#4 Caterpillar of a Day Flying Moth (Pompelon marginata). It secretes fluids out of its little body spikes for self-defence. More photos of this caterpillar here.

#5 Some caterpillars can get extremely hairy with hair as long as their bodies!

#6 Head of a Plain Nawab (Polyura hebe plautus) caterpillar. The majestic crown reminds me of a dragon king!

#7 This caterpillar of the Archduke (Lexias pardalis dirteana) is beautifully coloured and donned with a long line of appendages like a Christmas Tree. We sometimes called it the Christmas Cat. :P More photos of this caterpillar here.

#8 When crawling around, these caterpillars can get into very interesting poses!

#9 But they eat without control, and tend to expose themselves to birds after eating up the leaves. :(

#10 Some may resemble some kind of brush...

#11 Many couldn't make head or tail of this larva of the Nolid Moth. Affectionately known as the big head cat to some regular park visitors. That ought to tell you where the head lies. :)

#12 Some may have bright colours to ward off prey like this pair of Leopard Lacewing caterpillars, as bright colours often co-relates to venom!

#13 Plain Tiger's caterpillar, very distinctly coloured as well.

Onto the other findings for the night... :)

#14 A common subject now at Nangka Trail, but very tiny - about 3mm big.

#15 A Katydid with some really radical looking legs. Someone mentioned it being called a marvelous katydid???

#16 Full length view of this katydid

#17 Another regular subject - Singapore Tarantula. This time with Raynox as it was really too troublesome to take it off.

#18 Got really close to the eyes

#19 An interesting looking fella at its burrow entrance. Not as hairy as the other tarantulas, and sports orange legs.

#20 Here's how it looks like when guarding its home

#21 Possibly the Neogea Nocticolor Spider, but I've never seen it on a leaf before. This fella was resting on a leaf.

#22 Closeup on what could be a sac spider. It ran off after this single shot. :(

#23 A very interesting looking Harvestman (Opiliones). Suspect that it has 2 arms with little pincers at the end.

#24 Front view, but the arms are out of focus

#25 Another common resident - the House Centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata). Light kindly provided by Steven Tor. :)

#26 Closer view at the House Centipede

The complete album can be viewed here.

Be Wary of Spider Bites!

2011-07-22T23:59:00.009+08:00

For macro and nature enthusiasts, many understand that spiders have their own store of venom for hunting purposes. But what many don't know of each spider, is the propensity to bite a human and the effect of the venom on humans.

Most spiders contain amounts of venom too small to really affect a human being. Most also do not go biting a human unless provoked. But that doesn't mean you should go sticking your fingers at any spider you see. (but if you do, please tell me how much it hurt) ;)

Today, I did some close ups on the fangs of what looked like a Sac Spider. The sac spider's venom contains a cytotoxin, which means that it poisons or kills cells. The bite would typically give a stinging sensation, and heard to be very painful. The effect of the bite may vary from person to person, from redness, to swells, and even blisters that take weeks to heal. For the record, sac spiders do not build webs but a silk tube or sac which it hides in - hence the name.

The alleged sac spider dropped on me while I was fumbling with my camera. Luckily for me, it didn't leave me any souvenir except for a couple of photos.

#1 View of the bottom of the sac spider.

#2 It shifted a little, so here's another shot!

#3 Side view, it was perched on the Y-junction of the branch. Good ya? More chance of catching prey at junctions? :P

#4 This is what you're up against if it decides to plunge its fangs on you. Don't play play.

#5 Didn't manage to shoot its face before it jumped on me, so here's a close up from the side

#6 This House Centipede was almost 3 inches long and busy munching on something

#7 This pic shows how long the legs were. It tried to "feel" me when I went in for a closeup

#8 Uncle James offered his arsenal of lights to help create a back-lit effect

#9 Closeup on its face! Fierce looking fella.

#10 Cryptothele sundaica, found hidden in a tiny crevice on a log.

#11 Quite skittish, it moved every time I fired a shot. Disturbed by the flash I suppose.

#12 Moved again!

#13 Face to face!

#14 A view slightly to the side

#15 Lovely pose, but the eyes were out of focus! No chance to retake as it moved after every shot.

#16 Closeup from the top

#17 A very small tarantula spotted by James. Very cute! He even pointed out 3 little mites on its back.

#18 Think it got scared by my flash and closed up

#19 Close up on the 3 little mites

#20 Odd looking Huntsman spider (Sparassidae) with yellow spots all over its legs and body

#21 Another huntsman, busy with some food

#22 Top view

#23 Close up of its face and food. The prey was so mashed up that we literally couldn't tell head or tail of it

#24 Going closer to the eyes

#25 Cropped view

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here

Nangka in the Rain

2011-07-15T23:54:00.003+08:00

A trip that started with threats of rain all day. We started late and managed to reach the end of Nangka Trail before Durian Loop, and thats when it started to really pour. Just a couple of usual finds, no special topic of interest today. :)

#1 We went straight to the Whip Spider (Amblypygi) section for a few warm up shots

#2 Just a very slightly different angle

#3 Reminded myself to take a photo from above, good for record purposes and identification! Cropped because of the Raynox.

#4 Found this Stick Insect (Phasmid) munching away on a leaf

#5 *nom* *nom* *nom*

#6 James found a bunch of red Springtails (Collembola) on this log. Never really noticed them before, really tiny fellas!

#7 Cockroach resting on a leaf. Eyes out of focus :(

#8 Another view of every family's favorite bug

#9 I called this an Ang Mor Cockroach because the eyes were blue!

#10 Scorpion staring down at me from the tree trunk. Wonder if it'd just drop on me?

Got walloped by the rain after this shot, so we quickly wrapped our stuff up and sloshed our way out!

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here

PUI Goes the Spitting Spider

2011-07-09T13:57:00.002+08:00

Please pardon the crude title. :) This post is dedicated to the Spitting Spider (Scytodidae family). It hunts by shooting gooey spit from its claws towards its prey at extreme speeds (attack sequence completes within 1/700th of a second according to Wikipedia). This spit is both sticky and venomous, rendering the prey immobile.

Here's a video describing the spitting spider, and illustrates its battle with a jumping spider.

Today's trip to Durian Loop had its highlights in a Spitting Spider carrying an egg sac, and a bunch of Mantidflies.

#1 Spitting Spider carrying its egg sac.

#2 Side view. The head is big!

#3 It turned up to look at me! So I made it into a 3D rocking sequence.

#4 Extreme close up at its face and eggs. The shapes of the eggs can be seen through the sac.

#5 Close up of its side

#6 Final shot before it went back to its motherly duties

#7 Had my Raynox on, so took a quick shot of this jumping spider

#8 This weevil was motionless on a tree trunk. Too big for my Raynox and out of focus! :(

#9 Took out the Raynox for this view :)

#10 Robberfly, possibly a wasp mimic?

#11 A brown mantidfly. Same pattern as the "tiger" mantidfly that we usually see.

#12 Managed to get really close to one of the Mantidflies. This picture was shot by Lance from his mobile phone.

#13 And the resulting shot. I always wanted to get a face shot of this fella!

#14 Another random angle of the Mantidfly

The complete album can be viewed here.

Lurkers of the Night

2011-07-01T23:59:00.017+08:00

Another night trip to observe the local tarantulas.

Most of the tarantulas we found were hiding at the entrance of their burrows. The burrows are typically woven with silk and the hosts would detect the presence of potential prey when they tread on the silk.

I used a very very soft and limp stalk, and moved it around the entrance, creating vibrations like a prey. The host tarantula would then rush out to grab the stalk and do a little tug of war with me. On realizing that its not supper, the hairy fella would retreat almost as quickly into its burrow. All this typically lasts for less than 5 seconds, and should not be repeated for a single tarantula (it will soon ignore you).

A word of warning for those interested in observing tarantulas though. NEVER push a stick into any tarantula burrow to dig the tarantula out. It will only push the tarantula further in, and even destroy its home/nest. After which, you'll never see it there again.

With enough patience, it should be easy to spot one with half of its body sticking out of the burrow. That would be a creepy yet beautiful sight.

#1 A dried, soft twig trails the entrance and gets caught by the host tarantula. Returned back to its burrow within 3 seconds.

#2 It could either think that the stalk was food, or a threat. Hope it wasn't too traumatized by the fake lure.

#3 The short tug of war. These fellas are strong, and I could feel it tugging at the stalk.

#4 Another burrow. The tarantula decided to climb up my stalk, but stopped midway and retreated almost as quickly. Look at the sharp fangs, bent on the kill!

#5 Typical position to find the tarantulas in without disturbing them

#6 Tried to pull my stalk in between its fangs

#7 Another animation sequence of the brief tug of war

#8 Last shot before I left the hairy critters waiting at their burrow entrances for real food

#9 The Orange Huntsman (~~Thelcticopis modesta~~), usually a common sight at Lower Pierce

#10 Closing up on the Orange Huntsman

#11 Direct shot at its face. Very neatly groomed!

#12 Everyone had many shots of the Tailless Whip Scorpions (Amblypygi) but I only took a pic of one super tiny one (2-3mm). This juvenile had cute pink claws! More on this night creature posted here.

#13 Top view. The patterns of the shell appear blur, probably because it has yet to develop fully.

#14 Plant Hopper Nymph. The tail is like a brush, and some species have beautiful tails that look like fiber optic cables under flash light.

#15 It liked to move around, or rotate on the spot

#16 Finally settled down, but no more bright background.

#17 Looks like a trap-door spider, spotted by David. It was resting on this leaf, but jumped off after we got closer. Mistaken to be a tarantula when first spotted. It has sharp pointed legs and appeared to be something else.

#18 Victor found this large tarantula (2 inches long) resting on a tree trunk.

#19 My favorite shot of the night, manually positioned the flashes behind the subject, and asked Lance to help me press the the shutter release!

#20 I got lucky, as it started to move... into a nicer position for me!

#21 Slightly different angle

#22 Moulting House Centipede. Please don't let your pet eat them...!

#23 Juvenile Orange Huntsman

#24 It ran behind the leaf, but can't run away forever!

#25 Closeup on the juvenile orange huntsman

#26 Centipede close up

#27 Moulting spider, possibly Wandering Spider. It was spinning on its silk while waiting to harden up and hunt again. Dizzy....

#28 Side view

#29 Top view

#30 Bottom view!

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here

Revisiting the Mantidfly!

2011-06-26T13:43:00.001+08:00

A short trip to get improved shots of the Mantidfly which I shot last month. Before the main subjects... found the usual little ones.

#1 Net-wing beetle (Lycidae) that kept rotating on the spot as I positioned the camera.

#2 A bug-eyed katydid. Described by Mr Tan Ming Kai as Asiophlugis temasek. Thanks to James for the reference.

#3 Ichneumon Wasp. You wouldn't want it to pierce that long thingy through you! (to lay eggs?)

#4 Cute little cricket, did the same peekaboo with me around that branch

#5 Ant-snatching assassin bug. These guys are the nymphs, and when they grow up, they graduate to piercing larger bugs!

#6 Longhorn Beetle (Cerambycidae), should be a young one with very fresh colours

#7 Tiger Beetle closeup (Cicindela aurulenta)

#8 Closeup of a two-tailed spider. Too lazy to remove the Raynox, so ended up with just closeup shots!

#9 A tiny praying mantis. Would love to take a back-lit shot of this fella, but it refused to stand still.

#10 Peering at me

And... finally found the Mantidflies!!

#11 Not a perfect angle but sharper than previous attempts

#12 No difference in this one, just making many shots. lol

#13 Top view. Or rather, view from the bottom since this fella usually hides under a leaf.

#14 This one allowed me to get close. Sharpest shot so far!

#15 Found another one and pushed my luck to get this close!

#16 Last mantidfly for the day. :)

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here

The Macro Shoot That Turned into Something Else...

2011-06-24T23:54:00.002+08:00

Made a quick night shoot with James and Uncle Lew to Mandai Track 15, as I struggled to carry my gear around in the day without a car. (sorry to the people who were at the other end of my tripod at Raffles Place MRT) The trip started with a hunt for the Tailless Whip Scorpion (Amblypygi). Refer to What's called a Spider and a Scorpion, but is actually neither? for more details on this creature. While looking for tiny critters, we ended up taking pictures of a snake and bird instead. lol

#1 Not Particularly Good Ant Mimic Spider (Corinnidae). Described by James, but why such a verbose name??!

#2 Lynx Spider with supper, looks like a cricket?

#3 James spotted this fat snake... what is it!?! Couldn't see the head, so we went round the tree to try to find the snake's head.

#4 Found the head!! But why is the tongue perpetually sticking out?

#5 Turned out that it had just devoured a lizard! Found this view, it should be a Gold-ringed Cat Snake (Boiga dendrophila ). Not sure why it doesn't swallow up the tail as well, maybe it was too large?

#6 Wagged a branch near to it and it started flapping its tongue. lol. Looks like its smoking a cigar from this angle.

#7 Hasselts Spiny Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha hasselti) but without the spiny back in the pic. Evidence of laziness as I already had the Raynox DCR250 on my lens. :P

#8 Rufous-tailed tailorbird (Orthotomus sericeus) Kindly identified by Ivan and Steven. Found this little fella resting under a leaf at knee-level.

#9 Bug with very intricate patterns on its back. Bad habit, missed a proper shot of the body again.

#10 Look deep into my eyes!!! Dark sided chorus frog (Microhyla heymonsi) spotted by James. I had the Raynox on, so just took a view of its eyes.

#11 A bright red assassin bug (Reduviidae) hiding in a crevice

#12 Closer look at the proboscis used to pierce its prey

#13 Moth. No ID for this fella, but it has rather nice patterns on its wings.

The complete album can be viewed here.

James blogged about this trip here

Singapore Tarantula... why do they have such a bad reputation?

2011-06-17T23:51:00.003+08:00

Tarantulas are arguably the largest spiders of them all. Often hairy, with large fangs, these spiders can live up to 15 years! No thanks to the numerous horror movies about spiders featuring tarantulas, the tarantula has become the poster boy of scary spiders. Being big and hairy certainly gave them an edge in their resume when auditioning for the roles... :P

Tarantulas may carry some venom, but their bite does not pose a serious threat to humans. Unlikely to kill a person, unless the victim is allergic or has other complications. Despite that, the presence of a big hairy tarantula still scares the shit out of most people.

I organized a little shoot with friends to look for the Singapore Tarantula (Phlogiellus inermis) after the sun set. Tarantulas are generally nocturnal, but despite this, they still hide in their burrows most of the time, coming out only to hunt for food. They prey on other insects, and even small rodents when they grow bigger.

#1 First tarantula, found peeping out of its burrow.

#2 Slowly.. it inched out.. forming a creepy picture here as the legs looked like fingers

#3 I dangled a soft twig in front of the burrow, and it probably caused some vibrations and led the tarantula to come out. This lasted for only a few seconds, before it found out that it was just wrestling with a twig.

#4 Another burrow with its occupant

#5 Yet another burrow! This angle allows us to see the tarantula's fangs and mouth area in red

#6 Found this White-Striped Wandering Spider (Possibly Ctenus floweri). Very well behaved, doing yoga stretches while we helped ourselves with pictures.

#7 Closer look at its head

#8 Going as close as I could get! There are some really funky claws at the side of the palps... won't risk a bite!

#9 A little 3D animation to visualize the depth of the image

#10 Tiny little jumping spider, didn't spend much time with this fella as it kept jumping around

#11 Green Crested Lizard, found tanning under the moonlight

#12 Had a messy background so I just went for closeup shots

#13 View from behind. Looks like a snake? :P

#14 Long Horned Beetle. Amazingly... Victor found at least 3 couples and some tried to mate. It ended up in a brawl and all of them vacated shortly. Didn't get any shots of the scene as they didn't stop moving. I used a head-shot of this as my avatar, but til today, I still do not have the exact ID. :P

#15 Mating Season. Stink bugs?

#16 Lots of ground beetles scampering on this log

#17 Often mistaken to be a tiger beetle

The complete album can be viewed here.

Chasing the Mantidflies.. and a mozzie incident

2011-06-12T13:02:00.003+08:00

One of the subjects that had been on my wish list, is a Mantidfly (Mantispidae). They are essentially net-winged insects or wasp-like flies with a Mantis appearance - it has modified front legs that resemble that of a Praying Mantis.

Today, we found 3 Mantidflies - all of which were found resting under leaves in the shade. But most were high above us and we could only take some record shots of it. Quite skittish as well, though they fly rather slowly so we could still trace their path of flight.

#1 Just one shot of the Mantidfly, definitely going to look for more to better my shot. :) This was over 2m above the ground, so my 180mm on a cropped frame came in handy.

#2 Cute little guy but visibly very dark and difficult to light up. Very reflective as well.

#3 Big mess of these little critters on a tree bark. Bark lice? Not too sure, looks darker than the usual bark lice I saw before.

#4 A jumping spider that looks closely related to the epeus flavobilineatus, often referred to as the "punk" JS for the mohawk hairstyle.

#5 Another view

#6 Direct view of the face. Can see that the mohawk is not as pronounced.

#7 Closeup.. look at the pretty eye lashes! lol

#8 Plain ol mosquitoe

#9 I've been wondering what these are. Often see several tiny ones dangling on a strand of silk/web. Looks like mini crane flies.. but can't be certain.

#10 A tiny Jumping Spider (Salticidae, Pystira ephippigera) that has a completely black head with a yellow striped abdomen

#11 The new passport photo for 包青天!! lol

#12 Can't get enough of this fella

#13 Looking up and down and up and down....

#14 Found another Pystira ephippigera on the railing! This one was waiting for ants to come near before pouncing on them!

#15 Yum yum... mmm... *nom nom nom*

#16 Its biting onto all parts of the ant!

#17 Last shot before it let go, and pounced on yet another ant

#18 Last shot of the day... by my friend Sagita Lamiran, of this little mosquito happily sucking blood out of me! This mosquito probably excretes the extra blood out after extracting the necessary nutrients. It also needs to get rid of the extra weight in order to fly away. The entire sequence took less than a minute before the little guy flew away a happy mozzie. Yes.. I am a regular blood donor.. -.-"

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Beauty of Ladybird Mimicry

2011-06-10T23:25:00.001+08:00

An exploratory night trip down the abandoned railway track off sunset way led to some interesting discoveries. The most notable was what seemed like a ladybird... with 8 legs!

Ladybird (or ladybug) mimicry has been one of the most successful, to humans at least. Many were duped into thinking that these bugs were ladybirds at first glance. This is because of the popularity of the ladybird image in the human world - not many bugs are as well known to sport a red round body with black spots.

Though not confirmed for ladybugs, spiders and other bug predators adopt this beautiful camouflage to allow them to get close to their potential prey. Some may do it for defense (for ants) and some for predation. See my earlier post on World of Ant Mimicry.

#1 Initial sighting. Looks just like a ladybird, no?

#2 Some said this looks like a strawberry, but this Ladybird Mimic Spider (Paraplectana duodecimmaculata, not confirmed) does its mimicking job well! There are other similar species of this spider, some are yellow, which mimics the yellow ladybird.

#3 Frontal view of the beauty. It has the same shape as the common bird dung spider, but looks so different. Some had also commented that this reminded them of the Super Mario Mushroom... lol

#4 Another Ladybird Mimic Beetle, you won't find that much hair on an actual ladybird.

#5 An actual ladybird, though not of the typical red-black colour combination

#6 Another ladybird mimic beetle, extremely hairy!

#7 Peering over

#8 Yet another ladybird playing hide and seek with an ant - not very successful there. I can't seem to find the original red-black ladybirds!

The rest of the trip had some interesting finds too, most notably the Water Scorpion!.

#9 Water Scorpion (Nepidae). Found it motionless in a little stream. The water scorpion is not really a scorpion, but a true bug that looks like a scorpion. The anterior legs resemble the claws of an actual scorpion, while the tail is not used as a venomous sting, but a breathing device (imagine a snorkel) when under water. It has 2 pairs of wings too, imagine it flying!

#10 Closer look at its body

#11 Closeup of its eyes. It does have compound eyes!

I had spent the previous 2 weeks on ogre hunts. James found yet another ogre on this trip!

#12 Ogre Face Spider, or Net-Casting Spider. This is the top view, as it was dangling deep in the tall grass. As expected, it was facing a leaf, patiently waiting for prey. As we trudged on the grass and disrupted it accidentally, it discarded the net and went into camouflage mode, straightening its legs.

#13 Spider with an egg-sac. Will update the ID later.

#14 Face to face with a Japanese House Centipede. Really wouldn't want to find this in my house! This fella was facing up, and allowed us to take a decent shot of its face.

#15 Just a silly attempt to make a 3D animation.

#16 A large dragonfly spotted by James. Not sure of ID, could be rare?

#17 A slightly different angle

The complete album can be viewed here.

Moulting in the Insect Kingdom

2011-06-03T23:55:00.001+08:00

Bugs moult, usually to grow. Their exoskeletons are rigid and usually do not grow or stretch with their bodies as they themselves grow, unlike the skin of mammals. After moulting, the bug's fresh exoskeleton is typically soft but will harden in time.

Some bugs may lose some legs in the world of survival. Moulting also allows them to regenerate their legs, especially in the juvenile stages of their life. Some animals do eat their old exoskeleton for calcium, but I've not seen any bugs that do that. :P

Molting vs Moulting
Molting in the UK.
Moulting in the USA.
No biggie. :)

Some shots of the moulting bugs and moulted exo-skeletons to share, as well as some miscellaneous pictures from the previous ogre hunts.

#1 Katydid freshly emerged from it's moult. It spreads its wings to dry, before taking off. Bugs are usually sitting ducks for predators during the moulting process, so they should find some inconspicuous spot to do it. :)

#2 Beautiful fella was out by the time I got to it. But the moult is just a short distance away!

#3 Is this a cockroach? White and fresh from moult!

#4 Here's another katydid in the midst of squeezing itself out of the moult. Polishing its feelers while doing it. lol

#5 Cicada moult under the morning sun

#6 Discarded moult of a huntsman spider (I think)

#7 Moult of a Praying Mantis

#8 Orb Weaver spider gets a new set of clothes! :)

#9 Leaves its old clothes behind...

#10 Appeared to be the ghost of a huntsman staring at you, eyes without soul.

Now for the other subjects from my past 2 ogre hunting trips.

#11 Little frog (or toad) spotted by James

#12 Looked like a wolf spider initially, but the eyes... looked very different! Not sure of exact ID yet!

#13 Stick insect. Found quite a few of them. When touched, they turn rigid into a stick, even if you pick them up.

#14 Looks like an assassin bug

#15 Suspected to be a Rove Beetle (Staphylinidae) but some parts didn't look quite right?!

#16 Preflight shot... to a leaf just beside. :)

#17 Praying Mantis with backlight

#18 Going in closer...

#19 Oops! Found me!!

The complete album can be viewed here and here.

Hunting Ogres in Singapore

2011-05-29T13:37:00.007+08:00

Been doing night shoots lately to hunt for ogres. Specifically, the Ogre Face Spider, or Net-Casting Spider. This is a nocturnal species with a very unique way of hunting. Instead of building webs to lure prey into it, this spider builds a net to cast over unsuspecting prey like a fisherman! The huge eyes are exceptionally sensitive, allowing them to spot any unsuspecting prey crossing its path at night.

I have an earlier post on this intriguing spider: The Ogre-Faced Spider. But in the previous encounter, I did not get to see the casting net. My subsequent 2 hunts proved to be more fruitful!

Here's a very detailed narration on the behavior of this ogre face spider.

Another video, very interestingly presented.

Yet another video of the Ogre Face Spider capturing an Assassin Bug.

First trip was led by James (Singapore Nature) and we found the ogre hanging 2m above the ground, with its net!

#1 Extending my tripod to the maximum to capture this. Luckily, there was a big leaf behind to create the nice green background.

#2 Just a slight change in angle, and we have a brown background!

#3 Tried to get a straight shot at the face, but as it usually faces a surface where potential prey might land, it was near impossible to get that view.

The next ogre hunting trip was just to help a few other enthusiasts find the ogre. Many had heard or seen photos, but have yet to see it!

#4 Took me half an hour, but finally found one hanging about 40cm off the ground. Made taking a shot at it's face near impossible without sticking your face on the muddy ground. It was raining in the day, so the body of the spider appeared reflective despite the furry surface.

#5 A majestic pose of the hunter, ready to pounce on its victims below.

#6 No I didn't drill my head onto the muddy ground, I had an angle viewer to save me the facial treatment. :)

#7 A more detailed closeup. Noted that this Ogre is different from the earlier one I shot at the same location. Compare it with the one below.

#8 This one was shot on a previous trip, with long dangling pedipalps. The eyes were not as big, and slightly separated. Need to check if they were male/females or just of different species.

The complete albums can be viewed here and here.

The Wide Jaw Viciria's Baby Litter

2011-05-28T11:04:00.002+08:00

Been waiting for the weekend to shoot the eggs of the Wide Jaw Viciria spotted recently, and the babies hatched just before the weekend!! Still an awesome sight, as I took a short trip down to visit the mother and her newborns.

#1 Trying to round up her kids under the leaf

#2 Flustered mum: ALL OF YOU COME BACK NOW!!!

#3 Oops, she spotted me!

#4 Couldn't keep her eyes off me and my flash

#5 Think she might have forgotten about her kids?

#6 Suddenly remembered that her kids are around, and started counting them again. "one.... two... three... four... OEII stop running around! one... two..."

#7 Lets try to go closer to the little rascals, each barely 1mm long

#8 And closer

#9 Closest I could get! The eyes were not fully formed yet, and just looked like a blur of black. Made me think that the shots were all out of focus. lol

#10 Male Wide Jaw Viciria. Could this be... THEIR FATHER?!

#11 The father has some funky dance moves as well

#12 *sob* I'm so touched... so many kids!

#13 Giving me that same doe-eyed look again

#14 Found a pair of cicadas beside each other on my way out. Wondered if they'd start to develop their relationship further and waited........ nyah, no progress!

The complete album can be viewed here.

Who was Wallace Trail named after?

2011-05-22T14:28:00.000+08:00

A short visit to Dairy Farm Nature Park again, exploring the Wallace Trail. I have been through this trail many times, and guess that many did not find out why exactly was the trail named after Wallace.

The person in question, is Alfred Russel Wallace, a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist. The Malay Archipelago was one of his most popular and influential journals of scientific exploration in the 19th century. In 1854, he had stopped over in Singapore and spent time near the current Dairy Farm site conducting his research and collecting beetles. Hence, both the trail and education centre were named after Alfred Wallace.

Information obtained from Wikipedia pages: Alfred Russel Wallace and Dairy Farm Nature Park.

Now for the day's captures! Not much but an interesting set to share.

#1 Dragonfly basking in the morning sun

#2 Side profile of the blue fella. Anyone with ID?

#3 Found this millipede resting under a branch. Most people walking by did not notice it at all.

#4 At first glance, many would think that this is a ladybird or ladybug. It is in fact a ladybird-mimicking beetle, with a protruding head and hairy back.

#5 Spent a lot of time with this female jumping spider

#6 Couldn't really get it to look at me!

#7 It finally looked at me! But composition was messed up. lol

#8 Record shot of the side profile

#9 Record shot from the top, useful for IDing in the future

#10 Common wasp-like fly, not sure of exact ID

#11 Side view, blurred antenna due to movement!

#12 A red, pointy weevil!

#13 Our star of the day - Xystrocera festiva, a beautiful and large long-horned beetle with an orange/green striped back.

#14 Trying to accommodate the horns into the picture

#15 Someone placed a dried leaf in the background

#16 But I preferred a more natural setting and took it off :P

#17 Big fella crawling around some moss

#18 Seemed a little uneasy, and opened it's wings a few times. Too bad I didn't take a shot of that.

#19 It had a really flat face

#20 Final shot, getting a teeny little bit closer!

The complete album can be viewed here.

Facing the Long-Horned Beetles

2011-05-21T13:02:00.002+08:00

I have shot many Long-Horned Beetles (Cerambycidae) over the past half year, and found myself to be taking just side-profile and head shots of these beautiful agricultural pests. This has led to my inability to accurately identify them as most documented species are recognized by the patterns on it's back, and rarely identified by the face.

Today's shoot was very brief, finding only 1 long-horned beetle before the rain poured (again). This long-horned beetle has very rounded facial features, and resembles that of a baby!

#1 Side view of the long-horned beetle. It was found above eye-level resting on a leaf oddly, with it's abdomen perched up. I thought it was a fly until I had a closer look!

#2 My favorite - head shots!

#3 This is what happens when the flash goes further than the subject

#4 Showing a little bit of the side, but still not enough details to identify it though.

#5 Final shot of this cute little guy. It took flight before I could take a record shot of it's back though. Does anyone have it's exact ID?

Meanwhile, here's a short collection of long-horned beetles I've shot over the past half year.

#6a Handsome fella, infested with tiny mites around it's neck

#6b Another shot of the orange-striped face

#7a A very wrinkled long-horned beetle.

#7b Rests it's horns under the leaf

#7c The face!

#8 Black and white patterns, possibly the Xylotrechus Javanicus

#9a This long-horned beetle tends to tuck it's horns neatly to it's sides

#9b And yes, the face! :)

#10a Til this day, I'm still not sure if this is a long-horned beetle.

#10b Yet another face shot

#11a One of my favorites, dancing on a branch

#11b Close up on it's dimpled face

#11c Showing the length of it's horns.

#11d Same long-horned beetle shot at another location

#12 Citrus Long-Horned Beetle (Anoplophora chinensis), a giant at over 2 inches in length.

#13 The handsome one again, I'm using this as my forum avatar :P

#14 This dude keeps it's horns straight to the front, but I guess it could be the same as the one above that tucks them to the side.

#15a Xystrocera festiva, with a beautiful orange and green-striped back

#15b Side view, can tell that the face is relatively "flatter" than the other species

#15c And of course, the final head shot :)

The IDs provided in this blog post may not be the most accurate, please do let me know via the comments section below if you have the right IDs. :)

The complete album can be viewed here.

Singapore's Rhino Beetles

2011-05-16T11:31:00.003+08:00

This is the first time I've seen Rhino Beetles roaming in the open, and I hope this would not be the first. Rhino Beetles are much larger than other beetles and tend to be more visible to usual park goers. It makes them vulnerable to poaching, as they are not too uncommon to be kept as pets. To those who ever thought of it, remember that poaching diminishes the limited wildlife that we already lack and it deprives the animal/bug from leading a normal life. If you see any poachers, you may report it to the NParks Helpline at 1-800-4717 300 or the AVA at 6227 0670. Those caught poaching will be slapped with a heavy fine.

#1 The latest craze amongst macro shooters these days - the male Rhino Beetle, with it's unique curved horns. An extremely reflective subject - difficult to illuminate without overexposing certain parts of the picture.

#2 This one was seen climbing up the tree

#3 Face to face with the Rhino Beetle! Wonder how they fight?

#4 Another angle from the front

#5 2 male Rhino Beetles cross paths and struggle to push each other out of their way

#6 This better illustrates what went on

#7 Close up on the Rhino Beetle's face

Didn't manage to capture a mating couple, will be back again for more! Hope they can multiply fast enough. :P

The complete album can be viewed here.

Sparkling Jewels in Wet Mornings

2011-05-15T13:06:00.050+08:00

You might remember that wading through long grass early in the morning will result in wet shoes and socks. That would be due to morning dew, and it can be an element of exquisite beauty when wrapped around macro subjects.

The extent of the morning dew varies for each location, but would generally dry up by 8am. It would typically be much more if it had rained in the previous night.

#1 Dead ant wrapped in morning dew. The ant had died from mind-controlling cordyceps fungus infection, which causes it to climb to the tip of leaves where they cling on til their deaths. The vegetation behind can be seen via the huge droplet of water as well!

A video to explain the effects and nature of cordyceps fungi.

#2 A wolf spider mother carrying her egg sac, warming up in the early morning sun

#3 Another ant with morning dew, shot at the same location

#4 Leaf footed bug donning a string of morning dew droplets!

#5 Morning dew is most apparent on spider webs, here's a Bird Dung Spider slowly dismantling it's dew ridden web early in the morning. More pics on this subject in The Walking, Drooling Bird Dung.

#6 Another wolf spider wearing some pretty crystals

#7 Molt of a huntsman or nursery web spider.

#8 The common wolf spider, occupants of the numerous hammock webs at Admiralty Park

#9 A beautiful jewel-littered web of an orb weaver

Other subjects of the day from Venus Drive... after the dew had dried up. :P

#10 Leaf hopper from an uncommon angle. Looks like a shocked parrot!

#11 Cockroach??

#12 Unidentified fly resting on a car. So sorry for the fingerprints I left behind!!! Anyone with an ID to this?

#13 Front shot, looks like the Esplanade!

#14 A pair of huge mating craneflies

#15 Cute tiny beetle, about 3mm in length

#16 A Nightjar, well camouflaged when resting on a pile of dead leaves. So big, yet most of us missed it initially! This is a nocturnal bird and it was probably sleeping, even thought the eyes opened wider as we got closer.

#17 Since I'm doing macro shoots, couldn't leave without taking a close up of this bird!

#18 Two-Striped Telamonia, a common but beautiful jumping spider, with blue tinted legs.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Procreation of Crab Spiders

2011-05-14T12:16:00.005+08:00

I've had several encounters with the common crab spiders in Singapore, and often talked about the difference in size between the male and female. This entry will be on their procreation process, or in other words, how they mate.

A typical adult female crab spider is at least 3 times larger than the male (just a visual estimate, I might be off). The most common ones in Singapore are the white/yellow female ones, and the red/brown male ones. Apparently, the male population is much lower than the female numbers, possibly due to their smaller size, making them an easier prey.

#1 A pair of female crab spiders. They usually perch on a yellow flower and their bodies adopt the strong tint of yellow as well. Silently, they await for unsuspecting bees or butterflies landing in search of nectar. It is not normal for 2 or more crab spiders to ambush in the same flower as it would reduce the chance of getting a catch. They were separated to different flowers after this shot.

#2 The male crab spider, reddish brown in colour and a lot smaller in size.

#3 A rare view of carnage. The female crab spider lands her claws on a bee, while the male captures a tiny fly for a romantic dinner together. I've heard that the male captures prey to offer to the female, this could be what's happening, although the female already had a much larger meal!

#4 Just in case you're wondering how a crab spider is identified, the most distinct characteristic lies in the length of the fore-legs. They are much longer than the hind legs, mimicking the claws of a crab. The flat body shape also resembles that of a crab.

#5 Another type of crab spider, Camaricus maugi

#6 One of the most sought after spiders in Singapore - the Eight Spotted Crab Spider (Platythomisus cf octomaculatus), listed as endangered in the Singapore Red Data Book.

Today's capture started with some attempts at sunrise photography, and then to the Kranji Nature Trail. We didn't stay for long as the mosquitoes were on steroid!!

#7 Not much of a sunrise, so I took pictures of my friend taking the real serious sunrise photos. Seems like a really busy shoot! lol

Moving on to the mating shots I captured today. :)

#8 By now, you should be able to tell that this is a pair of females, and they are NOT mating! :P

#9 Interesting shot with 2 females in a face to face "confrontation" and the male seemingly acting like a mediator. Classic love triangle. haha.

#10 The male crab spider has chosen it's mate, much to the angst of the rejected female below. The male crab spider is actually weaving strands of silk around the female's legs to stop her from moving as he prepares for his "insertion".

#11 This is the actual mating shot. The male moves to a very precarious position underneath the female's abdomen where her genital (epigyne) lies. There, the male crab spider inserts his pedipalp into the epigyne... success at last!

#12 YESH!!! LAID!

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Cicada Look-alike Planthopper

2011-05-08T20:35:00.001+08:00

It is often found hugging onto tree trunks, and very frequently mistaken to be a cicada. This plant hopper is about the same size as a cicada, but usually sports much richer colours. As usual, when everyone spotted this beauty, cicada was the first name that comes to mind. Check out the pictures and see if you can spot the differences. :)

#1 The real Cicada, freshly emerged from a molt. From Nocturnal Creatures of Mandai

#2 And this is how the molt looks like

#3 Another Cicada, with deeper colours

And now, for the plant hopper! I used to call it the Derbid Planthopper, but I'm not too sure now as I've also been calling another bug a Derbid Planthopper. Maybe same, maybe not. Am confused!

#4 Top view, it keeps its wings open when at rest.

#5 Close up side view

#6 Top view of another plant hopper

#7 Side view of the beauty, where the rich colours can be seen

And here are some other subjects from this short trip!

#8 I can create waves!!

#9 Just to show the web of the orb weaver

#10 The usual Robberfly. Always found on the same branch!

#11 Long Horned Beetle. It flew away before I could take more shots. :(

#12 Looks like the Common Posy (Drupadia ravindra moorei) Completely oblivious to the ants crawling around it. More information from the Butterfly Circle website.

#13 Found this mess of caterpillars on a single leaf. No idea of the ID though, anyone?

#14 Closer view to aid in identification :)

#15 Ant-Snatching Assassin Bug (Acanthaspis petax) This bizarre creature sticks it's prey onto it's back. Notice all the ant heads lumped together! More details on this deadly assassin here: New Tiny Findings at Mandai Track 15.

The complete album can be viewed here.

A Salute to All Mothers

2011-05-07T19:39:00.000+08:00

Mothers in the micro world have the same instinct to protect and care for their young, that's why we call it the maternal instinct. For some, it may mean standing guard by the eggs without food until the young is born. For others, it could mean complete dedication towards providing food for their young. In the most extreme cases, the mothers sacrifice themselves ultimately as food for their newborns.

This entry showcases examples of mothers exhibiting their maternal instincts, be it protecting their eggs, or their young. A salute to them!

#1 Leaf-Dwelling Daddy-Long-Leg (Uthina atrigularis) carrying eggs wrapped in a few strands of silk, with it's jaws. View the complete blog entry here: A Congregation of Tiger Beetles

#2 A huge Nursery Web Spider carrying it's egg sac with it's jaws. These are often mistaken to be huntsman spiders as they have very similar eye arrangements (2 rows, 4 on each row). View the complete blog entry here: A Congregation of Tiger Beetles

#3 A wolf spider carries it's egg sac while basking in the morning sun, waiting for the morning dew to evaporate. View the complete blog entry here: Gems of Mandai

#4 A Lynx Spider guarding it's nest. Even when disturbed, it would return to it's nest to guard it's offspring. View the complete blog entry here: Republic Poly Trail

#5 Another wolf spider carrying and egg sac. It hides under the shelter of a leaf while waiting for prey. View the complete blog entry here: Republic Poly Trail

#6 Assassin bug high above, standing guard with it's eggs. View the complete blog entry here: The Shy Tortoise... Beetle!

#7 A Lichen Huntsman Spider with a watchful eye over her newborn. View the complete blog entry here: The Huntsman Spider's Babies

#8 A scorpion mama hoisting her offspring on her back. This shot was illuminated with an Ultra Violet light. View the complete blog entry here: Secret Garden - Tarantula and Scorpion kids

#9 The Shield-backed bug (Cantao ocellatus) stands guard over it's children under a leaf. This photo was published in the December 2010 issue of Popular Photography Magazine, Page 38. View the complete blog entry here: Shield-backed Bug with Kids

#10 The Neogea Nocticolor Spider is known for elaborate decorations on it's web. It also likes to hang it's egg sacs on it's web! View the complete blog entry here: The Spider Temple

#11 The whip spider pretends to be a hanging twig while waiting for prey. But when she senses danger, she does not hesitate to stand guard by it's egg sac. View the complete blog entry here: Admiralty Park Overnight Shoot

#12 This red tent spider stood virgil over it's egg sac for over 3 weeks. View the complete blog entry here: Admiralty Park - Red Tent Spider Nest

#13 A two-tailed spider standing guard over it's nest. View the complete blog entry here: Night Adventure @ Admiralty Park

A happy mother's day to all mothers, big salute to you!!

Face to Face with a Stick Mantis

2011-05-01T13:41:00.001+08:00

It hides silently behind branches and leaves, pretending to be a part of the foliage. It even sways it's body gently as a soft puff of wind brushes through, patiently awaiting unsuspecting prey. The Stick Mantis (Archimantis latistyla) is long, thin, brown, and moves stealthily when maneuvering through the branches.

When it was spotted, it remained motionless, except for the occasional glance stolen in my direction, before hiding it's body behind the branches. With it's length at over 6cm, it is typically difficult to shoot this mantis without a messy background.

#1 My lanky subject, found hiding behind this branch

#2 With a slight change in angle, I was able to get an entirely different background

#3 Occasionally, it would turn it's head in my direction for a quiet, irritated stare

#4 In fact, the stare was affixed on me!?

#5 Reaching the end of the branch

#6 Time to attempt a closer shot!!

#7 Grumpy when I got really close at it's face

#8 Getting ready for a passport photo, smile will ya!!!

The morning was dampened with rain, so just a small handful of little subjects to share. :)

#9 Grasshopper climbing onto the body of a dead ant, which is likely to be infected with mind-controlling cordyceps

#10 Looks like a Gram Blue (Euchrysops cnejus cnejus) More information can be found on the ButterflyCircle website.

#11 A faded Nigger (Orsotriaena medus cinerea ) More information on this butterfly here.

#12 Dragonfly. Really bad at identifying dragonflies as many of them really look identical!

#13 Mating stink bugs, a very common sight at Admiralty Park

#14 Ant basking in the morning sun

The complete album can be viewed here.

The World of Ant-Mimicry

2011-04-30T13:09:00.005+08:00

From my field trip observations, the ant has been one of the most mimicked species, and many really do a good job at the mimicry. Insects mimic ants for the 2 main reasons of defence and predation.

Mimicking Ants for Defence
Ants are typically aggressive, and are known not to taste good to predators of insects, such as birds, and occasionally, wasps. Some insects mimic ants, to avoid being an obvious target to these predators. For certain species, mimicking ants allow them to assimilate themselves into the ant colony so that they would not be attacked by the ants.

Mimicking Ants for Predation
This category largely applies to spiders, as well as some predatory bugs such as the assassin bug. They look like ants, and behave like ants as well. It allows them to get close and hunt ants down.

Here are some examples from my past shoots:

#1 Side profile of an ant-mimic jumping spider. It runs around like an ant, waves it's 2 fore legs like an ant, but jumps at the sigh of prey, and is quick to weave a web as well.

#2 Example of the 2 fore legs waving around to mimic the ant's antenna

#3 Top view, looks like a normal ant from afar. Remember to count the legs and number of eyes. 4 pairs of legs, 4 pairs of eyes!

#4 Example of aggressive mimicry: Ant-mimic Jumping Spider devouring an ant

#5 I'm suspecting that this ant-snatching assassin bug mimics ants by producing chemicals to convince ants that this is one of their kind. This assassin bug is documented in an earlier post: New Tiny Findings at Mandai Track 15.

Today's shoot lasted less than 2 hours. I spent more than half the time trying to lure an Ant Mimic Crab Spider out from the grass, and got rewarded with a heavy downpour! *$#%&$#&%

#6 Top view of the Ant Mimic Crab Spider. The abdomen is uniquely shaped to mimic the ant's head, with 2 black spots to mimic the eyes.

#7 Side view close-up

#8 You're getting this subject at various odd angles because it refused to stand still, I had to take all shots handheld and with random poses

#9 Peering over the leaf

#10 Finally got a clearer look at it's face

#11 Another view of the top. Fake black eyes!

#12 Another side profile shot

#13 Right smack in center. Say hi!

#14 Last shot. I shot this while sitting at the bus stop when it rained. Everyone else was waiting for me while I indulged myself with this little fella. So sorry!

#15 The only other subject in the morning.

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Tiny Boxer Mantis

2011-04-24T13:04:00.062+08:00

Encountered my first Boxer Mantis (Otomantis sp.) today! This tiny little fella was less than 1cm in length with the abdomen curled back at an acute angle, sometimes to the extent of touching it's own head!

When I first spotted it, I thought that it was a tiger beetle, as it ran about in little spurts. It was only after peering through the lens that it's identity was confirmed (yes... that small). When it was not doing it's march, it would be practicing it's "punches", alternating between extending either "arms". An absolute delight to observe!

#1 First sighted trudged into the moss on the rocks

#2 The super arched abdomen gives it a somewhat majestic pose

#3 It was also waving it's body to and fro, really restless!

#4 All ready for a punchout

#5 And it begins! Non-stop punching as it looked up at me

#6 For a moment... they really resembled crab claws!

#7 Animation of the 1-2 punching action

#8 And the side jab

#9 Can't get enough of the side view

#10 A shy portrait

#11 Final punch!

Spent a lot of time observing this boxer mantis, so just a few other subjects to share from this trip. :)

#12 A more common praying mantis devouring a prey. Easily over 5 times the length of the boxer mantis.

#13 Beautiful turquoise coloured tiger beetle running on the same row of rocks

The following shots are of the larva (caterpillar) of the Day Flying Moth (Pompelon marginata). Thanks to Horace from Butterfly Circle for the ID. Read on for the interesting defence mechanism of this caterpillar!

#14 The caterpillar is lumpy, about an inch long and of a very smooth and clean cream colour

#15 That's how it looks from above

#16 It got very active after some shooting, and started crawling all over the place, onto the trunk of a tree! Notice the 2 little blobs of liquid at the tip? More info in the next picture...

#17 It didn't stop moving, so I tried giving it a soft blow to simulate some wind, as many insects tend to stop for a while when they experience sudden wind. Immediately after sensing the wind, this cute little fella contracted, and squeezed out little droplets of liquid from each of it's spikes! The little liquid droplets lasted for less than 5 seconds before drying up (or maybe it just got sucked back in) so I only had a single blur record shot of this phenomenon. Still, it was a beautiful yet surprising sight!

Just a side note, that the Day Flying Moth is known to secrete liquids as forms of defence - it would be wise not to assume that the liquid droplets are simply H2O.

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Ogre-Faced Spider

2011-04-22T06:11:00.002+08:00

This spider had been on my mind for quite a while as I saw more people posting shots of it. The Net-Casting Spider, or Ogre-Faced Spider (Deinopidae) attained it's name by possessing the very characteristics in the name. Just days before, I was asking another friend where he found it and wanted to visit the spot as well, but changed plans eventually. This night, we found not one, but TWO Net-Casting Spiders. Well, both were identical so you probably can't tell the difference. :P

Net-Casting
The Net-Casting Spider is nocturnal and constructs a net/web suspended by it's four front legs while awaiting for prey. When it detects an approaching prey, it stretches the net and plunges down to capture the prey with the net. Much alike a fisherman?? :)

Ogre-Faced
It's face resembles an ogre. A really ugly ogre!! (not Shrek) It has 2 extremely large anterior (front) eyes that grants it superb night vision to literally net it's prey.

Here's an excellent documentary about the Net-Casting Spider and how it captures it's prey.

And the shots... :)

#1 It normally looks inconspicuous. The Net-Casting Spider looks like yet another orb weaver with long legs to many who are unaware. This was the second one that we found. Lighter tone than the other one in the following photos.

#2 Did a lot of kung fu to get this angle, this spider is perpetually facing down all the time! Here, you can catch a glimpse of the ogre face

#3 Trying to go closer to see the 2 large eyes!

#4 Lowered itself as it sensed our presence

#5 Lookie there! The huge fella tries to run onto the main path

#6 Stopped occasionally and I had a chance to lay my camera on the ground to take this and the following shots

#7 The pedipalps of the net-casting spider are extremely long and curved. The most unique part is... they end with a large black swell. At certain angles, it looked like it had eyes there! From this angle, it looks otherwise.

#8 Favorite shot, shows the curvy pedipalps and huge eyes

#9 View from behind, you can only see 1 pair of eyes from behind

#10 Viewing from an angle

#11 Can't get enough of the ogre face, had to get another head shot!

The second net-casting spider that we spotted was less active. I even used some leaves to mark the spot to return a few hours later, hoping to see the net and some possible action. It didn't happen. :(

Just a few other subjects for the night. Most of the time was spent with the net-casting spider, a big tick in my wish list. lol

#12 Longhorned Beetle - this is my avatar! One of the most handsome longhorned beetles. Flash positioned too far to the front by accident, but the effect wasn't too bad. :P

#13 Used a torch to light up the background for this. There were also several mites behind the neck of this longhorned beetle. :(

#14 Grumpy crab spider, just a record shot

#15 Praying Mantis having a quiet night

Well, hope I can find the net in action next time, but am happy for now.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Conversation between 2 Fungus Weevils

2011-04-17T13:35:00.001+08:00

Been wanting to shoot at Venus Drive again and we started to camp at the "Sigma Tree". It was only called the Sigma Tree because one of us had dropped and broke his Sigma 150mm there before. :P

This tree had a decent population of fungus weevils and checkered beetles. They scampered all over the tree trunk and one just to observe hard enough to find the little guys who looked a bit like ultraman. lol

#1 2 Fungus Weevils, would their paths cross?

#2 Private conversation going on when they finally met

#3 And one decided to turn away. Bad breath??

#4 The Fungus Weevils were pretty active and ran in little spurts. I had to put my tripod aside and do hand held shots of these. Gotta love the big eyes!!

#5 Side view. The eyes do remind me of ultraman...

#6 View from the other side

#7 This one had a black patterned back

#8 Perching up for a nice pose!

#9 Hairy little beetle. Could be a Checkered Beetle. Anyone with confirmation?

I had reached before the others did, and managed to capture some shots with morning dew!

#10 2 Treehoppers waiting for the dew to dry

#11 A fungus-ridden ant, now swarmed with morning dew!

#12 Branded Imperial (Eooxylides tharis distanti) getting disturbed by ants. Hope the ID is correct!

#13 Along came a really big weevil

#14 Perched up with a pose

#15 And started doing a weevil dance!

#16 Sagita found this really wrinkled longhorned beetle

#17 It decided to rest it's horns when I went to it's front to take a head shot

#18 Normal landscape view

#19 Closing in for a passport photo!

#20 A thin, reddish weevil with little mites (?) crawling underneath

The complete album can be viewed here.

Portia - The Intelligent Hunter

2011-04-16T13:38:00.002+08:00

The Portia is a Jumping Spider. It stands apart from the rest with it's ability to learn and resolve problems in the process. When used in it's hunting tactics, it proves to be a formidable predator.

Identifying a Portia
A Portia bears an excellent camouflage, mimicking fragments of leaf litter detritus. Like other Jumping Spiders, the 2 largest eyes grants excellent vision for identifying it's prey. The hind legs of a Portia would typically be perched behind and high above the other legs.

The Hunter
The Portia thrives on aggressive mimicry - a born actor. It targets web-weaving spiders by tugging on their webs, imitating the vibration patterns of a trapped prey or a male ready to mate. This attracts the host of the web to come investigate, often into the preying jaws of the Portia. It uses a myriad of attack tactics on different prey, sometimes learning from trial and error.

Pronouncing the name... Portia!?
Some called it Por-tee-ya, while the name itself is often pronounced Por-sha, like the Australian actress Portia de Rossi. I would personally go for the latter. Anyone with confirmation?

Today's trip to Mandai was a short, really short walk. That's because we spent most of our time with 2 different Portias!

The first Portia was the White-Moustached Portia (Portia labiata). We found it hanging on a thread of web, and could very likely be on it's way to prey on another spider. It did a free-fall as we approached it, but we had a leaf below and managed to observe the little fella from close-up!

#1 White-Moustached Portia (Portia labiata) dons a distinct moustache below it's 2 front eyes

#2 It's body forms a jagged outline, mimicking little bits of leaf detritus

#3 Curiously looking at my camera, wonder if it is sizing my lens up as prey?

#4 View from above, this had a missing palp and some missing legs. The hind leg is neatly tucked to the back.

#5 The white moustache looks yellowish, an old warrior probably

#6 Bald patches can be seen on this fella, must've been through many battles

#7 Look right... notice the cute "ears"!

#8 Look left...

#9 Finally looking at me, albeit for just a split second

While we were about to place the first Portia back on the first plant, another one hopped by! This looks like a male. We were wondering if it had been attracted to the female we were fussing over earlier?!

It landed on one of our flash diffusers, so we were content with shooting it there and then, as a storm was already brewing above our heads.

#10 This angle shows the distinct hind legs being tucked behind

#11 View from behind

#12 Side view!

#13 View of the front

#14 Can't get enough of this guy

#15 Final close-up before we packed up to go. We could literally hear the rain fallling!

Some other shots of the day, some taken while the rest were focused on the Portia.

#16 A stink bug landed on Glenn's head. Will it stink???

#17 Leaf-footed Bug with morning dew

#18 Zooming in to the morning dew!

#19 A jumping spider pops by

#20 Really cute, it stared up at me to reveal a really SQUARE head!

#21 Still staring at me, nibbling with it's tiny jaws

#22 Baby robberfly with prey

#23 Took my time to compose a brighter shot, but the prey had already been dropped

#24 Viewing a hairy caterpillar against the sky and canopy of Mandai. Had more morning dew initially, but I spent over half an hour fussing over the robberfly before coming back and finding most of the dew dried up!

#25 Final shot of a jumping spider

A lucky day indeed.. 2 portias! Others might have waited years without spotting any at all.

The complete album can be viewed here.

A Congregation of Tiger Beetles

2011-04-10T09:50:00.002+08:00

After the earlier shoot at Admiralty Park, I went home to pack some stuff before heading out again, and eventually ending up at Rifle Range Road for a night shoot. Found several tiger beetles in this trip, together with several other exotic species (at least to us). Unfortunately I missed out on some of the subjects, so here I am presenting yet again... the Tiger Beetles!! I have an earlier post about Tiger Beetles and their crazy running speed: The Fastest Running Land Animal on Earth.

Tiger Beetles are known to be the fastest land running animals, but when night falls, they are like sleeping babies and may not budge even if you touched them. The unique part of this trip was focused on a single plant, where quite a number of tiger beetles gathered. Each was busy stoning in their own corner/leaf while others got on to their favorite past time. (see pictures below for details)

#1 Many were shooting subjects with natural light in the day, so here I am doodling around with my first pair of tiger beetles for the night, with unnatural light! (my torch)

#2 Here's the couple in action with flash. The male was not as active and chose intense vibration (as I saw it) in spurts, while the female occasionally offered to make the first move.

#3 Reached the plant with the village of tiger beetles, and some were already getting busy with their favorite past time. Those who did not have a mate could only watch the action....

#4 Actually from this shot, it looked more like 2 of the spectators lining up to get into the action!

#5 Since the paparazzi was already here, everyone lined up for a head shot! :)

So that was the little plant with the tiger beetles. There were several others on the other leaves, but this leaf had the most interesting action going on. lol

Zooming in to the other findings of the night...!

#6 Leaf-Dwelling Daddy-Long-Leg (Uthina atrigularis) carrying eggs wrapped in a few strands of silk, with it's jaws.

#7 A beautiful yellow/orange Cranefly

#8 Mating ground beetles, found scampering on a log

#9 The duo turned around and gave me a big SMILE!! :)

#10 Lava of the Plain Nawab butterfly (Polyura hebe plautus), also known to us as the Dragon King Caterpillar. Butterfly Circle has an excellent article documenting the life cycle of this beautiful jewel: Life History of the Plain Nawab

#11 A large, but odd-looking weevil. Can't really identify the different weevils yet. Anyone with help?

#12 Japanese House Centipede (Scutigera coleoptrata) found resting under a leaf. The Japanese called it Gejigeji. Would you be happy to see this in your house? They are actually harmless creatures, and could be beneficial in your home as they feed on typical house pests such as flies, silverfish, termites, bedbugs, cockroaches, ants, etc!! Won't you give it a second chance? :P

#13 A huge Brown Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda venatoria sp) carrying it's egg sac with it's jaws.

#14 A closer look from the side revealed that the egg had already opened and the little spiderlings are sprawling out!

#15 The others kept calling my name while shooting this Longhorn Beetle. I used a picture of this as my avatar in other photography forums :P

While staring hard into the bushes, I heard the others shouting out for me about the presence of a viper. I lugged my ding dong setup over the root-strewn path to find this beautiful juvenile Wagler's Pit Viper resting on a leaf, patiently waiting for unsuspecting prey. Victor had been standing beside it and discovered it before trampling over the venomous snake. Due to it's highly venomous potential, everyone else volunteered me to take the shot, for I had the longest lens to keep a safe distance! lol. My earlier encounter with this snake was in Dairy Farm Park: Wagler's Pit Viper spotted!

#16 The viper hissing at no one... probably curious about our presence. The tongue is blue! Poison?

#17 Close-up on it's face. The "pit" of the viper is right in front of it's eyes, used to sense tiny temperature changes.

#18 View from above, the viper is easily identified by the broad triangular head

If you do see this viper around, please do not approach it. Well for that matter, this rule should apply to all snakes unless you are very familiar with them and are sure that they are harmless.

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Shy Tortoise... Beetle!

2011-04-09T13:02:00.008+08:00

Back to my macro kindergarten at Admiralty Park (AP) again! Showed the other shooters around to the common residents of AP, and took my time fiddling with some simple subjects. There were more than 10 of us, so the whole gang had to spread out, with everyone getting different catches.

The tortoise beetle behaves like a tortoise and looks like a beetle. Sometimes, it has a flat transparent shell protecting it's body. The one I shot today has a mottled shell, so it does not look as transparent. Several colours of this beautiful beetle can be found in Admiralty Park! Thanks to Jacobs for spotting this little fella!

#1 Side view of the little dude

#2 It kept hiding it's face under it's shell. Hard to get the shy fella to look up!

#3 So I went lower, say hi!!

#4 It ignored me and continued drinking water from the leaf

#5 Finally stuck it's head out, so I went closer to get some details

#6 Zooming in to the eye

While we're at it... here are some other tortoise beetles that I had found so far. Incidentally, all were found in Admiralty Park.

#7 This had a smoother shell

#8 And a green one doing push ups in preparation for IPPT (an annual physical test that all Singaporean men should be familiar to)

Of course, there were other species in yellow, and even the golden tortoise beetle but I had not had the luck to chance upon them yet!

Here are the other subjects of the day, no less important though!

#9 Little ladybird. Did you know, it is called ladybird in British English, and ladybug in American English. Just in case you ever got confused. :)

#10 The lady puts on make up in the morning

#11 A tiny crab spider, difficult to properly expose these guys as they are predominantly white

#12 Assassin bug tending to it's eggs. Saw this underneath a leaf from a distance, just over 2m high! The blue came from the sky, scorching hot sun so I had to ramp up my flash to the maximum power.

The little trip ended with a nice wantan mee meal sponsored by Dansen. Thanks for the generosity mate!

Next post coming up soon, having a marathon shoot til night! @.@

The complete album can be viewed here.

Venturing Beyond NTU

2011-03-26T09:30:00.004+08:00

A night walk led by Victor into the vegetation right at the gates of NTU (Nanyang Technological University) in search of tiger beetles! Thousands of students have probably passed that route almost daily, but few knew of the trail...

I had a quiet night, doing more of a KLKK while pointing out subjects to others. Most of the time, the bugs flew away before I had a chance to shoot, so it was more of a weight lifting session and what most of us would call... TCSS (talk cock sing song la...)

Word of caution to those who wish to explore the area.... the mosquitoes leave a long lasting itch from their bites! I had the itch for almost a full week before it subsided, and the scars are still there. Some even had bites on the butt (don't ask me how!).

#1 First subject of the night -- the Ornamental Tree-Trunk Spider (herennia ornatissima). Obviously, it was found on a tree trunk, and busy devouring a prey which I can't really identify. The bottom of the abdomen shows a bright orange, rarely seen!

#2 The typical view of the Ornamental Tree-Trunk Spider. Everyone crowded around our first subject!

#3 From afar... these looked like a patch of orange-coloured maggots!

#4 On closer inspection, they were the babies of some bug... kindly identified as Barklice (Cerastipsocus venosus) by jio.

#5 I used to think that any bug with a long mouth part was an assassin bug... but am doubting it now. Are these assassins?

The rest of the photo are of Tiger Beetles. There were only 2 species spotted. One was the common Japanese Tiger Beetle, and the other was unidentified but known to us as the bronze Tiger Beetle.

#6 Here's the bronze guy! Much smaller than the Japanese Tiger Beetle in the last pic.

#7 View from the other side. What's the difference?? lol

#8 Head shot of the bronze coloured Tiger Beetle

#9 Final shot belonged to the Japanese Tiger Beetle, larger than the bronze one. Took this hand-held, uncropped.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Is a Harvestman a Spider?

2011-03-20T14:56:00.004+08:00

Visiting Mandai Track 15 again! Weekends filled the track with lots of cyclists, so we took an alternative route that's a lot more peaceful albeit on restricted ground.

Many have probably shot a Harvestman before, especially those who frequent the Friday night shoots at Lower Pierce. The Harvestman has 8 long legs - most would quickly assume that it is a spider. It actually belongs to the class of arachnids like spiders, but under different orders. Spiders under the order Araneae while the Harvestman belongs to the order Opiliones. Quite confusing since arachnid was derived from a Greek word that also meant "spider"!

Several species of Harvestman have been spotted in Singapore. Almost all are characterized by their long legs with respect to their small bodies.

#1 Close up of a Harvestman, with a bright orange body. One leg missing :(

#2 Front view, that's how it looks when you stare at it face to face!

#3 A different kind of Harvestman with a gummy texture, found in Dairy Farm. Refer to earlier blog post Harvestman in 3D.

#4 Another different Harvestman, with a bright yellow spikey body. This was found in Venus Drive, lots of them crawling around at night! Details of the post can be found here: Luzon Point Headed Termites... Are They Faceless?.

#5 And finally, here's the famous Harvestman from Lower Pierce, eating a fungus. Details here: Night Macro at Lower Pierce

Now onto the other subjects... from Mandai!

#6 Beautiful bright orange orb weaver found near the entrance

#7 Side view of the orb weaver spider.

#8 This tiny little spider was busy chewing it's legs... I wonder why??

#9 Got another chance to meet this beautiful blue furry beetle again!

#10 Standard side profile shot of the furry one

#11 Face to face with the furry one. Anyone with the exact ID of this fella?

#12 This fly flew by, just beside the blue beetle. Freebie!!

#13 Longhorn Beetle. Possibly the Xylotrechus Javanicus based on the patterns on it's back.

#14 Mating crane flies, always found them at the same tree in Mandai! These are also known as Daddy Long legs at times, just like the Harvestman.

#15 Shot again with thinner DOF so that the subjects can stand out.

#16 Top view, the pair was huge, 4 to 5 inches combined length.

#17 Another blue beetle! But thinner and hairless. Looks a little bit like a ground beetle.

#18 A sleeping longhorn beetle

#19 Closer look at the hair!!!

#20 Up-close head shot of the sleeping beauty

The complete album can be viewed here.

The Walking, Drooling Bird Dung

2011-03-19T13:51:00.003+08:00

Back to Admiralty Park, the place where macro started for me! A very quiet morning, as I did not see any other shooters around. Ended up shooting ants and other common subjects, til I saw this large Bird Dung Spider eating up it's web to call it a night's work.

This was the second time seeing the bird dung spider dismantling it's web in the morning. The earlier incident was documented here: A Beautiful Piece of Shit.

#1 View from it's underside. The morning dew rests at the tip of the strand of web as the Bird Dung Spider sucked in it's web slowly. Looked like it was drooling. lol

#2 View from it's top, showing the ugly yet beautiful patterns, together with a string of "pearls"

#3 Front view, after it was done dismantling it's web and resting on a leaf

#4 Apparently not really resting, it seemed to be chewing something invisible!! *nom* *nom* *nom*

#5 View of it's top. Another interesting thing observed... looks like some movement underneath it's "skin". This was documented on another species of Bird Dung Spider here: Observing the Micromovements of Bugs

Now onto the other subjects...!

#6 Found near the north entrance. Looks like the pupa of a Malayan Eggfly (at least it looked like the other ones I saw before). Wonder when the butterfly will emerge??

#7 Looking up at an ant

#8 This should be a better view!

#9 Blur image of a mating couple, took one shot before it flew off!

#10 Unknown ID spider, with it's web built on a dried leaf.

#11 Another mating pair! What are these again?

#12 Juvenile St Andrew's Cross Spider with it's unique web patterns.

The complete album can be viewed here.

Celebrating an Early Christmas at Dairy Farm!

2011-03-13T15:33:00.004+08:00

5:45am. Rain - lots of it. And the type that looked like it would last the entire day! Not gonna stop us from marching into the muddy trails in search for bugs...! lol

During this trip, the entire groupy gathered around a caterpillar. An extremely beautiful one that's not too too common - the larva of an Archduke (Lexias pardalis dirteana). It's unique outgrowing "bristles" reminded us of a Christmas tree, and most caterpillars that looked like this had been called the Christmas Cat. As usual, I volunteered to be the last to shoot, and hogged this fella for quite a while.

#1 Munching done, now going up and down the stalk in search of more food!

#2 View of it's bottom

#3 Side view

#4 Side view while letting you peek at it's grubby legs

#5 Another view of it's bottom

Horace Tan from the Butterfly Circle has an excellent article documenting the life history of the archduke here:

http://butterflycircle.blogspot.com/2010/02/life-history-of-archduke.html

And here are the other subjects of the day... not that much less important!

While waiting for the rest, I chanced upon this golden orange robberfly hanging from a leaf.

#6 Robberfly

It flew away after a few shots, and I found this bug right above! Looks like a hairy little assassin bug.

#7 Assassin Bug

#8 Head shot. One of my flashes refused to fire!! argh

#9 Horned back bug. Not it's exact name, but we gave it this name due to the 2 horns on it's back. Anyone with the exact ID? Quite a common sight in Singapore.

#10 Closer view of it's face

#11 A blur blur view of the Hasselt's Spiny Orbweaver (Gasteracantha hasseltii). Should be a male? Very small compared to the usual yellow version:

#12 Female Hasselt's Spiny Orbweaver

Next was this pair of cute crab spiders. Both female. Not lesbian since they refused to touch each other while scrambling around on the flower. lol.

#12 You take your corner.. I take my corner!!

#13 Not talking to you... hmmpf!!!

#14 *sniff your butt*

#15 Last shot of the day - a female crab spider devouring a fly/wasp/flying ant?

The complete album can be viewed here.

Exploring Lorong Kebasi

2011-03-06T13:45:00.002+08:00

Joined the groupie of Macrographers in an outing led by Benjamin! Most of us were misled into parking in front of the Detention Barracks, while the entrance to the trail was much nearer to the HDB estate!

I had a very slow and lethargic walk and couldn't find much bugs, except for a number of male crab spiders. Very oddly, I could only find the males. The female crab spiders were normally more visible due to their size (usually several times larger than the male). Many would mistake the male for the kid when found together with the female! Here's an old picture to illustrate the difference in size:

#1 Female crab spider with prey, lots of freeloaders came by, and one got caught by the tiny male crab spider!

Here are the catches for the day, more time spent on idle talk so there weren't too many finds. lol

#1 Here's the tiny fella. Tried to get a brighter background using longer exposure, but it twitched each time the flash fired, leading to the black halos where the legs were moving. Remember to use rear-sync flash next time...

#2 View of it's face, really tiny guy

#3 Another view with a brighter background

#4 Not looking too happy with my flashes all over him

Other common subjects of the day...

#5 Dragonfly, one of the more common species I think?

#6 Mating flies

And an orb weaver that was the only one that remained motionless while I tried to take multiple shots for stacking. Not sure of exact species, as I didn't take a full view of the abdomen.

#7 Nocturnal, probably sleeping?

#8 Let's wake her up!!!!

#9 Closer view from above

Next subject is not as common - an ichneumon wasp? Only recognized it's extremely long "tail".

#10 Maybe it was trying to lay eggs... but realized that this is not a tree trunk but a leaf!

#11 Doing some gymnastics with a hand stand

Last shot of the day, was an inconspicuous caterpillar, which appeared completely black when I first saw it.

#12 RAWR!!!

The complete album can be viewed here.

Mating Striated Tylorida Big Jaws!

2011-02-20T13:52:00.003+08:00

I had often seen photos of mating Big-Jawed Spiders (Tylorida striata) but had never seen a pair myself. Knowing that quite a few were found in Dairy Farm, I went there early ahead of the rest and stared hard into the bushes in search for the horny pair!

The Tylorida striata that I found were all perched on their webs early in the morning, with most of the webs built horizontally. Found a web with a pair of male and female spiders and knew this had to be the day! Alas, they didn't seem keen on performing their biological roles and I gave up after almost an hour.

#1 The lonely male Big Jawed Spider

I went on to meet the rest but didn't manage to shoot any interesting subjects that stayed long enough for me.... and this lasted for the entire morning! Left whatever spiders and bugs I found to the rest, and I went back to the lovenest to see what the couple were up to now.

It was 11am and I realised that... the webs were all gone! They must have closed shop to get on with other more important business! I peered over and under the area and sure enough, the pair had already gotten into the mood... mission success!

#2 The female is all ready and the male approaches, armed with swollen pedipalps (a.k.a. male genitalia for the spiders)

#3 They were hidden under a leaf, all photos were rotated for better viewing. Could not stop moving... which made it a little difficult for me to capture as well. Most people might think that they were fighting!

#4 Static version, the pair kept twitching!

#5 Close up shot. Palps in motion!

#6 Tried to do a rocking animation in 3D so that you can have a better vision of the scene

Some other random subjects found in the day...

#7 Eucharitid Wasp

#8 Orb weaver resting after dismantling it's web in the morning

#9 Front view

#10 Close up on it's head

The pictures did not come out sharp this time round, perhaps the humidity did fog up the lens!

The complete album can be viewed here.