Hasselts... Hasselts... Hasselts... and BINGO!

Was originally going to Venus Drive and then the treetop walk, but there were last minute changes and I went to the mouth of Kranji Reservoir for the sunrise, and then to the nature trail for bugs!

Interestingly, a single word got stuck in my head while walking down the trail - Hasselt's. I had wanted to shoot one after seeing so many of them at the zoo during my last visit (without my macro lens of course). I just kept repeating it subconsciously until the eventual sighting on my way out! Pictures of the Hasselt's Spiny Spider (gasteracantha hasseltii) can be found at the end of this post.

#1 Possibly the Long Brand Bush Brown, slightly faded. But the patterns look a little different, from others I've seen. Anyone to clarify this?

#2 Wasp-looking baby

#3 Ant does a head-butt to a big water droplet... and stays there!

#4 Weevil. A very slow moving dude.

#5 Did I mention that it's slow moving?

#6 Shack.. taking a rest as it climbed it's way up a long leaf

#7 Bushhopper, often mistaken to be a moth, but it's really a butterfly from the Hesperiinae family

#8 Mating fruit flies, I seem to be getting a lot of mating shots of late...??!

#7 Bushhopper, often mistaken to be a moth, but it's really a butterfly from the Hesperiinae family

#8 Also spotted quite a number of Assassin Bugs in this trip, at least 5 I think, but most were deep in the bushes where I could not reach. They tend to be skittish too, flew off once I treaded on any bushes nearby

#9 Classic shot of the Assassin Bug looking into the sky. Others have tagged this to the popular Taiwan drama theme song that started with "Wa Mng Tneeee.. Wa Mng Tneeee.." (lit. translated to "I ask sky, I ask sky")

#10 Finally the Hasselt's Spiny Spider (Gasteracantha hasseltii)! This spider is usually found perched in the center of it's web, but found this climbing out of it's web onto the branch. Had a leaf behind for a brighter background and to have the spider stand out more.

#11 Hasselt's Spiny Spider. Seems to be spinning a new segment of it's web?

#12 Ok I goofed up, the leaf went too near to the branch and it decided to step on the leaf. Fortunately, the legs were really not suited to walk on leaves.. as it slipped!


The complete album can be viewed here.

The Hardworking Rain God

The common housefly, also known as hor sin in Hokkien, has the same pronounciation as the rain god, also in Hokkien. It is hence a common joke locally to label the houseflies as rain gods.

It rains every year during Hari Raya Puasa, no? Today's visit to the park was expectedly short-lived due to the downpour. Managed to shoot some houseflies hard at work. Seemed to be effective as the little rain gods had the sky battering down over Singapore within an hour.

#1 Found the little ones mating deep in the bushes. Rather skittish, as they flew off (without disconnecting) when I tried to move closer

#2 Spotted them again on another leaf! They were going all out, it's hard to describe in words.. so move on to the next picture!

#3 With a shutter of 1/30s, their intense movement could be observed. Comical in a way, their romping had the leaf shaking too!

#4 Flew to yet another position, with a slightly different tone in the background.

#5 Lynx spider captures a long legged fly. From far, I thought it was a male lynx, but found the poor fly which I mistook for it's palps.

#6 Closer look. Yup, it's a female lynx!

The complete album can be viewed here.