05 Jan 2008

The first Saturday of 2008... I brought Dai Jiao out for a walk. The first subject that attracted our attention was this plant. It is a Macaranga sp. On this plant you can find quite a lot of ants. This is because the ants live in the hollow stem of the plant. The relationship between the plant and the ant is a win-win situation. The plant gives the ant a home while the ant will protect the plant from herbivores.

During this walk I also saw quite a number of interesting stuffs.

Pleasing Fungus Beetle? I saw quite a number of them feeding on some fungus except for this fellow who is "strolling" around a leaf.

One of the most interesting find for the day was the pitcher plants. Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants, which means they obtain their nutrients by "eating" animals such as insects. The structure of the leaf is like a "cup". In it is a liquid that is used to drown the victim. The victim will be dissolved into mineral rich solution for the plant to absorb. These plants are usually found in mineral poor soil. Thus you might not find other plants growing around it.

This is a very naughty butterfly. It is a Graphium sp. or Swallow Tail Butterfly. It was moving up and down and never stopped for long, wings in constant vibration. I waited for quite a while before it finally "pose" for this shot.

A tiny whiny St. Andrew Cross! The body is about 1-2mm long. Spider has 8 legs. For this species it's 8 legs are paired up and looked like a cross, which is why it has the name St. Andrew Cross.

I also saw these 2 unknown insect. Does anyone know about them?