# More Malaysian stuff



## yakman (Sep 2, 2008)

Would like to share some more images of our recent stay in Malaysia. My wife and I spent eight months in total in Asia, including two months on Borneo. The tropical climate makes it a haven for wildlife, especially insects and arachnids. Although our main aim was to find reptiles and amphibians it was impossible not to be amazed by the countless smaller creatures we came across. 
The main areas visited included the island of Penang, Melaka and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah, Borneo. Side trips included Angkor Wat in Cambodia and Koh Samui in Thailand.
I hope you enjoy the pictures.


1. Spider on houseplant.(Cambodia)






2. Common spider around the forest in Penang.






3. Extremely well camoflauged spider on side of water trough.
The only time you noticed these was when they ran.






4. This was probably the most spectacular insect we encountered.
I'm not sure if its a grasshopper, cricket or katydid relative. Mainly
lime green in colour, its underside was pale blue and when it took
to the air its inner wings were scarlet. The antennae were about 8 inches
long. Just fabulous. (Penang)






5. Small metallic beetle (Penang)






6. Red eyed stick insect (Penang Hill)






7. Couldn't leave out these chaps. Brown leech after feeding.
I can reveal there is absolutely no pain in a leech bite. But it is
a bit worrying to find blood seeping through your clothes.(Pangkor)






8. Tiger leech on the prowl (Kinabatangan river, Sabah)






9. Geometrid Moth (Permai, Sabah)






10. Hawkmoth (Penang)






11. Butterfly (Penang)






12. Flying lemur/colugo. We found these to be quite numerous
in Langkawi. They come gliding out of the darkness like minature
kites. (Langkawi)






13. Asian soft shelled turtle (Permai, Sabah)






14. Big Asian water monitor climbing out of an ornamental
pond in the botanical gardens, Penang. These scavengers are
common everywhere. The big ones are still very impressive lizards.






15. One of our favourite encounters was this Equatorial Spitting
Cobra. It was trapped in a storm drain, after taking too many
photos we eased it onto a stick and moved it to a copse of
trees nearby. It was very well behaved, never struck or spat. (Melaka)






16. Juvenille Waglers Pit Viper (Penang)






17. I think this is called a hammerhead worm. (Penang)






A couple of primates to end up with.

18. Long tailed Macaque. Commonest Malaysian monkey (Penang)






19. Dusky Langur. (Penang)






20. Male Proboscis monkey. (Kinabatangan River, Sabah)






21, Young Orang utans hurrying to the feeding platform at
Sepilok Reserve. (Sabah)






22. Couldn't resist this one. Baby Orang photographed in
nursery at Orang project near Taiping.


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## crpy (Sep 2, 2008)

17 is a turbellarian, they are really cool, they eat decaying matter and reproduce through transverse fission. They can split them selves if they want. I have Bipalium kewse, found around my place, but nowhere near as pretty as #17


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## yakman (Sep 3, 2008)

Hi Crpy, Thanks for the ID.

Ive had a search on those details and it maybe this is Diversibipalium rauchi. Which apparently are found in the right part of Asia. Dont know if you have any thoughts on that? There doesn't seem to be much info on them anywhere.


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## crpy (Sep 3, 2008)

yakman said:


> Hi Crpy, Thanks for the ID.
> 
> Ive had a search on those details and it maybe this is Diversibipalium rauchi. Which apparently are found in the right part of Asia. Dont know if you have any thoughts on that? There doesn't seem to be much info on them anywhere.


I dont think rauchi, heres what they are calling rauchi,
http://budak.blogs.com/the_annotated_budak/2007/08/snails-pace.html

And another one that looks like a Bipalium to me.  Anyway wish I had the money to go on a Asian field trip,
great pics..

http://www.tropicaldesigns.com/ta.htm


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## lukatsi (Sep 17, 2008)

Hello,

Number 5 is not a beetle but a true bug (Hemiptera), family Scutelleridae perhaps. The hawkmoth could be Daphnis nerii?
I like those flatworms, didn't know there are such colorful ones!

Mark


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## Galapoheros (Sep 29, 2008)

Yeah the flatworm is cool, doesn't look very big but nice colors.  I see some in S tx that get around 10" long, brown with a couple of black stripes.  Been a long time since I've seen one.  4 is a neat looking Katydid.  Are you from the US?  If so, do they recommend getting any shots before you go to Malaysia?


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## yakman (Oct 20, 2008)

The flatworm was only a couple of inches in length. I'll post a picture to show scale.
I'm not from the US so I dont know what health requirements are suggested by your medical services. When visiting Malaysia from UK we just made sure all our travel vaccinations were still current (Tetanus, Hep., etc). We checked on the Malaria situation on line and decided to wait until in Malaysia. It seems the drug companies will do anything to sell you their product, even misinformation. Malaria was not widespread, in fact it was very rare. We found a great lady chemist in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo who gave excellent advice. To buy Malaria tablets in Borneo it was a fraction of the cost. We took malaria tablets when travelling in the Kinabatangan area. No problems otherwise.


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## BCscorp (Oct 20, 2008)

wow that hawkmoth is absolutely amazing! nice pics!


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## ahas (Oct 20, 2008)

wicked wicked looking animals.  Love them insects.   

Fred


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