Little bugs in the lab

Another short post for everyone since I have not been out on any field trips recently.

The lab that I am in seems to be a rehabilitation centre for rearing small insects.

Little hemiptera bugs belonging to the Green Stink Bug (Plautia affinis) just hatched from the cup shaped eggs. The eggs actually have a little lid which serves as the opening for the babies to emerge.

An astonishing surprise to everyone when we saw this amazing golden chrysalis belonging to the Striped Blue Crow butterfly, Euploea mulciber mulciber. This is said to be a warning colouration since the caterpillar feeds on poisonous leaves.

Wasp nest in DBS

A beautiful large wasp has made its home above the door of one of the biology labs. For the safety for the wasp baby living inside, I won’t say which lab, though its pretty obvious from the background that there can only be two possible labs for those who work here.

Thanks to John, this wasp is a potter wasp, Phimenes flavopictus.

It was probably eating its larvae baby within the potter. Being so big and scary, I ran away when it seemingly flew towards me threatening. Still, its nice to know another animal.

Total Vascular Flora of Singapore!

Kwek Yan from the Plant Systematics Laboratory has just published an ebook in the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research entitled “A checklist of the total vascular plant flora of Singapore: native, naturalised and cultivated species.” You can download the book by clicking the picture below.

Kudos to him for his overwhelming efforts and many sleepless nights to compile this book. I am certain it will be of great help to many biologists and nature lovers for a quick reference of our species list and status in Singapore!