Robber fly - Asilidae

I've enough of dragons and damsels after shooting them for the past month; it gets boring after a while, mainly because there aren't that many species around. I keep seeing the same species all the time. This tells me that it's time for a change...

So I started hunting for robber flies. Robber flies belong to the family of Asilidae and there are over 5000 species around the world. My first encounter with robber flies happened on the very first forest outing with my close up lens and made a few macro shots of the fly. I was immediately fascinated and amazed at the details and beauty of this fly. However, after the initial encounter, I'd not seen another one for 6 months. Last week, while I was out shooting dragon flies in the forested area, I chanced upon the robber fly resting on a small twig. Wow she was a delightful subject, resting quietly on a dry twig and allowing me to photograph her from different angles. She was about 13mm long, head to tail, a real beauty, great big purple eyes, with a sharp proboscis, a hairy beard and a long abdomen. I also noticed the strong spiky legs built to grab their prey in flight.

In the next few outings, I was able to spot robber flies every time, in fact it is quite easy to spot them if you know where to look. I always remember the bible teaching " Keep asking and it will be given to you, keep searching and you will find, keep knocking and the door will be opened to you. " Mathew 7:7. On any day I can locate 3-5 robber flies at different locations within an hour. Again all of them are of the same species and measure about 8 - 15 mm long. One day while I was trying to macro focus on the fly resting on a dry twig, she disappeared from view for a microsecond and returned to the same spot immediately, but brought her dinner along. She had left the twig momentarily and grabbed a flying insect and returned to the same place.

Robber flies, also known as assassin flies, are known for their fast flight, excellent vision, and able to catch their prey in flight. They perch on low branches, logs, stones or on the ground and they rush out to catch their prey in flight, inject saliva containing toxic digestive enzyme to paralyze their prey and liquefy the insides. Once the tissues are liquefied the flies suck their prey dry, leaving the dry carcass still hanging on their proboscis. What an awesome predator- fortunately they are lone hunters, I wouldn't want to meet a nest of them, they may suck me dry.. ugh ugh.

This morning I went to the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve, a dense forested area where I used to trek and mountain bike a few years ago. While there were all kinds of insects and spiders along the track, I was specifically searching for robber flies, looking at places where they will perch, and squinting my eyes in the shadows of the foliage to look for 15mm insects resting on twigs. Within 15 minutes, I spotted my first robber fly, I was jumping with excitement because this fly was huge, it was twice the size that I had mentally envisioned, what a find ! it was the same species but only a lot larger at 30mm long. I spent some time taking the shots I needed. Ten minutes later, along the bike track I spotted another big one resting on a branch at eye level. This time she was too fast for me, she took off before I could get my gear to take a shot at her. I've found a new location for the big uns. Now to search for other species as well.

Watch out robber flies, I'm coming for you at other locations - but not the same species, please.

Creepy-Crawlies

Over the past week, I've been shooting nothing but bugs and other crawlies. They are bugging me all the time; even in my sleep, I dream of the critters that got away, and especially the female spider wrapping up the male for dinner after having mated with him. My favourite location to look for the bugs is Telok Blangah Hill Park which is close by. Whenever I have an hour or so, I'll just nip up the hill to hunt for them.

Mornings are the best times, as the bugs come out in search of breakfast, it is a bit tricky for them as they may also fall prey to other hungry predators, and become breakfast meal for others. As I had become a familiar harmless figure amidst the bushes, the bugs just ignore me, some even pose for me, inviting me to take the shots. Two insects seemed to like my presence, the assassin bug(Hemiptera Reduviidae) and the orange coloured leaf hopper (Bythoscopus Ferrugineus). Sometimes, I swear they were putting up a big smile for the shots.

To be successful in insect hunt, one must be able to imagine oneself as an insect darting from bush to bush and encountering all kinds of friends and foes, and always on the lookout for food, and to be especially alert to keep predators away. You gotta to be jungle smart to stay alive. You are lucky if you have safety in numbers like in an ant colony, otherwise it's everybody for himself, using the God-given talents to survive. Caterpillars seem to be easy picks, but they appear quite aggressive, with spikes all over their body and also emit horrific odours to scare away anyone who comes near. I must try to collect enough of these strong odours and spray them in the crowded MRT carriage if I want to secure a seat.

Hunting and shooting these insects, gives me such a thrill, especially when I spot an insect which I have not seen before. As a novice every outing is a new experience, since there are about a million insect species around the world. These do not include spiders, scorpions and centipedes. These outings have become my learning journey into the world of insects. Not so long ago, people would actually go out with a big net and swish around to collect the insect species, pin them and store them for identification and study. It's a cruel way to learn about the insects. Now, most people like me, would photograph them and file them away digitally for study and identification. I do it the hard way, on a tight budget. I use a prosumer camera and close up lens to capture the images. It is the hard way because I will have to get pretty close to the insects to photograph them: at a camera to subject distance of between 10 to 20 cm. I don't have the luxury of more expensive camera lens which would give me more working distance, thus ensuring the insects don't get frightened away by the camera being too close.

Sometimes I go out with a friend but mostly I hunt alone. I laughed at myself when I get into a comical situation as when I spent a good 5 minutes shooting a bug and later found out it was actually the skin of the nymphal stage that the adult fly had shed, but the skin and shape of the bug remained intact. Another occasion, I was engrossed into shooting something I thought was a new find, but later found that it was a leaf or seed of a flowering tree. The forest play tricks on your vision as you concentrate on doing your thing.

One day I was so thrilled to spot a male fighting spider; it brought back memories of old when as a kid, I would go and trap these male spiders and groom them for battle with spiders of other kids. We went through sex education the practical way with these spiders. Often the children would catch the female spiders as mates for the male, thus enabling him to fight better after having mated, so that was what we thought. Kennynair, we found that this did not work for all males, some males after mating become weaker, and when they face another male spider they become "puchat" and show their tails.