Other Critters and Plants @ Semakau Island On 20 Aug

Continue from my previous post.

There were not many species of butterflies on the grassland. Fortunately, other critters and some very beautiful wild flowers kept me busy. Let me begin with some flowers.

This uniquely patterned, large and showy pinkish-purple flower of the Beach Morning Glory (Ipomoea pes-caprae) is definitely attractive. This coastal ground creeper is quite invasive which has extended its territory to the scrub land. A detailed write-up on this plant can be found here.

Passiflora foetida is a vine that can grow wild in wasteland. Though its white flowers are less conspicuous, these flowers could attract insects - look carefully, there was a fly on the flower.

I guess these are the flowers of Vigna reflexopilosa. A small colony of Pea Blue (Lampides boeticus) and one or two Gram Blue buterflies (Euchrysops cnejus cnejus) were spotted around this ground creeper.

This pair of mating leaf beetle was found on a blade of grass.

This is another tiny and cute beetle - a great deal of patience and luck was needed to get a decent shot under a windy condition.

Another interesting-looking and colourful beetle (or was it a bug ?) was looking downwards, clinging on to some young leaves, making it difficult for me to take a proper shot.

This is the only spider species that I saw - a rather small one. I have no idea what it is.

I think this is a kind of lacewing (this is an owlfly, thanks Marcus) which I have never seen before.

Here is another record shot from a slightly different angle.

I am not sure if this is a kind of broad-headed bug which rested on the mimosa leaves.

I encountered quite a few small dragonflies like these shots below - they look like the Diplacodes nebulosa.

Another individual.

On our way back to the jetty, I saw this male Diplacodes trivialis dragonfly perching on the ground.

I saw a few Yellow-Barred Flutter (Rhyothemis phyllis) dragonflies hovering in the air and settling down on a twig at times.

According to John, this wasp looks a Ropalidia marginata (need confirmation). It didn't stay long enough on the ferns for me to take more shots.

I have no clue if this is a rare or common grasshopper - since it was a survey outing, I would post it here.

I am not sure what plant this is but the flowers certainly attracted some insects.

A close-up shot on the tiny flowers.

Here is another plant that I hope someone could provide me with a name.

Though the white flowers look quite small, they are quite nice and unique if we view them with a macro lens.

On our way back to the jetty, we stumbled on a pond (in fact we saw two ponds) and scared off a flock of birds resting there.

The vegetation and plants that grow on this landfill are getting more diverse, growing taller and denser. This huge grassland will be home to many more animals in years to come.