Tawau Hills Day 4
Tawau Hills 2015: [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ]
We had been getting about 4 hours of sleep each day and by day 4, we really needed lots of bugs to keep us going. The good news is, the bugs lived up to our expectations and we slept even later on day 4! @_@
Learn advanced macro photography techniques here at the coming Borneo Bootcamp in June!
Morning Lantern Bugging Ritual
Every morning, we’d pay the lantern bugs a visit. We saw Pyrops sultanus again but I didn’t get to shoot it as it was either too high up or flew away before I got to them.
Lantern bug (Pyrops whiteheadi)
Found the blue-snout lantern bug at a low height!
Lantern bug (Pyrops whiteheadi)
And it gave me the chance to do an extreme close up of the snout. 🙂
Ground beetle (Carabidae)
There were a few of these tiny ground beetles on the tree trunks.
Lantern bug (Pyrops whiteheadi)
The park rangers saw the same lantern bug with much fresher wings!
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
We proceeded to the BBQ area, and started shooting mayflies (again!).
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
The mayflies here were a little bit different from the lamp post ones.
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
Yoga?
Ant (Formicidae)
This ant looked like it had lost its wings.
Blue harvestman (Gagrellinae)
Back to the beautiful blue harvestmen again, they are very easily spotted.
Blue harvestman (Gagrellinae)
View from the front, with a bit of stacking.
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
One of the wide-jawed jumping spiders. Forgot to take more angles. T_T
Crab spider (Thomisidae)
Cute littel crab spider, possibly a juvenile.
Mantis (Mantodea)
Every once in a while, a mantis would turn up.
Mantis (Mantodea)
Very elegant one indeed!
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
Ok back to mayflies, what else? There were quite a few different looking ones in the area.
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
This is the classic one (i.e. most common).
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
Similar, but darker abdominal patterns.
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
The abdomen on this was slightly translucent.
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
And with big derpy eyes!
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
Another in the “praying” pose.
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
Remember to take shots of this angle, cross-eyed cuteness!
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
Sad look.
Leafhopper (Cicadellidae)
Dull looking but a leafhopper that I’ve not seen before.
Giant shield bug (Tessaratomidae)
Amber found this shield bug caught in a spider’s web, with a bit of sunlight shining through it.
Giant shield bug (Tessaratomidae)
Opened the aperture for a smoother background.
Cockroach (Blattodea)
Patterned cockroach nymph.
Mayfly (Ephemeroptera)
More mayflies!
Fungus weevil (Anthribidae)
Classic fungus weevil. I saw another one that was several times bigger, but lost it after chasing it around over many trees. 🙁
Fungus weevil (Anthribidae)
Dorsal view.
Ant (Formicidae)
This ant had a very nice tone of red.
Ant (Formicidae)
As expected with ants, it kept walking around.
Ant (Formicidae)
Rare to get a close up shot of the face, luckily it stopped for a few seconds!
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
One of the jumping spiders residing on tree trunks.
Jumping spider (Salticidae)
Somehow, most of those on tree trunks tend to look down.
Blue harvestman (Gagrellinae)
The blue harvestmen could be found on tree trunks as well!
Trashline orb web spider (Cyclosa sp.)
Within some of these messy webs lie the spider that constructed it all.
Trashline orb web spider (Cyclosa sp.)
Unfortunately I couldn’t get a black background to make the web stand out.
Trashline orb web spider (Cyclosa sp.)
Still an ok shot for web documentation. 😉
Ant (Crematogaster inflata)
There was also a stream of ants that looked quite different.
Ant (Crematogaster inflata)
The thorax looked like it had 2 tubercles on an elevated yellow mound.
Weevil (Curculionidae)
These weevils like to drop dead when disturbed, and won’t move for quite a while.
Stick insects (Phasmatodea)
Off the trail, we saw stick insects mating again.
Crab spider (Epidius sp.)
Found this beautiful crab spider on the foliage with a pink dotted abdomen.
Crab spider (Epidius sp.)
Cute face!
Ant (Formicidae)
Another one of the fuzzy looking ants. Amber liked the diversity of ants and kept looking for them!
Tarantula (Theraphosidae)
On our way back, we found a dead tarantula toasting on the tar path.
Tarantula (Theraphosidae)
RIP
Giant river toad (Phrynoidis juxtasper)
Just by the pavilion this giant river toad was chilling out.
Giant river toad (Phrynoidis juxtasper)
It was about 20cm long, I only had my $2 for size comparison. 😛
Giant river toad (Phrynoidis juxtasper)
Due to the size, I had to detach my flashes and placed them manually on the floor.
Giant river toad (Phrynoidis juxtasper)
Looked so glum.
Giant river toad (Phrynoidis juxtasper)
With direct flash, the toad looked “flatter” without much detail on the skin as compared to the photos above.
Paper wasps (Polistinae)
Nick and Amber showed me this mass of paper wasps on a tree trunk.
Paper wasps (Polistinae)
I got closer…
Paper wasps (Polistinae)
And decided this was the closest I’d go as they seem to be getting agitated by my light!
Giant river toad (Phrynoidis juxtasper)
Went back to take a close up of the toad’s eye before we went on to the trails. 🙂
Masked hunter assassin bug (Reduvius sp.)
Saw the assassin bug again with lots of debris and ant carcasses.
Copper-cheeked frog (Hylarana labialis)
Was it blinking?
Copper-cheeked frog (Hylarana labialis)
Ahhh the eyes look normal now.
Harlequin flying frog (Rhacophorus pardalis)
The tree frogs were at their usual positions.
Harlequin flying frog (Rhacophorus pardalis)
Ever so sleepy looking.
Harlequin flying frog (Rhacophorus pardalis)
Despite my clumsy movements, it did not move at all.
Longhorn orb web spider (Macracantha arcuata)
Another longhorn orb weaver, easily spotted near the trail entrance.
Emerald darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae)
This emerald darkling beetle was very prominent despite being green.
Huntsman spider (Heteropoda sp.)
The usual huntsman spiders were out looking for food on the tree trunks.
Rove beetle (Aleocharinae)
Initially, I thought that this was a round looking beetle. Turned out that it was a rove beetle with the abdomen flipped over!
Rove beetle (Aleocharinae)
View from the front.
Emerald darkling beetle (Tenebrionidae)
Back to the darkling beetle again, everything’s near to each other. 🙂
Frog
Little frog found on the ground.
Frog
Not looking too happy.
Orb web spider (Neoscona sp.)
Very pretty Neoscona found way above our heads.
Orb web spider (Neoscona sp.)
A larger Neoscona, hanging out.
Orb web spider (Neoscona sp.)
After my intrusion, it quickly went into hiding.
Moth (Lepidoptera)
Forgot to take more shots of this moth!
Orb web spider (Neoscona sp.)
More shots of this Neoscona.
Crane fly (Tipulidae)
Very big crane fly, with a unique tone of green.
Crane fly (Tipulidae)
Close up on the eyes.
Ground spider (Zodariidae)
Never knew why these were called ground spiders, when I hardly ever see them on the ground.
Ground spider (Zodariidae)
Mature male! The pedipalps always appear truncated on this genus.
Lichen wandering spider (Acantheis sp.?)
One of my favorite finds of the night! It was almost impossible to see it until inspected up close!
Lichen wandering spider (Acantheis sp.?)
Odd looking eye arrangement, but closest to Ctenidae.
Lichen wandering spider (Acantheis sp.?)
Wider view of the camouflage.
Lichen wandering spider (Acantheis sp.?)
Close up of the body.
Lichen wandering spider (Acantheis sp.?)
Lateral view.
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
One of the many huntsman spiders, I was just shooting everything. 😉
Derbid planthopper (Derbidae)
A vibrant coloured planthopper!
Derbid planthopper (Derbidae)
Tried a bit of back lighting.
Tiger leeches (Hirudinea)
While Jeff and Nick moved ahead, they told us of a pair of leeches along the path.
Tiger leeches (Hirudinea)
The 2 of them were busily seeking us out.
Tiger leeches (Hirudinea)
But they found each other. Erm…
Crab spider (Epidius sp.)
Found another crab spider, similar to the one we found in the day.
Big-jawed spider (Tetragnathidae)
A young big-jawed spider.
Tiger beetle (Cicindelinae)
We found a few of these tiger beetles, very nice colours!
Tiger beetle (Cicindelinae)
Not too happy with me approaching, and 2 of them flew off.
Tiger beetle (Cicindelinae)
Managed to get a decent dorsal view. 🙂
Cricket (Gryllidae)
The crickets were also looking quite unique.
Cricket (Gryllidae)
Very distinct and contrasty patterns.
Pirate spider (Mimetidae)
This very small spider was found leaning on a tree trunk. Wasn’t too sure if it is a mimetid.
Pirate spider (Mimetidae)
Not easy to get a good angle.
Pirate spider (Mimetidae)
Finally decided to stop for a moment!
Giant shield bug (Tessaratomidae)
Resident of this area, one of the most wide spread subjects!
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
This huntsman spider was hiding on some buttress.
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
Looking down at it.
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
Somehow managed a close up shot as well!
Stick insect (Phasmatodea)
Slender looking stick insect.
Wolf spider (Lycosidae)
Reached our cabins, and checked out the life on the grass.
Monkey grasshopper (Caelifera)
Same same but different.
Wolf spider (Lycosidae)
Many wolf spiders scuttling around, some with egg sacs.
Wolf spider (Lycosidae)
Most were skittish, so I didn’t take too many shots.
Treehopper (Membracidae)
There were also a few of these horned treehoppers.
Treehopper (Membracidae)
Like… ultraman?
Frog
And the usual frogs on the ground.
Frog
Had to go on the grass to take this shot.
Crab spider (Epidius sp.)
Looks like a younger version of the crab spider shot earlier!
Crab spider (Epidius sp.)
Face shot.
Thorn-mimic treehopper (Membracidae)
Treehopper nymph, usually accompanied by ants.
Treehopper (Membracidae)
Probably the corresponding adult.
Treehopper (Membracidae)
Not sure if it is the same as the previous treehopper!?
Orb web spider (Neoscona sp.)
Looks like this genus is the most common orb-weaver around here.
Orb web spider (Neoscona sp.)
Shot of the eyes.
Crab spider (Epidius sp.)
While Dennis was shooting the crab spider, a mayfly showed up (probably attracted to our lights) and got caught!
Crab spider (Epidius sp.)
Munching on the head.
Giant river toad (Phrynoidis juxtasper)
Passed by the giant toad again, and found it to be resting its head on the concrete. 😛
Giant river toad (Phrynoidis juxtasper)
Passport photo?
Dead leaf grasshopper (Caelifera)
Amber lost her torch earlier in the day, so we went back to the trail to search for it.. and got distracted!
Unknown eggs
Weird looking eggs.
Unknown eggs
Anyone recognize them?
Geometrid moth (Boarmiini)
Before long, we were back at our favorite lamp post, this time shooting moths!
Lappet moth (Trabala sp.)
There was a cute green one too!
Lappet moth (Trabala sp.)
But very high up.. had to do an ugly stance to reach it.
Geometrid moth (Boarmiini)
Front shot.
Geometrid moth (Boarmiini)
Checking out the combed antennae. Seems like many of the moths near to the lights were faded or injured.
Earwig (Dermaptera)
Fat looking earwig on the foliage.
Flatid planthopper (Flatidae)
Amber spotted this planthopper on the bridge railing.
Flatid planthopper (Flatidae)
Was staying still, and allowed me to take more close ups from various angles.
Flatid planthopper (Flatidae)
But lazy to remove the Raynox and had limited angles.
Copper-cheeked frog (Hylarana labialis)
Quite a lot of frogs around the bridge.
Frog
Unsure of ID.
Frog
Close to narrow mouthed frog?
Common hawk moth (Daphnusa ocellaris)
This hawk moth was at the toilet for several days, had to take some shots of it!
Common hawk moth (Daphnusa ocellaris)
Dorsal view
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
The final and favorite find of the night! Spotted this giant beauty from a distance below the bridge.
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
Approached slowly as I was uncertain of its behavior.
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
Climbed down below the bridge to get some shots of the eyes.
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
And went closer…
Huntsman spider (Sparassidae)
And closer! Couldn’t believe the colours when I went for higher magnifications.
Night Walk!
We had a slightly earlier break to get some rest before going out for dinner, where we decided to order more seafood which Tawau was supposedly famous for. Maybe next time we should do our homework on the places to eat first.. heh. Soon we found ourselves back on the trails at night, joined by Jeff! There was a group of German herpetologists who just arrived and were looking for frogs, and Jeff was showing them photos of many of the frogs in the area.
After lots of non-stop shooting, we finally called it a day (night) at 4am and tried cleaning up the mess in the common area before we hit the beds. If there was an additional night, would it have been 5am?!
The complete album for this day’s findings can be viewed on Flickr.
Remember to check out the other posts for this trip from the links below! If you are interested in the smaller wildlife of Borneo with the guide of an experienced macro photographer, check out the upcoming Borneo Bootcamp. It is not to be missed!
Tawau Hills 2015: [ Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5 ]
