moggie's world: May 2007

a firefly larva. at night, it emits a beautiful soft green light...

when alarmed or disturbed, it curls up to protect itself.

a pair of damselflys (prodasineura laidlawii)

in the process of creating a new generation...

i love the brilliant green color of this katydid, i guess the fish do too.

the Semai sometimes use it as bait...

jungle roach

treehopper

another tiny little treehopper. never really appreciated it's true beauty until i saw it thru' a macro lens.

The Semai of Ulu Geroh

An elderly Semai who just smiles and nods at me every time i come here, walked up to me for the first time and politely asks, "Why do you love coming here where there's nothing but jungle all around?". I told him, i guess it's not often i find a place where the people are always smiling....

....and constantly making me laugh. He just chuckled and nodded, patted me on the shoulder and went on his way...

back from Sunday service....

Ngah using a sumpit (blowpipe).

The Semai still hunt using blowpipes till today. They hunt only what they need for their own consumption. They take great care in protecting their forest and it's inhibitants. Here, food is never wasted.

(male Heteropteryx dilatata nymph)

Phasmids!

Generally, insects that eat leaves and resemble sticks or leaves are called phasmids. Malaysia is the home to many of these fascinating insects. When in their natural habitat, it's almost impossible to spot one of these guys at a glance. When alarmed or disturbed, i find that they often sway, imitating a dead leaf or stick moving in the breeze. One has to be extremely patient looking for phasmids. I often find myself staring directly at one for long periods of time before realising it's right there in front of me! (much to the delight of my asli friends). With help and training from my good 'orang asli' (indigenous) friend, Ngah Teroq, i am definitely getting better at spotting them in the jungle, even at night.

Unfortunately alarming numbers of these beautiful creatures are harvested and supplied to local agents every year who sell them to souvenir outlets. Live specimens and eggs are also despatched to foreign countries. I hope that we can protect these species before it's too late.

A pair of mating phobaeticus serratipes.

A mating pair (different variety). The females are much larger than the males.

...as you can see, she's really quite large.

lonchodes brevipes (male).

a close up shot of an adult female's head.

Mogg-mobile passes the Ulu Geroh test!

....more moths and butterflies of Ulu Geroh.

rajah brooke birdwing (trogonoptera brookiana)

Pauline's Jimbo & Ngan Mui

I really don't see why we shouldn't mix and play,

'Fight like Cats and Dogs', is that what humans say?,

WE get along fine, YOU should try it some day,

Quit all your fighting and killing.......do it soon, i pray.

To us 'race' is a fun run, 'colors' is pretty,

Who cares if you come from a kampung, town or the city,

Don't matter if you're handsome, pretty, silly or witty,

Isn't it all about living in harmony?

** Ngan Mui is a rescued juvenile civet cat. Favourite past time is jumping on Jimbo's back for a 'doggy-back' ride. Jimbo doesn't mind at all.

King Cobra (juvenile)

(ophiophagus hannah)

Went to Cameron Highlands this weekend to assist my R.E.A.C.H (www.reach.org.my) friends with a new project. Managed to do a bit of shooting during the free time.

My timing couldn't have been better. This juvenile king cobra was discovered by Agent Bitten and his staff. It's an amazing discovery as this snake has never been seen in these parts before! What a thrill and honour it was to be able to look this handsome creature in the eye (literally!,...was shooting thru' a macro lens, sometimes just inches away from this beauty.)

When this little fellow (just under 2 feet long) fully matures, he may grow up to be 18 feet long! This gives him the title of the world's largest venomous snake. It's neurotoxin venom is capable of killing an adult human. The scary part is a juvi cannot control the amount of venom it injects into it's victim, which makes it even more lethal.

A fully grown king cobra has the ability to lift approximately a third of it's body off the ground when threatened, therefore be able to look a standing human directly in the eye! Humans have nothing to worry about though. King Cobra's are generally shy and reclusive, avoiding contact with people as much as possible. It feeds almost exclusively on other snakes, thus it's genus name, "ophiophagus". which is Greek for "snake-eater".

this shot was taken by Miss.M. You were supposed to shoot the snake....not Me! : )

later, buddy!

** (Note: This beautiful creature was not harmed or stressed in any way during the entire shoot and was released exactly where it was found minutes after. Please Do Not attempt to handle any kind of snake anywhere.)

this one's for tanya. light painting dr.liau's tree's at 2.30am. it was a beautiful night with thousands of stars out. (thanks for keeping me warm, tabi.)