A Fungi and a handsome fungus beetle.

At Botanic Island Two I came across a huge thick fungi that had a beetle below it. The beetle belongs to the Endomychidae family and are commonly called 'Handsome Fungus Beetles' due to their association with fungus. The four yellow dots on its black elytra (hardened forewings) were in striking contrast.

Stick insect

The mating process of the Shield Bug (Pycanum rubens)

The Approach

The Climb

The Copulation

The Consummation

Shield Bug - Pycanum rubens
Host plant - Simpoh Air (Dillenia suffructicosa)
Location : Zone I

A spider, a cricket and a dragonfly

All images taken on 21 Jan'15
Location : Kruak wetlands

Highlights today at the park - 16 May

Stick inset , at Botanic Island Four (Zone I)_

Bromheadia finlaysoniana

 When they fly past,  you can see their reddish wings against the light.  There are many of these stick insects in the park and they look fragile in flight.  Wild orchids can be found too but the most common terrestrial orchid is the Bromheadia finlaysoniana (see inset).  Below is shown a clump that is about 1 meter tall.  The beautiful white flowers are fragrant.

Bromheadia finlaysoniana orchid clump, Zone G

Lengkan (Iban) - Ficus grossularioides

 The Lengkan (Iban) is a small tree that is found in many places at the park, preferring open secondary areas and unfertile soils.  The young leaves are edible so are the young fruits.  It is rich in protein and manganese.  The 'Senduduk' ( Melastoma malabathricum) has soft berry-like fruits consisting  numerous seeds that are attractive to many wildlife especially birds.  More interesting plants here are the Rabbit's Foot Fern and the  'Akar Riwet' (Flagellaria indica) of which the latter is used to cure erectile dysfunction as used by the Berawans of Sarawak.

Lengkan (Iban) - Ficus grossularioides

Rabbit's Foot Fern - Davallia denticulata hugging to the oil palm trunk.  The leaves are used for floral arrangement.

Senduduk (Malay) - Melastoma malabathricum

Senduduk (Malay) - Melastoma malabathricum

Akar Riwet ( Berawan) - Flagellaria indica
It is a climber and looking similar to the rattan.  Among the Berawan people of Sarawak it is used as a remedy for erectile dysfunction and to chase away evil spirits.
Location : Zone B

Red young leaves of a jungle climber
Location : Botanic Island Two

A Black cicada

 Cicadas are among the noisiest insects in the park.  Often they produce ear deafening chorus of loud screeching sounds that tear the silence of the night.  In daytime they also produce their sounds especially in the deeper sections of the forests.  Last night one black cicada entered the house and I was able to catch it as shown in the above picture.  Could the noises be calls made to their female species? I wonder.

Singing the eco-diversity mantra

View of oil palm trees planted amidst introduced tree species - Eugenia oleina

 In the park the business model is radical when compared to the vast plantation-style oil palm mono cultivation in Sarawak.  I feel very much at peace with my conscience doing business using the Kambatik model because here profits go hand in hand with preservation.  This is primarily possible because the prime criteria in the development of the park is ecological diversity placed in the context of an agro-forestry management.  It takes me a good 6 years to achieve some resemblance of success in this new oil palm based business model.  The pictures indicating the return of wildlife to park park are concrete examples of the model's performance index.  Enjoy the park through the lenses of diversity....butterflies, insects, small animals, all wild and free......

 Among the existing native or exotic fruit trees and timber trees are planted flowering trees, shrubs and vines that provide food, shelter and breeding grounds to the extensive web of wildlife but with little or no maintenance.  When singing the ecological diversity mantra we sing out loud that "doing good is doing well ".....la la la la..

Recreational activity like wildlife and nature photography helps promote the idea of the park's sustainability mantra.

Doing good is doing well...

Insect watch album - Lantern fly

The species of Lantern fly that I saw today is unique in that it was able to camouflage itself to the bark of a big tall jungle tree.  Its wings, head and 'snout' have colours resembling the hues and tinges of the tree bark.  Its head has a 'snout' that is upturned that may look frighteningly  'horny' to its prey.  It was a perfect mimicry.

Lantern fly (Fulgoridae)

Insect watch album - Carpenter Bees

They have made the park their home.  In dead trees they make burrows and like any normal bees are busy buzzing away making more tunnels inside.  There is a small colony of them making these nests at Botanic Island One.  They look menacingly beautiful with colourful metallic wings and a face resembling Darth Vader from the from 'Star Wars'.  I noticed they collect nectar from the flowers of the 'Sebduduk' that grow wild and abundantly at the park. 

Carpenter Bee

Collecting nectar from flowers of the 'Senduduk' (Melastoma malabathricum)

Metallic colour wings

The nests are built facing west.

Burrows in a dead tree at Botanic Island One.