Anything New @ TPTP ?

Inspired by Robin Ngiam's article in the 2009 issue of Singapore Nature, I dropped by Toa Payoh Town Park (TPTP) twice on two different evenings, hoping to get a glimpse of the rare damselfly Pseudagrion rubriceps. But, I didn't have the luck to see any. However, I was fortunate to shoot a few new fauna species that I did not feature in my previous post (here).

This very distinctive White-breasted Waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) is rather common in marshy habitats. However, I was rather surprised to see a family of waterhens in this urban town park. The dark brown chick was about the size of an adult, wandering and foraging with its parents. I saw them probing with their bill in the shallow water and on the aquatic plants belonging to the genus Cyperus which are growing wild along some edges of the pond. A rather sluggish female damselfly, Iscnura senegalensis was preparing herself for the night fall. This is a common species that can be found in open drains or ponds.My first sighting of a lonely Rhyothemis phyllis in the park. A rather large dragonfly with very distinctive yellow and black basal patches on the hindwings, Rhyothemis phyllis is rather common in our wastelands. Though it was getting cooler in the evening, this guy was still quite active, gliding from perch to perch. Here is a side view when it landed above my head.This looks like a male Xylocopa species. It was seen "climbing" on the stem, a rather rare moment.

This looks like a changeable lizard (Calotes versicolor) lurking amongst some ginger plants.

I saw a man using his handphone camera to take a picture of this frog which remained very still and semi-submerged in the water. Of course, when he left, it was my turn to take a few shots. This may be a non-native species American Bullfrog (Lithobates catesbeianus). I wonder how did it come to this pond ? I was trying to look for butterflies also, checking out the Ixora bushes and the rows of Peacock Flowers which are away from the pond, This small moth was found on Peacock Flowers swaying in the wind. Using a macro lens to shoot bird is always doing injustice to the beauty and the detail of the subject. Is it a species of sparrow or something else ? Does anyone know what this small but beautiful critter is ? The long segmented antennae and the red patterns on the body attracted my attention.

At last I shot a butterfly. Lesser Grass Blue (Zizina otis lampa , 毛眼灰蝶) is a rather inconspicuous Lycaenid. This species usually can be found in good numbers in town parks or roadsides. This was a rather pristine, tame and lethargic specimen. It rested on the red florets of the Ixora flowers, waiting for the dusk to set in. Lastly, I observed this paper wasp kept flying back to this nest and there was not any other wasp around. Was it building or guarding the nest ?

Caught In The Rain

I thought it was a perfect morning for outing so I headed to the western side of the water catchment area early yesterday (10 Oct) morning. While I was strolling and enjoying the greenery along the dirt track, the Sun in fact was quietly and slowly retreating and hiding behind the congregating dark clouds. Soon the clouds and rains ruled the sky.

As the rain was getting heavier, I decided to wait under a fly-over bridge where we used to shoot many puddling butterflies - but not now anymore.

I saw a few Tiger Beetles (Cicindela aurulenta) on a discarded sand heap . Extremely alert and skittish, these beetles could detect slightest movement and flew off. I just didn't have the luck and patience to be up close with any of them. However, I still managed to get some medium-range shots as these fierce predators on other small insects usually don't fly far and tend to forage close to the ground.This particular species of Tiger Beetle has six distinctive yellow spots on the body, a large pair of compound eyes, long legs and have metallic or iridescent blue and green coloration. I wonder if there is other species of Tiger Beetle in Singapore.
After a few shots, it decided to turn away from me and flew off.A plant-feeding insect, this solitary and very tiny treehopper was resting on a grass blade. The dorsal view shows two 'horns' protruding out from the head. From this shot of its side view, I can see the wings and its eyes. Perhaps due to its inconspicuous size, I seldom paid attention to treehopper in the past. More information about treehopper can be found here. There wasn't any convincing sign that the rain would stop soon so I packed up and headed to a bus stop nearby. I hope the weather will be kind to me next Saturday.

After Rain at Seletar Wasteland

On 3 Oct, Yong and I were heading to Seletar wasteland instead of elsewhere, thanks Yong for giving me a ride. We were lucky as the weather was undesirable for outdoors enthusiasts in many parts of the island (see here). The brief spell of the morning shower presented us with a rare opportunity of shooting this small Bush Hopper (Ampittia dioscorides camertes) together with water droplets. John has confirmed that this is Vespa affinis (lesser banded hornet). I saw quite a number of them buzzing around, often curling their body while feeding. This was one of the instantaneous shot when it landed on some leaves. I have very little knowledge of grasshopper. I found this particular immature grasshopper (?) interesting and strange to me - where are its eyes ?These two ants look like a species in the genus Polyrhachis ? They showed a great interest in a small critter (don't know what it is). I observed that the ants used their antennae to tickle the bugger and at times used their legs to touch the bug as well. Ants are well known to have symbiotic relationship with other fauna species, I wonder if this is another example. There were quite a few clusters of this flowering herb which looks like Pig Grass, Synedrella nodiflora (Family : Asteraceae). Though many flowers were not in full bloom, some yellow ray florets were attractive and prominent enough to capture our attention. This Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina) was addicted to the nectar, allowing us to take a few shots. A distinctive identification key of Blue Glassy Tiger is that the underside forewing's light blue cell streak was discontinued by a dark bar. This was where and how it rested above my head when it has got enough nectar. When I looked through the lens, I loved that creamy green background and decided to take this shot from an elevated angle. There were at least half a dozen of them fluttering around some vines which were unknown to me. We also found quite a few Common Mime (Chilasa clytia clytia 斑凤蝶) larvae resting on the upperside of some young wild Cinnamon leaves. Katydid is a singing insect that has large and powerful hind legs and a pair of long thread-like antennae. This was found in the bushes and its dorsal view shows a prominent brown band. Finally, I would like to present a magnificent winged beauty that was frequently found around the area. Club Silverline (Spindasis syama terana 豆粒银线灰蝶) is one of my favourite butterflies that I would love to shoot whenever I encounter it . We spotted two individuals however I didn't have the luck to take more shots.
I was rather disappointed that I did not see any adults of No Brand Grass Yellow (Eurema brigitta senna) (see previous post). I hope the females have laid many eggs and the next generation of NBGY is in the making otherwise we may have to say good bye to NBGY .

The Day Before F1 Singapore Race

It has been quite a long time since ButterflyCircle (BC) organized the last group outing. On, 26 Sept, the day before F1 Singapore Grand Prix, we finally had one, thanks to Simon’s initiative. A few of us gathered at Venus Drive carpark and others were waiting at the Riffle Range Road, all heading to our final destination – the “spa” area in Sime Forest.

My first shot of the morning near the entrance of the Venus Trail was this Taractrocera archias quinta. It is quite a small orange skipper without apiculus on its antennae. This open-winged Faunis canens arcesilas (Common Faun) was shot along Venus Trail in a rather shady environment. Usually, Common Faunn was found puddling along forest paths so I consider this a relatively rare moment . I can not identify this pair of damselflies. What was this couple trying to do ? Where they in a copulation position ?

This stream at Sime Forest provides a good habitat for many species of damsel and dragonfly. Again, I cannot be 100% sure of the species of this female though she looks like Trithemis aurora. Nannophya pygmaea is the smallest dragonfly in Singapore. Mature male of this species has very striking red body. The males were quite abundant but there was no sight of any female around that area. A slow-flyer, it usually perched around the same place and at times remained very sluggish, giving us plenty of time to compose our shots.

A relatively large and beautiful dragonfly with short abdomen, Rhyothemis triangularis is getting less common these days based on my field observation. This male perched on a grass tip along the forest stream. Glistering in the sunlight, his metallic blue hindwings are definitely attractive and enticing us to chase for good shots.

Thanks to Cher Hern's sharp eyes, he spotted this green-bodied cicada resting on a tree trunk at kneel level. Cicadas have two pairs of transparent wings, prominent compound eyes and three simple eyes. They belong to the order Homoptera.

Only male cicadas produce incessant high-pitched sound to attract mating partners. They produce the chorus of the forest by vibrating the membranes near the base of the abdomen.

All cicadas go through an interesting 3-stage life cycle : egg, nymph and adult. Females lay many eggs in tree barks sliced open by her sword-like ovipositor. The tree bark protects the eggs until they hatch into nymphs. The wingless nymphs burrow underground . Once they mature, they dig themselves out from the soil, creating mud chimney during rainy days.

Robber flies belong to the family Asilidae in the insect order Diptera . Rrobber flies have stout and spiny legs, a pair of short antennae and colourful compound eyes. Aggressive and fast-flying predators with excellent vision, robber flies are rather common in our forest.

This black creature with highly reflactive shell looks like a Darkling beetle. It was found on the stem of a vine, staying very still as if it was dead. This small red-eyed and black-bodied critter was a stranger to me. I have no clue what it is. Lastly, I would like to end here with two shots of this beautiful flower found near the entrance of Venus Trail. A solitary bee belonging to the genus Halictidae was diligently pollinating the attractive pink flowers. But getting a good shot was really tough.A close-up shot of the flower and I hope I will find out the name of this flower soon.
Though I didn't encounter many flying jewels in our forest in this outing, I was glad to meet some old and new members of BC.

The Fate of a Yellow

I had a mission on 19 Sept. Armed with some necessary stuff, I reached Punggol wasteland slightly earlier than BJ. Look at this shot below, you can imagine what would happen to the site . By the time I posted this blog article, I guess the hoarding should have been up and entry to the site would be difficult or impossible. The moment I reached there, I started to search for NBGY, No Brand Grass Yellow (Eurema brigitta senna) larva on the host plants - I found this sad ending to a last instar larva. The weather was rather unpredictable. In a short time, dark clouds gathered rapidly and soon I felt rain drops falling on my head. I quickly informed BJ that I would wait for him at the nearby Kopitiam.

Once again, we had to spend some 20 minutes or so chatting over a cup of tea waiting for the rain to stop.

After the rain, we managed to trans-locate a few NBGY, mainly females, from Punggol to Seletar.

This record shot captured the moment of a female laying egg at the new site soon after she was released. We hope that these females would lay many eggs at this new site and their offspring would establish a permanent home at Seletar.


This is Apis dorsata. There was quite a number of them at the Punggol site feeding on the yellow flowers of Aquatic Sensitive Plant (Neptunia plena).

A. dorsata looks similar to A. carana , but larger in size. I just wonder what that orange thing on its leg is. I was rather lucky to snap an in-flight shot as this bee was rather active and never remained long on the flowers.
This may be a species of Scolia wasp. It was found "rotating" itself on a Lalang grass blade. A pair of short antennae and the big eyes on this wasp make its appearance a bit different from other wasps. This looks like a Broad-headed bug. I notice that its eyes are situated at the sides of its head which has a triangular shape. This robber fly was taken at the Seletar site while we were on our way back. The weather turned bad again and I had to take this shot quickly before the rain pouring down again. The fate of this Yellow species now depends on whether it can adapt to its new habitat at the Seletar site which is not really the same as that of the Punggol wasteland. But we have tried our best to trans-locate and conserve this species. However, we hope that the relevant authority would assist us in our future conservation effort.

Where Have Butterflies Gone To ?

While I was on my way to the Punggol wasteland, I realised that I did not have the necessary stuff for trans-locating the No Brand Grass Yellow butterfly (Eurema brigitta senna ) to a new site. So I headed to Lornie Trail (LT) instead.

My first shot of the morning on 12 September was this very tiny treehopper. A few ants were seen roaming around it and at times the ants even climbed over the body of the treehopper. Interesting interaction there but I don't know what exactly it was. BJ and CM came to join me late in the morning. BJ spotted this pristine female Archduke (Lexias pardalis dirteana) near the exercise station at LT. Usually, Archduke was seen on damp ground along jungle trail with both wings opened. Take a closer look at the apex of the antennae, the orange tips separate the other two lookalikes and rarer species from this species.
There were quite a number of dragonflies and damselflies near the golf course area. I was always amazed by the acrobatic positions that Odonata species shown when they were in copulation positions. This brilliantly coloured mating pair of Ceriagrion cerinorubellum was no exception. I got a few shots taken from the edge of the reservoir at a rather low angle. There were a few very pretty blue damselflies which look like the shot shown here. This looks like a male Pseudagrion australasiae.
A slow-flying pair was spotted just above the water surface. They were flying in tandem and it looked like the male was guarding the female. This in-flight shot was my best attempt out of many blur shots. Soon, the female was fully submerged in the water, ovipositing her eggs while the male was still in contact with her. The male let go the female but he was seen "waiting" for the female (not shown in the picture) while she was laying eggs underwater. After a while, when I used a twig to stir the water, the female got back to the same position as shown in the 2nd picture above.This rather large dragonfly with very striking yellow markings on its body kept darting from perch to perch. It looks like a Ictinogomphus decoratus. This particular specimen was very alert whenever I came close to it. I had to position myself near a twig, waiting patiently for it to land there. The pointed and triangular shape of the last abdominal segment is rather distinctive in this species. This is another shot on a different perch. Another relatively tamer and smaller dragonfly was nearby. This looks like a male Aethriamanta gracilis , a permanent resident in this area. This red dragonfly occasionally appeared in my sight. I am not sure if this is Rhodothemis rufa. On our way back to the carpark, CM spotted this spider on a palm leaf along the trail. Another lousy day for butterfly photography. The number of butterflies in our nature reserves has been quite pathetic for many weeks. Where have they gone to ? I wish I knew the answer.