The Laughing Zorro Bird

Bukit Batok Nature Park

Central, Singapore

May 2013

It was a cloudy and warm afternoon in Bukit Batok when Merlion Wayfarer decided to take a short walk.

On entering the park, she spotted some recycling bins near the restrooms and playground...
(Good effort, NParks!)

Despite the humid noon sun, there were still sufficient sightings spotted in this park which is just minutes away from the nearest housing estate.

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• Oecophylla Smaragdina (Weaver Ant)
  (Read "Ants That Climb & Bind")
      
• Caelifera (Grasshopper)

• A Dart/Skipper from the Hesperiidae family:
  Darts/Skippers are generally small butterflies with thick head, big eyes, and small wings in proportion to their heavy bodies. As a result, these butterflies move their wings at a very high speed when flying. This makes their flight extreme fast and darting.

• Garrulax Leucolophus (White-Crested Laughing Thrush):
  Merlion Wayfarer spotted these beautiful birds near the quarry. These are inquisitive birds that cackle a lot (hence their name). They are curious about people and often come forward when there is food.
     

Quite a handsome-looking bird with its crest and Zorro eye mask...

When one spots food, a few others will be attracted by its call. 
Merlion Wayfarer thinks it's good to avoid feeding them as they might become a nuisance to other park-goers... 

• Ictinogomphus Decoratus (Common Flangetail):
  Merlion Wayfarer finds it easy to spot this dragonfly- It is large, common (one of the more commonly seen members of the family Gomphidae), and easily-recognizable by its bee-like yellow and black stripes. It breeds in open standing water like ponds and dams, and can be seen near the edges of many reservoirs and parks in Singapore, e.g. MacRitchie, Lower Peirce, Upper Seletar. 

  

After walking to the end of the shorter jogging track, and being awed once again by the magnificent quarry, she decided to end her short visit today...

Peaceful surroundings amidst still waters...

  

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More photos are available on:
Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's Picasa Web Albums

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Ants That Climb & Bind

Bukit Batok Nature Park

Central, Singapore

May 2013

Near a footpath at the Bukit Batok Nature Park where she met "The Laughing Zorro Bird", Merlion Wayfarer noticed a colony of Oecophylla Smaragdina (Weaver Ants) building a nest among some shrubs. These are the commonly-termed "red ants" that inhabit trees and bushes, move around a lot, and tend to crawl into your footwear and inflict painful bites.

(There are lots of ants here, so do make sure you are wearing long pants with proper shoes and socks when you explore this park.)

The weaver ant's ability to build capacious nests from living leaves has undeniably contributed to their ecological success. The initial phase in nest construction involves workers surveying potential nesting leaves by pulling on the edges with their mandibles. When a few ants have successfully bent a leaf onto itself or drawn its edge toward another, other workers join in the effort. The probability of a worker joining the concerted effort is dependent on the size of the group, with workers showing a higher probability of joining when the group size is large.

When the span between two leaves is beyond the reach of a single ant, workers form chains with their bodies by grasping one another's petiole (waist). Multiple intricate chains working in unison are often used to ratchet together large leaves during nest construction. Once the edges of the leaves are drawn together, other workers retrieve larvae from existing nests using their mandibles. These workers hold and manipulate the larvae in such a way that causes them to excrete silk. They can only produce so much silk, so the larva will have to pupate without a cocoon. The workers then maneuver between the leaves in a highly coordinated fashion to bind them together.

Weaver ants' nests are usually elliptical in shape and range in size from a single small leaf folded and bound onto itself to large nests consisting of many leaves and measure over half a meter in length. The time required to construct a nest varies depending on the leaf type and eventual size, but often a large nest can be built in significantly fewer than 24 hours. Although weaver ants' nests are strong and impermeable to water, new nests are continually being built by workers in large colonies to replace old dying nests and those damaged by storms.

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The full albums are available at:

Merlion Wayfarer Goes Green's Picasa Web Albums (Ants)

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Sources

• "Dynamics of aggregation and emergence of cooperation" by DENEUBOURG, J.L., Lioni, A. & DETRAIN, C. (2002).  Biological Bulletin 202:262-267.
• "The ants" by HOLLDOBER, B. & WILSON, E.O. (1990). Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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