Exploring Ubin

An interesting day at Pulau Ubin today, with many nice photographic opportunities. Below are just some of the better ones taken during the trip.


The reddish male golden orb web spider, Nephila philipes. Look at how small it is compared to the female which it is on!


A beautiful white-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus) flew very close to us, allowing a close up shot. It is a rare resident here and threatened due to bird trade.


A Tawny Coster butterfly, Acraea violae sits comfortably, giving me a chance to get a macro shot of it. This is possibly a female with its slightly faded wings.


AG found this fluffy white caterpillar on the leaf litter. I wonder what kind of butterfly or moth it will turn out to be.


LK spotted a hive of stingless bees that made its home from a hole at the gate of Chek Jawa.


At Chek Jawa boardwalk, the tide is still very high so we couldn't see that much things around. However, at the mangrove area, there were lots of blue-stripped hermit crabs around, showing of its stunning electric blue colour.


Mudskippers are another prominent inhabitant in the mangroves. This is the Giant Mudskipper (Periophthalmodon schlosseri), one of the largest species in the world.


The find for the day is this bagworm moth (Family: Psychidae) which I have been wanting to see this for quite a while. This caterpillar builds its home by cutting branches off the plant and pasting it on its body. It is amazing how this architect actually managed to create it in a nice spiraling fashion. You can see a newly added branch at the end that is still greenish in colour.