Lorenzo Zanirato - Life and thoughts

A lifer, and a hard one. The small-toothed palm civet ( Arctogalidia trivirgata ), also called the three-striped palm civet, is one of Singapore’s most elusive mammals. That night with the usual suspects, we managed to see them engaging in mating rituals and attempts (see photo at the bottom) How to tell it apart The species name trivirgata means “three-striped”. It’s a smallish civet, with a head and body up to about 53 cm, a tail up to about 66 cm, and a weight up to about 2.5 kg. Wikipedia ecologyasia Where it lives It lives in primary and nearby secondary forest, and it’s nocturnal and almost entirely arboreal. In Singapore, it appears to be confined to the Central Nature Reserves. Elsewhere, it ranges from India’s Assam region through Indochina and the Malay Peninsula to Sumatra, Java and Borneo. Vertebrate fauna of +2 What it eats It’s omnivorous: fruits, figs, invertebrates and small vertebrates, including squirrels. Camera-trap records suggest it also preys on the Sund...

Wandering hammerhead worm #singapore #singaporewildlife #singaporefood #singapore #wildlife #naturephotography #natgeo #natgeoyourshot #herps #hammerhead #worm #invertebrates #igsg #nparks #biodiversity

Female and male ornamental tree-trunk spider (Herennia multipuncta) camouflaged on a tree trunk, Old Upper Thomson Road, Singapore Some spiders you find. This one you have to look for. On a day walk along Old Upper Thomson Road in Singapore, I found a couple (pun-intended) of  Herennia multipuncta , the ornamental tree-trunk spider. By day she is almost invisible, pressed flat against bark in the same mottled grey-brown. At night, her vertical web gives her away. How to spot her Look at tree trunks, not branches. Her web is built flat against the bark, and she waits just behind it. Use a torch at a low angle. Sweeping light across the trunk makes the web strands catch the light. Go after dark. Webs are far easier to see at night, and so is she, once you know the pattern.  Big female, tiny male This species is a textbook case of sexual dimorphism. The female is much larger than the male, and the two look quite different. The male is tiny.  Quick facts Scientifi...