Up Close with Nature: Borneo Herping Trip

Borneo Herping Trip - Part II - Lupa Masa Rainforest Camp, Poring

After 3 nights at the highland part of Sabah, we moved on to Lupa Masa Rainforest Camp - a lowland forest in Poring, for another 3 nights. First, a little bit about Lupa Masa Camp. Lupa Masa Rainforest Camp is located on the borders of Mt Kinabalu National Park, in primary Borneo jungle. If offers an authentic jungle experience with accommodation in open air bamboo huts, hydro-electricity and basic facilities. All meals are vegetarian and included in the rates. Facebook page here. Official website here.

Again, luck was not on our side. It was extremely dry in Poring too. In fact the creeks and brooks were drying up and on our final day there, the taps (which draw water from the brooks and creeks) finally ran out of water! Anyway, enough excuses so let's get to the photos!

Check out Part I of the herping trip here.

Snakes

Cute little juvenile Black-headed Cat Snake (Boiga nigriceps)

Blunt-headed Slug Snake (Aplopeltura boa).

Blunt-headed Slug Snake (Aplopeltura boa).

Up close with a hatchling of Bornean Keeled Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus subannulatus)

Bornean Keeled Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus subannulatus)

Bornean Keeled Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus subannulatus)

Bornean Keeled Pit Viper (Tropidolaemus subannulatus)

Cuteness overload! White-fronted Water Snake (Hebius flavifrons / Amphiesma flavifrons).

Palm-sized cutie!!! White-fronted Water Snake (Hebius flavifrons / Amphiesma flavifrons).

White-fronted Water Snake (Hebius flavifrons / Amphiesma flavifrons).

White-fronted Water Snake (Hebius flavifrons / Amphiesma flavifrons).

Ventral view of this White-fronted Water Snake (Hebius flavifrons / Amphiesma flavifrons).

We also found an Elegant Bronzeback (Dendrelaphis formosus) which I didn't photograph, and a Striped Kukri Snake (Oligodon octolineatus), which got away while I was trying to make sure it wasn't a Striped Coral Snake (Calliophis intestinalis)!

Frogs

Painted Slender Litter Frog (Leptolalax pictus).

Lowland Litter Frog (Leptobrachium abbotti).

Northern Torrent Frog (Meristogenys orphnocnemis).

Northern Torrent Frog (Meristogenys orphnocnemis).

Juvenile Northern Torrent Frog (Meristogenys orphnocnemis). ?

Northern Torrent Frog (Meristogenys orphnocnemis).

Northern Torrent Frog (Meristogenys orphnocnemis).

Northern Torrent Frog (Meristogenys orphnocnemis). A really big one!

Lesser Rock Skipper (Staurois parvus).

Lesser Rock Skipper (Staurois parvus).

Lesser Rock Skipper (Staurois parvus).

Black-spotted Skipper (Staurois guttatus).

Black-spotted Skipper (Staurois guttatus).

Now you see me, now you don't! The hing legs of a Black-spotted Skipper (Staurois guttatus).

Juvenile Short-nosed Tree Frog (Rhacophorus gauni)

Juvenile Short-nosed Tree Frog (Rhacophorus gauni)

Juvenile Short-nosed Tree Frog (Rhacophorus gauni)

Borneo Narrow-mouthed Frog (Microhyla malang)

Borneo Narrow-mouthed Frog (Microhyla malang)

White-spotted Tree Frog (Theloderma pictum / Nyctixalus pictus).

White-spotted Tree Frog (Theloderma pictum / Nyctixalus pictus).

Kuhl's Creek Frog (Limnonectes kuhlii)

Kuhl's Creek Frog (Limnonectes kuhlii)

File-eared Tree Frog (Polypedates otilophus)

File-eared Tree Frog (Polypedates otilophus)

File-eared Tree Frog (Polypedates otilophus)

Rough Guardian Frog (Limnonectes finchi).

Rough Guardian Frog (Limnonectes finchi).

Rock Skippers (Staurois latopalmatus

Rock Skippers (Staurois latopalmatus

Four-lined Tree Frog (Polypedates leucomystax) in amplexus

Four-lined Tree Frog (Polypedates leucomystax)

Lizards

Beautiful Cat Gecko (Aeluroscalabotes felinus). It looks quite different from those I photographed in Peninsula Malaysia.

Cat Gecko (Aeluroscalabotes felinus)

Cat Gecko (Aeluroscalabotes felinus)

Cat Gecko (Aeluroscalabotes felinus)

Tropidophorus beccarii - ID credit: Dr. Lee Grismer

Tropidophorus beccarii - ID credit: Dr. Lee Grismer

There were Gonocephalus grandis and Draco sp. as well but I wasn't actively looking for them.

Others

A mating pair of lanternflies / lantern bugs, Pyrops whiteheadi.

Backlighting experiment on one of the not-so-cooperative residential lantern bug / lanternfly (Pyrops whiteheadi)

Harassing the residential lanternfly / lantern bug (Pyrops whiteheadi) during the day

Fulgoridae, Dichoptera sp.

Lanternfly / lantern bug, Pyrops sultanus. We even saw one while on hiking into Lupa Masa!

Lanternfly / lantern bug, Pyrops sultanus.

Female David Bowie Huntsman Spider (Heteropoda davidbowie) with eggsac.

Female huntsman spider (Heteropoda sp.) with eggsac..

Female huntsman spider (Heteropoda sp.) with eggsac..

Huntsman Spider (Sparassidae)

Huntsman Spider (Sparassidae)

Crab Spider (Thomisidae). Phrynarachne sp.

Crab Spider (Thomisidae). Phrynarachne sp.

Cupha sp. butterfly pupa

Mating pair of white Plume Moth

Far from colorful, but still very beautiful and elegant. Geometrid Moth (Naxa sp., Orthostixinae, Geometridae - ID credit: John Horstman).

Record shot of a beautiful butterfly - Taenaris horsfieldii - ID credit: Lc Goh.

Female Jungle cockroach, Catara minor

Jungle cockroach, Blattodea

Metallic Pill Cockroach.

Orange colored roach (Blattodea).

Cool looking male cockroach, Catara rugosicollis.

Newly emerged cicada.

Emerging cicada

Froghopper, Cercopidae

Froghopper, Cercopidae

Assassin bug (Reduviidae)

Thread-legged Assassin Bug (Reduviidae)

Stick Insect (Phasmid)

Stick Insect (Phasmid)

Spiny stick insect (Phasmid)

Spiky Stick Insect (Phasmid)

Spiky Stick Insect (Phasmid)

Rodent! Polynesian rat / Pacific rat? (Rattus pacificus or Rattus exulans)?

Rodent! Polynesian rat / Pacific rat? (Rattus pacificus or Rattus exulans)?

Giant terrestrial snail, Bertia brookei

Two Male Giant Dead-leaf Mantis (Deroplatys desiccata) found near one another.

Two Male Giant Dead-leaf Mantis (Deroplatys desiccata) found near one another.

A really gravid, big female Giant Dead-leaf Mantis (Deroplatys desiccata)

A really gravid, big female Giant Dead-leaf Mantis (Deroplatys desiccata)