Insect Survey @ Kranji Nature Trail

Insects? You mean mosquitoes? Cockroaches? Ants?
My relationship with my house's insects is simple. It is basically a three step approach: See - Smack - Wipe clean. Occasionally, I'll murmur a "sorry".

Although this is the general approach in my house, there are some insects that my husband and I show more respect to. We call them "The Friends of David & Weiqi". These important house guests include moths and beetles. We would usually spend some time admiring them, and then coax them to leave the house. On the event they refuse to leave, we are more then happy to make space for them till they leave on their own accord. Sometimes, we will take photographs, in rememberance, of them as well.

Perhaps it is because of this subtle respect that I have for some insects, that I readily volunteer to help in the insect survey @ Kranji Nature Trail. It is a year long project to collect data on the different types of insects found along Kranji Nature Trail.

It was an exponential learning curve for me during my first session today! From vaguely remembering that an insect consist of three body parts, I was eventually able to catch, identify and archive insects at the end of the session. I had the opportunity to work along with a great team consisting of Eddie, Teck Chye, Robert, Joanne, and myself. As amatuers in insect study, we spent a lot of time catching the insects and putting them into bottles. We also had difficulty pinning the more tiny insects. Nevertheless, we managed to successfully archive 23 different insects for the day.

With a keen eye and patience, I realised that there are many interesting and colourful insects to see in the natural environment. I believe I must have walked past many interesting things too quickly. Often, I am on the look out for birds, monitor lizards, and at most cotton stainers and spiders. Although I know that there must be a lot of insects around, hiding among the bushes, or underneath the leaves, I was still rather surprised by the variety of insects that we caught within a very very very small area!!!

Insects are one the smallest animals around, but their diversity is definitely the largest! In Singapore, many of these species of insects have extinct, and many more have been undiscovered. Alfred Russel Wallace had once discover over 700 different species of beetle "in one patch of jungle not more than a square mile in extent" (see: http://www.sochaczewski.com/ARTbeetles-geographical.htm). I cannot imagine the many more beautiful insects that will become extinct without being ever discovered!

After this experience, I will definitely treat insects with more respect. Although I will not be too quick to remove my ant traps, I promise that I will rethink my home strategy in dealing with our tiny guests. =)