Bringing Folks from Malaysia on a Mantidfly Hunt
Liew WK was in town over the weekend and had been an admirer of the Mantidfly which we could find quite easily in Singapore. Apparently not as common in Malaysia, the pictures we posted eventually lured them to our humble lion city.
We did a walk around Durian Loop, and found only 1 solitary Mantidfly near the entrance, but at a significant height above us. Can see cannot shoot! Just as we were about to leave, Tay spotted yet another Mantidfly near the entrance. This time, we were determined not to lose sight of it, and chased it around for a good 2 hours. During the chase, we found about 2 or 3 other Mantidflies on the same tree!
#1 I had just one shot of the Mantidfly, but its ok enough. 😛 Most opportunities were given to our guests, and we’re glad that they did not go back empty handed! Here’s Liew’s capture of this beautiful bug.
#2 Spotted a Scorpion Tailed Spider (Arachnura sp.) high above us. Hard to take a good shot as it moves violently with every teeny weeny breeze. More on this spider posted here: The Scorpion Tailed Spider and other bugs named after scorpions.
#3 Side view
#4 Colourful katydid in blue, green, black
#5 Blowing bubbles… this phenomenon has never been scientifically explained convincingly. Some possible suggestions to explain this…
- To cool down
- To excrete excessive liquids
- To give off scents to attract opposite sex when ready to mate
- To clean their mouth parts
- Runny nose (!??!!)
Here’s an interesting article discussing about this phenomenon: Fly bubble blowing.
#6 Side view
#7 A rather large Jumping Spider (Salticidae)
#8 What big eyes you have!
#9 Terrestrial Ribbon Worm. Ivan Kwan had an interesting blog post about this: Ribbons: Terrestrial Nemerteans of Singapore.
#10 Trying to get a cobra-like pose
#11 Look at the tiny little eyes!
#12 Moth mimicking a dead leaf
#13 Beetle
#14 Female Golden Orb Weaver (Nephila pilipes). Was going to shoot the mating sequence but the male scrambled off while I was setting up my tripod. 🙁The complete album can be viewed here.
