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Friday, July 17, 2015

Fauna of Khao Yai National Park

Khai Yai National Park is about two hours' drive from Bangkok. The main reason we went there, of course, was to look for my favorite lanternflies (Fulgoridae), especially the Pyrops. We managed to find five different species of them during our 5D/4N stay in the national park.

I will be hosting more macro workshops in locations in Thailand and also Borneo in the near future. Limited seats only with a maximum of 6 participants per workshop. Details will be announced in this blog once it is finalized.

Fulgoridae:

Pyrops candelaria
lanternfly Pyrops candelaria IMG_6571 copy
We managed to find only one individual of this species but luckily, we still managed to get decent shots of it.

How many bugs do you see in this image? Name all of them. Answers at the bottom of this image.
lanternfly Pyrops ducalis IMG_6538 copy
Answers: Fulgoridae - Pyrops ducalis, Alydidae - Riptortus pedestris and a masked assassin (Reduviidae - Reduvius sp.?)

Pyrops ducalis
Pyrops ducalis IMG_6551 copy
Again, we found only one individual of this species but it was there all the time.

More Pyrops ducalis
Pyrops ducalis _MG_0872 copy
We walked 7km with our backpack and tripod just to find this beauty but it was all worth it!

Saiva gemmata
lanternfly Saiva gemmata IMG_6534 copy
We did find many many Saiva gemmata though.

Trophobiosis between gecko (Hemidactylus platyurus and lanternfly (Fulgoridae), - Saiva gemmata. Thailand
Trophobiosis Saiva gemmata IMG_6513 copy

More Saiva gemmata
lanternfly Saiva gemmata_MG_0564 copy

Aphaena submaculata
Aphaena submaculata _MG_0848 copy
Only one individual spotted.

Aphaena submaculata
Aphaena submaculata IMG_6500 copy

Aphaena cf. discolor
Aphaena cf. discolor IMG_6456 copy

Aphaena cf. discolor
IMG_6481 copy
We found a total of three individuals at two different spots.

Check out this link for many more species of lanternflies!

Other invertebrates:

Siamese Rhinoceros Beetle (Xylotrupes gideon?)
<i>Xylotrupes gideon </i>IMG_6563 copy

<i>Xylotrupes gideon</i>_MG_0912 copy

Unidentified longhorn beetle
cerambycidae IMG_6541 copy

Fungus beetle attracted to the light at night
_MG_0921 copy

Firefly beetle, Lamprigera sp.?
_MG_0900 copy

Stag beetle, also attracted to the light at night
Lucanidae_MG_0901 copy

Ground beetle, Carabidae on the wall of our chalet
carabidae_MG_0705 copy

Mating pair of weevils
mating weevils _MG_0528 copy

Robber fly (Asilidae - Ommatius sp.?) with shield bug prey.
IMG_6544 copy

Huntsman spider with roach prey
huntsman spider with roach prey_MG_0891 copy

Good looking jungle roach (Blattodea)
jungle roach blattodea_MG_0889 copy

Myrmicaria sp. ants enjoying honey dew excretes from a planthopper (Delphacid or Cixiid)
ants and planthopper_MG_0579 copy

Deer fly (Tabanidae) attracted to the light at night
deer fly Tabanida_MG_0572 copy

Platyja sp. (Erebinae). One of the hundreds of moths attracted to the light but I only picked the more interesting ones to photograph. Platyja sp. Erebinae
_MG_0681 copy">
Weaver ants vs beetle grub
_MG_0518 copy

Cool wasp with long ovipositor, Stephanidae?
Stephanidae_MG_0515 copy

Stephanidae
Stephanidae wasp_MG_0505 copy

A female scorpionfly
scorpionfly _MG_0484 copy

Shield bug
shield bug IMG_6473 copy

Herps (snakes, frogs, lizards)

Snakes

An adult female Vogel's Pit Viper (Trimeresurus vogeli). Found her the first night we were there.
Trimeresurus vogeli_MG_0582 copy

Up close with the Vogel's Pit Viper (Trimeresurus vogeli). Female
<i>Trimeresurus vogeli</i>_MG_0585 copy

We also found many hatchlings of this species the following nights. This one was on a broken branch just a few inches from the ground! A young male Vogel's Pit Viper, I think.
Trimeresurus vogeli_MG_0811 copy

Trimeresurus vogeli. Male
_MG_0840 copy

Trimeresurus vogeli. Male
<i>Trimeresurus vogeli</i>_MG_0745 copy

Trimeresurus vogeli. Male
<i>Trimeresurus vogeli</i>_MG_0842 copy

Trimeresurus vogeli. Female
_MG_0712 copy

Trimeresurus vogeli. Female
_MG_0756 copy

Trimeresurus vogeli. Female

<i>Trimeresurus vogeli</i>_MG_0719 copy
All the hatchlings / juveniles were found near the chalet we stayed in!

Banded Krait (Bungarus fasciatus). This one too, was found near our chalet!
banded krait, Bungarus fasciatus_MG_0767 copy

_MG_0761 copy

Only two species of snakes photographed. Also spotted a Ptyas sp. (rat snake) but no photo of it.

Check out this link for many more species of tropical snakes of Malaysia.

Lizards

Female Calotes emma
female Calotes emma IMG_6508 copy

Male Calotes emma
<i>Calotes emma </i>IMG_6503 copy

Skink, Sphenomorphus maculatus
<i>Sphenomorphus maculatus </i>IMG_6463 copy

Sphenomorphus maculatus
<i>Sphenomorphus maculatus </i>IMG_6468 copy

Cardamom Mountain Horned Agamid (Acanthosaura cardamomensis)Acanthosaura cardamomensis 2015-06-21 08 copy

Hemidactylus platyurus
_MG_0497 copy

Hemidactylus platyurus
_MG_0494 copy

Beautiful tree trunk :D.
Ptychozoon lionotum_MG_0641 copy
It's a Ptychozoon lionotum!

I actually spotted it trying to cross a main road in the park. So I rescued it and took a few pics of it before releasing it.
<i>Ptychozoon lionotum</i>_MG_0636 copy

Ptychozoon lionotum
<i>Ptychozoon lionotum</i>_MG_0635 copy

Ptychozoon lionotum
<i>Ptychozoon lionotum</i>_MG_0634 copy

Ptychozoon lionotum
<i>Ptychozoon lionotum</i>_MG_0630 copy

There were many Tokay Geckos right at the chalet itself! This one was in a slough though i.e. about to molt.
_MG_0608 copy

Vibrant colors on this one :). Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko).
Tokay Gecko - Gekko gecko_MG_0940 copy

Cool eyes and colors <3 .="" gecko="" i="" tokay="">Gekko gecko
).Tokay Gecko - Gekko gecko_MG_0944 copy

Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko).
Tokay Gecko - Gekko gecko_MG_0947 copy

Check out this link for more tropical lizards of Malaysia.

Frogs

This one was the residential frog at the chalet. Polypedates sp.? P. leucomystax?
_MG_0663 copy

_MG_0668 copy

Tiny froglet. Hylarana mortenseni?
<i>Hylarana mortenseni</i>_MG_0578 copy

Hylarana mortenseni?
<i>Hylarana mortenseni?</i>_MG_0575 copy

Hylarana mortenseni?
<i>Hylarana mortenseni?_</i>MG_0772 copy

Hylarana mortenseni?
<i>Hylarana mortenseni?</i>_MG_0775 copy

Check out this link for more tropical frogs of Malaysia.

Mammals

We were delighted to have come across two porcupines at night.Malayan porcupine (Hystrix brachyura)?, munching on coconut flesh. We weren't able to get close enough. Image heavily cropped.
Malayan porcupine (<i>Hystrix brachyura</i>_MG_0770 copy

Malayan porcupine (<i>Hystrix brachyura</i>_MG_0776 copy

Sambar deer (Rusa unicolor). Many of them and they were quite friendly
_MG_0489 copy

_MG_0491 copy

And a male sambar deer
male sambar deer, Rusa unicolor_MG_0794

Tree-huggers :D busy photographing insects!
_MG_0554 copy

Everyone wanted to have a profile picture taken together with this Pyrops ducalis
_MG_0861

_MG_0644

Group photo. All group photos are courtesy of Jenn Wei. Check out his blog entry about this trip here.
Khao Yai National Park 07 heejennwei v2

Khao Yai National Park 10 heejennwei v2

Khao Yai National Park 17 heejennwei v2

Group photo with Andy Merk, an elephant expert from German. Check out his webpage on the wildlife of Khao Yai here.
Khao Yai National Park 27 heejennwei v2


   
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