Spiders & Insects Galore at Kranji & Sungei Buloh

A bunch of nature bloggers - CH, SY, JL, JH, ST, JS, and I decided to go to Kranji Nature Trail and Sungei Buloh today. While the area is more well-known for its mangroves, the arthropods stole the limelight today, and we saw lots of interesting spiders and insects!



This leafhopper used to be one of my favourite insects when I was a kid living in the kampong. Somehow found them to look really cute. Leafhoppers feed on plant sap and thus are usually considered pests.



Thought this orange crab spider looked like it's doing taichi... They usually have two pairs of bigger front legs, and move side-ways like crabs. Instead of using webs, they normally hunt for food with their front legs.



Can you spot the two butterflies among the dead leaves? We saw plenty of butterflies today, but I only managed to get better photos for these two.



There were lots of dragonflies along the Kranji Nature Trail too! Dragonflies normally hunt for smaller insects like mosquitoes in flight.



I think this is probably the nymph of a katydid... (Update: Heard from Luan Keng that this is a cricket nymph. Thanks Luan Keng!)



There were quite a few damselflies too! Unlike their close relatives the dragonflies, damselflies hold their wings vertically at rest. Dragonflies hold their wings horizontally at rest.



This jumping spider kept jumping onto our cameras as we tried to take pictures of it.



Captured this shot as I thought it looks quite cute, with the grasshopper resting on the snail.



Stink bugs, otherwise also called shield bugs, have glands in their thorax which produce a foul smelling liquid to deter potential predators.



We were quite lucky to see an atlas moth, which is also considered to be the largest moths in the world in terms of total wing surface area.



We also saw a spider carrying her egg sac. Have no idea what type of spider this is though :P



We found another jumping spider on the mangrove boardwalk at Sungei Buloh. Another round of photo-taking, with the spider jumping from one camera to another...



We always managed to find many dragonflies resting on water plants at the small pond near the entrance to the reserve.



Found this planthopper and a little green-coloured fly (on the right) resting on a climber surrounded with several threads of spider web. The spider was just nearby. Hmm... I really wonder how did they managed to get pass the web, and will they be able to leave safely without providing additional nourishment for the spider...



Think this is a shield bug, though I'm not really sure. Maybe some insect experts out there can advise? (Update: Luan Keng advised that this is the nymph of a shield bug. Thanks again!)

Anyway, we were really lucky that it didn't rain when we were having our walk. And even luckier that JS drove, and so we were sheltered from the heavy rain when it started pouring later :P

All in all, it was a great trip with a bunch of fun-loving volunteers :)

Chek Jawa Intertidal Walk on 9 Dec

I was back at Chek Jawa again last Sunday, so here's a quick summary of some of the things we saw that day.



Since the mass death that happened earlier this year, I've been finding more horseshoe crabs during our guided walks. In fact, I've seen them on almost all the walks I guided so far this year, and once I even saw 3 of them. Have no idea whether this could have anything to do with the mass death or the flood, or could it be just pure coincidence that the horseshoe crabs could have just had a breeding season recently. Anyway, just an observation.



Perhaps due to the rain, we only managed to find one brittle star today, when previously I could easily find several of them stranded on the sand. And this was also the only star we found for the day.



Walking at the edge of the sand bar, I spotted a few pink warty sea cucumbers, breaking the green and brown monotony created by the seagrasses, seaweeds and the sand.



I was very glad to see that the resident bigger-than-your-face carpet anemone was still there despite the heavy rainfall. Hopefully the situation will not worsen and I'm still able to find it the next time I'm here.



As the group moved on, I saw something squeezing out of the sand, and it turned out to be a smooth and slimy sea cucumber. It was translucent with brown spots. Don't think I've seen this species before actually.



There were still plenty of sand dollars around. Some how they didn't seem to be affected as badly by the rain compared to most of the other marine life.



There were lots of drill (a type of snail) egg capsules around too. The yellow ones still have babies drills in them. The eggs turn purple when the larvae hatch.



And we found a tunicate stuck on one of the pillars of the floating pontoon. Like us, tunicates are animals which have a notochord when they are young. But while our notochord eventually develops into our spine, the tunicates lose their notochords as they settle down and mature. Most tunicates are hermaphrodites, meaning they can produce both eggs and sperm. Usually, the eggs are keep inside their body until they hatch, while the sperm is release into the water to fertilise other tunicates.



A pretty purple sponge was also growing on one of the pillars. Mind you, but sponges are animals too! And like other animals, they need to eat too! They do so by sucking in water through the tiny holes on them, and they will pick up any edible particles from the water, then push the filtered water through the big holes. While they look really pretty, please do not handle them with your hands, as most sponges have tiny spikes on them. The spikes will get into your skin and cause skin irritation. Some sponges are known to be toxic too, and may cause numbness or even inflammation.



And here's my group, which I called the mudskippers so that it's easier for me to gather them among the other groups :P

Anyway, despite the rain, it was still a nice walk.

After note: Received an sms from Adelle on Monday, who told me that they saw jungle fowls fighting on the rocky shore, and 2 otters running on the northern sand bar! Wow! The last time I saw an otter was like a year ago at Semakau Landfill! So far on Ubin I've only see otter foot prints. Too bad I had to work on Monday and thus didn't go to help out...

Sigh... Will I have the luck to see the otters during my next walk? I certainly hope so... Though I think chances are pretty slim :(