Journal

Khao Yai National Park – Day 3

on
12 March 2012

[ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ]

A day spent almost entirely at the cabin and it’s vicinity, as the subjects just kept coming to us. lol. Most of our time was spent with a banded flower mantis located about 20m away from our cabin.

Behind the scenes shots from Melvyn’s Sony TX5, Nicky’s Galaxy SII, David’s LX5.

  1. Before heading out, we had some visitors outside our cabin

  2. Curiously looking into our cameras

  3. Such a poser, we had to join in the photo

  4. This family was having a busy time on our cabin rooftops

  5. Brunch! Some of the rest loved the coconuts~

  6. Long Horned Orb Weaver (Macracantha arcuata) - DSC_4839b
  7. Woke up early in the morning to find the long horn spiny back orb weaver still there!

  8. Long Horned Orb Weaver (Macracantha arcuata) - DSC_4841
  9. The natural angle, as the horns are too heavy to let the spider stand upright on it’s own

  10. Dark-sided Chorus Frog? (Microhyla heymonsi) - DSC_4861
  11. Melvyn and Lance were chasing this cute and fat little frog, probably a Dark-sided Chorus Frog (Microhyla heymonsi)

  12. Dark-sided Chorus Frog? (Microhyla heymonsi) - DSC_4864
  13. Side view shows the big tummy!

  14. Dark-sided Chorus Frog? (Microhyla heymonsi) - DSC_4872
  15. It was jumping around, so I managed to get shots of it with different backgrounds

  16. Dark-sided Chorus Frog? (Microhyla heymonsi) - DSC_4876
  17. Jumped to yet another position. Record shot from the top.

  18. Dark-sided Chorus Frog? (Microhyla heymonsi) - DSC_4877
  19. Doesn’t it look a little overweight?

  20. Dark-sided Chorus Frog? (Microhyla heymonsi) - DSC_4878
  21. Finally settled down in this spot, hidden amongst the grass

  22. Long Horned Orb Weaver (Macracantha arcuata) - DSC_4885
  23. Went back to shoot the long horn orb weaver, using different lighting techniques

  24. Long Horned Orb Weaver (Macracantha arcuata) - DSC_4896
  25. Record shot of he side view

  26. Long Horned Orb Weaver (Macracantha arcuata) - DSC_4906
  27. And finally, a view from behind

  28. Spiny Back Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha kuhli) - DSC_4929
  29. Found lots of these spiny back orb weavers, which we called the cat face.

  30. Spiny Back Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha doriae) - DSC_4976
  31. Ben found yet another spiny back orb weaver, and this had horns curved downwards, like ???

  32. Spiny Back Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha doriae) - DSC_4995
  33. The abdomen surface appeared to have a hint of red

  34. Spiny Back Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha doriae) - DSC_5001
  35. At certain angles, it gave a bizarre array of colours!

  36. Spiny Back Orb Weaver (Gasteracantha doriae) - DSC_5021
  37. Front view, highlighting the downward curve

  38. Earwig (Dermaptera) - DSC_5071
  39. While sitting at the balcony, I found this earwig running around on my chair. On closer observation, found that it had outrageously long rear horns (whatever you call them)

  40. Earwig (Dermaptera) - DSC_5101
  41. I lost it a few times, as it tends to walk off the table

  42. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5050
  43. As we came back from lunch, David found this banded flower mantis just behind our cabin

  44. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5112
  45. Wondering…

  46. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5115
  47. Like many other mantises, this flower mantis had a lot of different poses!

  48. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5139
  49. But it walked around non-stop

  50. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5144
  51. Occasionally looking up at me

  52. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5173
  53. It might turn towards me at times when it reaches a dead end

  54. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5179
  55. But still walking around, more often than not

  56. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5196
  57. Checking things out below

  58. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5216
  59. Looking straight at me

  60. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5227
  61. Yes, more shots. Can’t get enough of it!

  62. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5258
  63. Still walking

  64. Flower Mantis (Creobotra sp.?) - DSC_5277
  65. Sun shifted positions, and allowed me to take a back-lit shot

  66. Orb Weaver Spider (Cyclosa sp.) - DSC_5287
  67. Walked a little bit further down from our cabin, and found this beautiful web. Such patterns are usually found on the neogea nocticolor spider.

  68. Neoscona Orb Weaver Spider - (Neoscona vigilans) - DSC_5383
  69. Found this red garden spider at the corner of our balcony

  70. Neoscona Orb Weaver Spider - (Neoscona vigilans) - DSC_5410
  71. Trying to get a face shot

  72. Neoscona Orb Weaver Spider - (Neoscona vigilans) - DSC_5411
  73. Side view

  74. Moth - DSC_5412
  75. Started checking out our curtain, and found several moths

  76. Casually shooting around, and this pair of porcupines scrambled past our cabin – they did that every night!

  77. Leech (Hirudinea) - DSC_5436
  78. While stretching up high to shoot a moth, Melvyn noticed that I had already been bitten by a leech!! arghh.. this was full of my blood

  79. Moth - DSC_5456
  80. One of the moths on the curtain

  81. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5516
  82. Firefly larva with the bright glow

  83. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5541
  84. Clinging on

  85. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5544
  86. Attempt at back light

  87. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5558
  88. As the firefly larva was walking around with a glowing tail, we tried to take extended exposures to show the light trail it created

  89. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5559
  90. Walking to and fro

  91. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5561
  92. The rather uniform pattern on the light trail shows how it was walking

  93. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5563
  94. The tail has 2 luminous spots when viewed from above

  95. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5571
  96. Nice wavy trails

  97. Firefly larva (Lampyridae) - DSC_5584
  98. Decided to stop after it seemed to get lethargic. (oops)

  99. Longhorn Beetle (Cerambycidae) - DSC_5587
  100. A tiny longhorn beetle at our balcony

  101. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5592
  102. Melvyn couldn’t stand waiting at the cabin anymore, and stepped out to find more subjects. Before he could even step out completely, he found this bark mantis at the cabin steps. lol

  103. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5601
  104. Our cabin had an abundance of moths, and one became it’s supper

  105. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5615
  106. Golden face, busy devouring the moth

  107. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5623
  108. Yum yum yum

  109. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5630
  110. When it feels threatened, the bark mantis flattens itself on the bark, concealing it’s body outline

  111. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5633
  112. Even with food in front of it, it remains immobile for quite a while

  113. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5647
  114. Very unique golden face

  115. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5658
  116. It slowly stands up!

  117. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5668
  118. Close up from the side

  119. Praying Mantis (Acromantis sp.) - DSC_5684
  120. Doing some weird pose

  121. Praying Mantis - DSC_5685
  122. Animation sequence showing how the bark mantis devoured the last leg of the moth

  123. Mirid Bug (Miridae) - DSC_5696
  124. Found this brightly coloured mirid bug (?). By then, most of the others had already hit the sack but we shot on

  125. Mirid Bug (Miridae) - DSC_5700
  126. Colours reminded me of Brazil, Jamaica, etc

  127. Mirid Bug (Miridae) - DSC_5705
  128. Facing me

  129. Mirid Bug (Miridae) - DSC_5710
  130. It walks to the peak, where I would expect it to attempt to fly

  131. Mirid Bug (Miridae) - DSC_5711
  132. Wings open! Attempts to fly, but remains there.

  133. Mirid Bug (Miridae) - DSC_5712
  134. Final shot before it really flew away.

[ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ]

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NICKY BAY
Singapore

Hi my name is Nicky Bay. I am a macro photographer, instructor and book author, travelling the world to document the vast micro biodiversity that nature has to offer. Follow my updates and discover with me the incredible beauty and science behind our planet's micro creatures!

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