Wild Wild West After Rain

Last Saturday's predawn thunderstorm lasting a few hours till late morning did not stop me from going for a quick outing to a wasteland in the western part of Singapore.

This small and pale greenish moth flew past me and perched in front of me. I went closer and took a couple of shots.

A few pristine Malayan (Megisba malaya sikkima) butterflies were fluttering around a flowering Turn-In-The-Wind (Mallotus paniculatus) tree. I saw one female busy ovipositing her eggs - on the flower buds as well as underneath the leaf. She was rather choosy, fluttering around the tree and looking for a good position to deposit every egg.A detailed write-up on the species and its life history can be found in the ButterflyCirlce's blog here. This wasteland habitat is home to our two Spindasis species. They usually stay around in the same vicinity after each short flight. This Long Banded Silverline (Spindasis lohita senama) is one of the favourite butterflies for photography.

This rather large and brightly coloured Shield Bug (Pycanum rubens) was hiding underneath of a Simpoh Ayer leaf (Dillenia suffruticosa). When a Shield bug is threaten, it has the ability to release a disgusting scent to scare off any intruders. This critter remained tame and unperturbed for a while, allowing me to compose my shot, though from a difficult angle.
As usual, flowers with rich nectar attract all sorts of critters. This hoverfly (Eristalinus arvorum ?) was feeding voraciously on Bidens flowers.

I have shot this small and colourful critter a few times before. However, I am not sure what it is.

This black ant (Polyrhachis sp) was seen on this wild flower which has lost one petal. I wonder what the ant was doing.

I am not sure if this dragonfly is Agrionoptera insignis. There were a few of them perching on twigs along a shady trail in the wasteland.