Males Have Bigger Jaws

Bukit Batok Nature Park North-West, Singapore August 2012 Sunny   Merlion Wayfarer visited the Quarry Parkland today and found out that 4 Legs Good, 6 Legs Gooder, 8 Legs Goodest. Here's one interesting find...    This little one was looking right at Merlion Wayfarer on some bushes along the pathway to the playground. Often, interesting finds can be found along common walkways. All that is needed is a sharp eye for colour...

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4 Legs Good, 6 Legs Gooder, 8 Legs Goodest

Bukit Batok Nature Park North-West, Singapore August 2012 Sunny     Merlion Wayfarer visited a scenic Quarry Parkland today.    Sightings Arachnida - Salticidae (Jumping Spiders) : Myrmarachne Elongata (Ant-Mimicking Spider) Male  (See "Males Have Bigger Jaws") Odonata - Anisoptera (Dragonflies) : Aethriamanta Gracilis (Pond Adjutant) Orthoptera (Grasshoppers, Crickets, Locusts) : Grasshopper [unidentified] Arachnida...

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Quarry Parkland

Bukit Batok Nature Park North-West, Singapore August 2012 Sunny    The Bukit Batok Nature Park lies on the outskirts of one of Singapore's newest housing estates, Bukit Batok New Town. It is a small, peaceful park developed on an abandoned quarry site where the quiet visitor should be able to see some of the local wildlife which has adapted to an urban parkland environment.    Bukit Batok used to be a sleepy rural area...

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The Hairy Danger Of Tussocks

Singapore Botanic Gardens Central, Singapore 19 August 2012 Sunny Merlion Wayfarer has been trying to figure out the identity of the mysterious yellow caterpillar since she saw it. (See "Defense Mechanisms Of The Moth Cat".) She asked quite a few of her nature-lover friends yet they were not able to provide an answer.  The only clue that she received was that it was definitely not a butterfly cat. That was why its photo could not be...

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It's Spider Season Now!

Punggol Park Connector North-East, Singapore 20 August 2012 Sunny    Merlion Wayfarer was at the Punggol Park Connector today for a short 45 minutes and it was among the most bountiful sessions for her! Big-Jawed Spider Juveniles   Somehow, Merlion Wayfarer forgot that the photos she took were mostly juveniles. She forgot about their colourless bodies, their see-through textures, and their smaller sizes. And she spent hours...

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The Rainforest In The Middle Of Orchard Road

Singapore Botanic Gardens Singapore 19 August 2012 Sunny Merlion Wayfarer was at Singapore Botanic Gardens today. Instead of the usual "crowd-infested" paths, she decided to go for the swath of untouched 6-hectare rainforest. The path there is not easily visible from the main walkways. Instead, one must either climb up a flight of wooden stairs or disappear into a meadnering little path to find it. Entwined vines in the middle of Orchard Road... Here...

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Defense Mechanisms Of The Moth Cat

Singapore Botanic Gardens Central, Singapore 19 August 2012 Sunny     Today Merlion Wayfarer spotted a moth caterpillar with spikes so soft that you almost wished it were a soft toy!    The softest-looking spikes. They were not all uniformly white-  There was a smooth mix of both white and dark spikes...   Fascinating legs with little V-shaped shoes...   How its butt looks like -...

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Spiders With Eyes Looking In 8 Different Directions

Singapore Botanic Gardens Central, Singapore August 2012 Sunny     Merlion Wayfarer hadn't planned for a spider shoot - Not in a forest boardwalk with rope barricades on both sides, and definitely not in a park with hundreds of people on a Sunday morning. However, nice surprises happened.  :) A small Nephila Pilipes (Golden Web Spider) Female in the middle of the leaf litter in the Rainforest...   ...

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