Up Close with Nature

This has got to be the coolest gecko I have ever seen (and touched) in real life! I was scanning a tree trunk for any potential macro subject(s) when, from out of nowhere, this amazing Kuhl's Flying Gecko (Ptychozoon kuhli), landed onto the very same tree in front of me! Look at the cool patterns, shapes and colors on this gorgeous gecko! It was wagging its tail much like a puppy too at first.

Another lantern fly added to my collection. The species count now stands at 9. It is not exactly a new species for me since I had photographed a nymph of this lovely Zanna sp. back in Oct 3, 2009. Yes, it took me a little more than three years before I finally had the luck to come across an adult Zanna sp. lantern fly! I spent 4 hours and took like 300 images of this exotic beauty! All images

Semachrysa jade - a new species of lacewing I found in Selangor. Also my first time lucky with lacewing. Saw a couple of lacewings before but never managed any decent shots. I first saw and photographed this species in the wild in its natural habitat on May 10, 2011. A few lacewing experts came across images of this lacewing I posted in forums and Flickr and informed me that this could be a

At first glance, I thought it was a Camaricus maugi crab spider. Peeping through the viewfinder, I was surprised to discover that it was a jumping spider, one that looked almost like a Camaricus maugi crab spider. Coiicidence? Or is it mimicking the Camaricus maugi? And if so, why? Camaricus maugi crab spider. See the resemblance? My first time finding a Salticid like this, no ID yet.

Another type of giraffe weevils / leaf rolling weevils spotted. Very similar to the Cycnotrachelus sp. that I have often seen and photographed, but instead of on the Bridelia sp host plant, these were found of a different type of host plant, with relatively smaller leaves. No ID on the plant yet. Giraffe weevil, male, body length approximately 9mm including the neck, and 5.6mm excluding the neck

I was extremely excited when I found this spiny / spiky version of the more common Cycnotrachelus sp giraffe weevil / long necked beetle a couple of weeks ago. Edit: this spiny/spiky weaver has been IDed as Hoplapoderus hystrix (Fabricius, 1801). Thanks to Andrei from The leaf-rolling weevils (Coleoptera:  Rhynchitidae, Attelabidae) of the world fauna                              

I was in Langkawi as one of the four guest speakers for the Langkawi Birding & Fotofest (Nov 19 - 21). As soon as I arrived at the hotel at Datai Bay in the evening on the 18th, one of the friendly staff there showed me a colugo perching on a tree near the hotel porch. I had only the Tamron 17-50 with me though at that time. This was shot with the pop-up flash at high ISO. Not a good one but okay

Well, two, actually... The whole trip was really quite impromptu. I had contacted an agent a couple of days ago and they called me the following day to inform me about an upcoming trip. I immediately packed and drove down to Gopeng and spent a night there. It was gloomy as we started trekking up the forest hill. By the time we saw the Rafflesia, it was practically pouring! My lens got foggy and

Ladies and Gentlemen, we interrupt our usual postings of jumping spiders for this special capture - my first springtail. If you would like to find out more about springtail, check it out here on Wikipedia. I've shot springtail before but only when they came into the frame when i was shooting something else, like when shooting an ant. :D This one was 2mm long excluding the antennae. To be

Yes, another ant-mimic jumping spider. Another first for me. Not seen this red and black type of ant-mimic jumping spider before. Surely it's a mimicry of the Tetraponera rufonigra ant? That ant is also known as semut selangor, or MC Ant in Malaysia :D...yes..there are people who intentionally get themselves bitten by the ants just to get a medical certificate in order to get a day off work :D.

A female this time. What wonderful looking ant-mimic jumping spiders they are :) Gotta love them. A male one would look like this. Look at those chelicerae LOL. All images shot with a Canon 40D, Canon MPE65 1X-5X macro lens and Canon MT24EX Twin Flash with DIY Diffuser.

Yes, the ant-mimic crab spiders again. Not one but two. Not only that - they were mating too! Lucky me. All images shot with a Canon 40D, Canon MPE65 1X-5X macro lens and Canon MT24EX Twin Flash with DIY Diffuser. If you would like to see more spiders, check these out: 1. Red and black ant-mimic jumping spider 2. More ant-mimic spiders 3. Wonderful jumping spiders 4. Ant-mimic crab