Some Interesting Critters@USR

Playing tennis at Cherry Hill Condominium with my alma mater from River Valley High School followed by a breakfast chatting session at Kopitiam has been my Sunday's routine. Taking a break On 15 Nov allowed me to head out to Upper Seletar Reservoir Park (USR) on a cloudy Sunday morning,

My first encounter of a critter was this beautiful Long-horned Beetle (Chloridolum sp) resting on a Wild Cinnamon leaf surface. This shot of its side view reveals its iridescent colours of the body and legs. However, the dorsal view is not as spectacular as the side view. The appearance of a Long-horned beetle is quite different from many other beetles due to its cylindrically elongated body shape and a pair of antennae as long as its whole body length.
This critter was found feeding on flowers of Mile-a-minute (Mikania micrantha). I thought it was a wasp but when I take a closer look on the computer screen, it does not look like one. So I am not sure what it is or perhaps a firefly ?Here is another shot from the side, showing a clear view of the relatively large hind legs. This is another all-orange beetle foraging on Mile-a-minute leaves. It looks like a kind of leaf beetle.
What is that thing hanging below its abdomen ?
There were quite a few Prodasineura notostigma damselflies near a stream. I always found this species around there. It appears that the blue markings on the thorax of these two shots look slightly different.Near the reservoir edge, I was taken aback by this large hornet, likely to be a Vespa tropica (Greater Banded Hornet) (Thanks John for identifying it) foraging slowly on the soggy ground. I took a shot afar, observed its behaviour a while then decided approaching closer to take more shots.
This very small, drab and dull-looking moth has a pair of long antennae which attracted my attention when it landed on a grass blade.Finally I was able to shoot a butterfly, Lesser Darkie (Allotinus unicolor unicolor). Though not a fast flyer, the duration of its zigzag and erratic flight would really test the limit of my patience to wait for it settling down. Its toothed edge along the hindwing outer margin is rather unique. A rather large red-eyed skipper, Coconut Skipper (Hidari irava) could be found quite regularly at USR. It zipped past me and perched a few times but it was too skittish for me to get closer. Finally I did it. At first, it was so sensitive to the flash light that it would "jump" whenever I snapped. So my first few shots were all blur but luckily at least one shot turned out quite acceptable and it revealed part of its upperside markings - a rather rare moment. This crab-shaped Curved Spiny Spider (Gasteracantha arcuata) was found near a shady stream. It was patiently waiting on its webs initially. It moved behind the leaf when it sensed that there was some disturbance to the webs. This head shot does not look like the head of the spider at all as I cannot figure out confidently where the eyes and the mouth are .
Lastly, I also saw two different fungi. This one looks like a kind of wild mushroom growing on some decayed substrate. There were many tiny flies hovering around this reddish fungus which appeared to be elastic with a smooth and translucent surface. We are in the midst of the year-end monsoon season which brings along lots of rain fall. It will be interesting to see and document how flora and fauna in our nature reserves adapt and react to the wet weather.

A Sunny Sunday @ Ubin

It was a lovely sunny Sunday on 7 Nov, thanks Khew for giving me a lift to Changi Village. KY met up with us at a coffee shop and after getting some quick bites, we were on a bumboat ride to Ubin. We went straight to the Butterfly Hill , one of my favourite hunting grounds for butterflies.

We were extremely delighted to see flowering Syzygium trees (Syzygium myrtifolium ?) The white fluffy flower parts covered almost the whole tree. There were lots of carpenter bees (both Xylocopa confusa and Xylocopa latipes were spotted), wasps, perhaps hornets and of course butterflies feeding on the flowering trees, creating a magnificent scene that I have not seen for a long time. Here is record shot of a Xylocopa latipes. This shot may be a male of Xylocopa caerulea according to John.This is a Sphecid wasp (Sphex species). Just like other bees and wasps, it had insatiable appetite for nectar, feeding voraciously from flower to flower. The flowers really attracted all sorts of insects. This Blue Glassy Tiger (Ideopsis vulgaris macrina) was feeding next to a beetle. They were so close. I wonder why didn't they scare each other away. These two beetles have very similar shape, size as well as the white spots on the body. The only difference I can see is the colour. I wonder if they are male and female of the same species.
There were butterfly activities opposite these flowering tress also. This rather pristine Biggs's Brownie (Miletus biggsii biggsii ) was ready to extend its proboscis to feed on sugary substance excreted by other bugs or the plant ? This Biggs's Brownie was "drunk" and stayed there for quite sometime.
This strange-looking Logania marmorata damis was spotted by KY above my eye level . The pointed shape of the wings suggest that it may be deformed. Same as Biggs's Brownie which belongs to the Miletinae subfamily of the Lycaenidae family of butterflies, this species is also known to have close association with ants.

Now behind the flowering trees, there was this Painted Jezebel (Delias hyparete metaretel) quietly resting on a high perch. I could only take a record shot from far. Let us go back to the flowering trees. We spotted quite a few Plain Palm Dart (Cephrenes acalle niasicus). This rather large orange skipper may be a male The underside colour of female is rather different from the male. It has a purplish sheen and some obscure markings on both the hind and forewings.
Here is another female. I noticed that there were more female then male feeding in the late morning. Feeding under the hot sun, another Bule Glassy Tiger simply ignored my presence even though I was rather close by. I noticed that other butterflies such as Leopard, Black Veined Tiger and Plain Tiger didn't seem to like the Syzygium flowers.

Senna alata trees were flowering as well. There are eight "candlesticks" in the picture. Anyway, I wonder why the common name is called Seven Golden Candlesticks.

There were quite a few other butterfly species visiting the flowering trees such as the following three "Crow butterflies" which I didn't have any presentable shots.

1. Euploea eyndhovii gardineri (Striped Black Crow)

2. Euploea mulciber mulciber (Striped Blue Crow)

3. Euploea phaenareta castelnaui (King Crow)

We hope that Syzygium trees elsewhere would also be flowering soon so that we can have fun chasing and shooting different kinds of winged beauties.

Fungi and Some Fauna @ MNT

I could not resist the temptation of the nice weather on a Sunday afternoon. So I packed my shooting gears and headed out to a very shady part of the MacRitchie Nature Trail(MNT).

This hairy moth caterpillar was found crawling slowly on a tree stem in the shade. Getting a shot with a brighter background was really tough in its enviroment.

I don't usually shoot common fly species that could be found in our forests. However, this small red-eyed fly staying very still on a leaf enticed me to take a few shots.I guess this is a beetle which was found in the shady forest undergrowth near a stream. The red markings on the body were not observed when I spotted it. Shooting from its side, we could see two fin-like structure protruding upwards from its body. Now, I wonder if this is a beetle. This is another small but predominantly red beetle with some black spots. It seemed that this species was rather common here as I found it during my previous few outings.

This insect has long and thread-like legs. It was found resting on a leaf surface. I don't know what it is.

This female Archduke (Lexias pardalis dirteana ) was quietly puddling on the damp forest floor. I have been encountering Archduke very frequently but in contrast, I have not seen the other two Lexias species for a long time. By decomposing dead plants and animals, fungi are natural recyclers. Some fungi contain chemical compounds which can be used for antibiotics which help fighting human diseases. Fungi also provide food and shelter for many insects in nature. This is a kind of bracket fungus. I usually saw this seashell-like and rather woody fungus growing on dead tree trunks. This is another fungus usually found in the shady undergrowth of our forests.
This black fungus growing on a dead fallen tree trunk was found near the above fungus. I suspect they are the same species and this black one being older, perhaps ?

Next time, I have to pay attention to fungi and other floral species growing in the forests so that I will have a better understanding of their structures, roles, functions in our nature reserves.

Trekking After Rain in the Nature Reserves

A pre-dawn thunder storms brought about by the belated North East monsoon on the last day of October signals the beginning of a rainy season. Once the sky cleared up a bit in the late morning, I went out with Koh to this northern side of our nature reserves.

We hardly encountered any butterfly species during our first 45 minutes of slow trekking in a very damp and quiet jungle trail.

This female Purple Duke (Eulaceura osteria kumana) was our first butterfly model, not a very obedient one as we never had a chance of shooting its upper side. Making frequent stops after short flights on the ground near a drain, she seemed to like puddling on a relatively cool morning. This Malay Viscount (Tanaecia pelea pelea ) was spotted by Koh resting on a young leaf of Singapore Rhododendron (Melastoma malabathricum) . This was my first shot showing a thin bluish marking along the forwing costal margin and the two blue forewing discal markings in space 6. I guess the camera flash light might have brought out the reflective colours of the wing.
A moth with a pair of feathery antennae suddenly perched in front of me with underside wings facing me. It was just too impatient for me to manoeuvre round him to have a shot of its uppersides. This black ant (Polyrhachis species ?) was found eating up another red ant. In the animal world , this cannibalistic behaviour can be observed in many species. Ants can be quite territorial, they may attack any other unwelcoming visitors. Here is another shot showing the part of its prey had been swallowed up. This looks like a spider to me. Its very long legs appeared to support its whole body and make it "floating" in the air.
I guess this is a immature dragonfly perching on a twig near a stream but I am not sure what species it is. Vestalis amethystina is a very colourful damselfly. The iridescent colours of the wings were shown A newly emerged teneral male Coeliccia octogesima (thanks Tang for the id) was spotted at a very muddy area. A teneral odonata has glossy wings and the colors on the body are often paler. Several days after its emerging, the wings will be hardened completely and take on the colors of a mature adult. This tiny wasp (no, it is a kind of fly, according to John) with a very peculiar shape of the abdomen was hovering around this Singapore Rhododendron flower. I need to get John to help me to identify this species.

Beetles belong to the insect order Coleoptera which makes up close to 40% of all known insect species. It was not a surprise that quite frequently, I was able to spot and shoot something new in our forest. This predominantly yellow beetle was seen "free-falling " from a leaf. What is this green creature with a white head ? It looks like a nymph of a Katydid of something else ? Even though we didn't see many butterfly species in this very casual outing in a cool morning, I still managed to spot and shoot some other critters. Most importantly, I found myself rejuvenated after the outing.

A Few First Sightings @ Mandai

It was a solo butterfly hunting session at Mandai area on a sunny Saturday morning (24 Oct 09).

This was my second time shooting the Metallic Caerulean (Jamides alecto ageladas) at the same location. I saw two individuals fluttering around the Powder-puff flowers (Calliandra emarginata) .When in flight, its metallic blue uppersides could be seen. The life history of this species was excellently recorded by one of ButterflyCircle members ( here).

This small orange skipper looks like a Taractrocera archias quinta. It was rather alert at first but after a while it gave in to my persistence and became a model for me.

This black and white, small and very cute Elbowed Pierrot (Caleta elna elvira) butterfly is rather common in our forests. It was usually seen fluttering erratically close to the ground along forest trails. At one moment, it perched on a grass blade, I quickly went low and snapped a few shots.

This is an upperside shot of a male Common Red Flash (Rapala iarbus iarbus) butterfly. I was fortunate to see quite a few of them "fighting" for their territory. All of a sudden, one of them perched on a leaf and opened its wings and here shown a snap shot of its magnificent uppersides. An excellent write-up of its habitat and behaviour can be found here. The larva feeds on Mimosa pigra and there were a few tall host plants there but I could not find any caterpillars. I guess this very tiny critter that I seldom take note of before is a planthopper. It caught my attention only when it was "floating in the air" from one leaf to another. My first shot of this speices and it added to my collection of planthopper shots. On second thought, it may be a moth, a Choreutis species ?

This is another bigger planthopper which I have not seen before also. A very cooperative guy which stayed quite still on the leaf for me to compose my shots.
Along the forest fringe, I saw this beautiful moth resting on a leaf under shade. The sunlight piercing through the canopy provided me a slightly brighter background for this shot. Any idea what species it is ?

I might have shot this black bug at Daily Farm Nature Park (see here). But this was my first clear shot of its dorsal view. Here is another shot. I have searched through some references and materials, I still have no clue of its exact identity. When I saw a carpenter bee with a distinctive blue thorax feeding on an aquatic plant from far, I knew that it was not the common species that I usually encountered. I quickly moved closer and fired off two shots when it was momentarily at rest. Yes, this was my maiden shot and first sighting of a rare carpenter bee Xylocopa caerulea. Very skittish and fast, it never stopped long for me to get more shots.

I considered this outing a very fruitful one as I was fortunate enough to snap a few record shots of some of the insects which I have never seen before.