Dung beetles rolling a ball of sh*t

 

Look what I came across while making my way up Mount Santubong last week! A pair of dung beetles comically rolling a little ball of animal poo down a trail covered with leaf litter and other obstacles.

They worked quickly, one behind and one in front and whenever they encountered a small "ledge" or step such as in the above photo (the tree root forms a step and the next lower level is about 10cm below), they'd both tumble down, get disoriented for a bit (refer photo below) but then quickly find their ball of dung and get back to business.

Quite amusing to watch them. I took a short video but my line's too slow to upload that (another reason why I seldom update this blog, sucks)!

I don't think I've ever seen dung beetles in real life and this up close before. Only ever seen them in nature programs on TV. These beetles weren't very big, I'd say each about 1.5 cm long (excluding length of legs).

Losing the fight against the orchid beetle (pest)!

I hate this small orchid pest, a beetle which drops to the ground (escape strategy) when one tries to catch it. It is found everywhere here, even in the cool, highlands. This one I found in Bario, getting ready to chomp on some Phaius tankervilleae flowers. It eats and lays eggs on my vanda flowers. The larvae can reduce several large 5 inch flowers down to nothing in a matter of days. I have had no choice but to resort to chemical warfare but I'm on the losing end at the moment...

Mobile phone macro shots (with macro lens attachment)

Believe it or not, the orchid (Trichoglottis sp.) photo above was shot by a friend using his Iphone4 and a cheap SGD10 macro lens attachment he got from Ebay. But before you rush out and get one for your IP4, know that you’ll have more misses than hits just because it’s difficult to hold the phone steady for macro shots (applies to other small compatible phones as well). In good light however, the combo is capable of producing some decent macro shots you’d never expect from a mobile phone!

And this close up shot of a Rhinocerous beetle was taken with the same lens attachment on my Sony X10 Mini Pro.

The macro lens attaches by way of a strong magnet so it’s compatible with only a handful of phones. It can also be used with the original Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet.

Considering its very low price, wouldn’t hurt to have one in your pocket if you have a compatible phone!

Night visitor (Rhinoceros beetle)

Look who what showed up on our doorstep! When I got back from dinner tonight, found this little rhinoceros beetle lying on the porch on the pet hair covered foot mat!

As a defence mechanism, the beetle gives off a hissing noise (sounds like air being let out of its abdomen) to scare off predators when disturbed, it also raises itself up on its legs to appear more menacing. My cat gave it a sniff then jumped away when the beetle hissed! Poor cat was terrified of it!

By the way, the photo above is a close crop of the upper “horn”. Took the photo with a tiny macro lens attachment (for camera phones) on my Sony X10 Mini Pro. Not bad for a cheap “toy”, ya?

Peculiar mantid

Suffer the chill! I really hate feeling sick! Came down with a fever 2 days ago which started mild then became worse yesterday. Better now but the temperature in my room dropped down to 25C tonight and I woke up feeling all chilly, even with a thick comforter on. Yes, Kuching gets very chilly at night! This is why we never really need AC till the hot and dry months of July and August. Hope I recover fully before this weekend as we have another climbing trip coming up and I don’t want to miss it!

 

Now I can’t get back to sleep cause I just popped an acetaminophen tab and now I’m sweating it off.

 

Found this little critter on my Papilionanthe blooms a couple days ago. Peculiar looking praying mantis. Quite a little jumper, disappearing into the foliage easily and when I tried to photograph it again, it jumped to the ground, perfectly camouflaged against the soil. Before I could try different apertures to bring it into sharper focus, it was gone!

 

 

 

Click for larger sizes.