Sungei Buloh - Another unfruitful day for insect-hunting

An good day of insect-hunting means that we are able to spot and photograph insects that are uncommon or that are of interesting forms and colours. Dragonflies, bees, wasps, butterflies, moths, grasshoppers and crickets that are seen too often do not fall into our expectations of what a good insect-hunting day entails. A few years ago, we were able to see a wide variety of insect species other than those mentioned and there was even diversity within some of the species we had encountered. Unfortunately in the last year or so, these insects seemed to have disappeared from the parks and nature reserves that we visit often. Today at Sungei Buloh, we saw plenty of dragonflies and enough grasshoppers and crickets but that was all. The morning was hot and humid and we walked along the trail that had the most shade. Even with so much greenery around, the insects we were hoping to see did not make an appearance. So my attention was turned to the swampland and the creatures wallowing in the mud at low tide.