Dear friends, in the article, I like to share some pictures that I shot during a morning macro photography session at Windsor Nature Park. This park is Singapore’s 6th public park, which opened in 2017. There are currently more than 300 parks and 4 nature reserves.

Located off Venus Drive at the Upper Thomson area, Windsor Nature Park is a 75-hectare green buffer for the Central Catchment Nature Reserve. This venue is excellent for insects macros, like jumping spiders. With free parking, a clean washroom facility and a water cooler makes it a great place for hiking.

Location Map

Stilt Legged Flies

Stilt-legged flies (about 1cm) in a productive moment. Micropezidae (scientific name) is called stilt-legged flies, due to their characteristically long legs. Many species are known for their habit of standing motionless while waving their prominently marked front legs in front of their head, a behaviour that contributes to their mimicry of wasps.

Snail-killing Fly

A Snail-killing fly on the edge of a leaf. Sepedon aenescens (scientific name) is a species of marsh fly, with bluish-black metallic colouration and can grow up to about 8 mm in length. In some cases, some are called snail-killing flies due to the food of snail larvae.

Cedusa – Planthoppers

Cedusa (scientific name) is a genus of derbid planthoppers. There are more than 12,000 species of planthoppers that vary in traits such as colour, markings, geographic location and plant preferences. They are also called leafhoppers, treehoppers and torpedo bugs. Most do very little damage while others are quite destructive. The good news is that planthoppers are among the easiest to control.

Spiny Sugar Ant

The workers range in size from about 8.5 to 9 mm. The actual body colour is dull black but covered overall with very dense silvery pubescence, giving the ants a uniquely distinctive appearance of being made of pure silver or even stainless steel.

Flesh Fly

Sarcophagidae (scientific name) are a family of flies commonly known as flesh flies. They differ from most flies in that they are ovoviviparous, depositing hatched or hatching maggots instead of eggs, on carrion, dung, decaying material, or open wounds of mammals, hence their common name. The adults feed mostly on fluids from animal bodies, nectar, sweet foods, animal waste and other organic substances.

Helicarion perfragilis Snail

These are tree snails that inhabit the tree foliages. They do little if any, damage to plants. The shell is very fragile and breaks easily. Their shell is a rich source of calcium and food for wildlife. Photographing them can be challenging as they are constantly moving around.

Telamonia Jumping Spider

A jumping spider releasing a line of fresh web. Telamonia is a genus of jumping spiders that was first described by Tamerlan Thorell in 1887. They are colourful spiders, with patterns that vary considerably between sexes and species. Their carapace is often coloured with two stripes running along the slender abdomen.

Skipper Butterfly

A Potanthus, a large genus of skipper butterflies. Potanthus species are sun-loving diurnal flyers, commonly known as darts. About 1cm across, they are relatively still, making photographing them quite easy.

Indigo Dropwing Dragonfly

Dragonflies were some of the first winged insects to evolve, some 300 million years ago. They are expert fliers and can fly straight up and down, hover like a helicopter and even mate mid-air. If they can’t fly, they’ll starve because they only eat prey they catch while flying. They catch their insect prey by grabbing it with their feet and so efficiently in their hunting that, in one Harvard University study, the dragonflies caught 90 to 95% of the prey released into their enclosure.

Conclusion

Hope you like my write up on the macro at Windsor Nature Park. Do stay tuned for photo-centric destinations that I will post in future. Meantime, stay safe and sane. For more tips on macro photography, you might like to check here. Here is a short video on the wonders of macro photography from Canon Singapore for your viewing pleasure.
Photo data of pics used in this article: Camera – Canon EOS 5DMkIV, Lens – Canon EF100mm F2.8 USM. Flashlight – Canon 580EX (with self-made diffuser box).