GARDEN SNAILS

These are photos of garden snails that my colleague sent me recently. They were taken from the web and I find these photos amazingly beautiful.

CLOUD FOREST - SECRET GARDEN

This was the last part of the visit.

The 3D-model projector presentation on the sustainable development of the gardens and conservatories and the +5 degrees are a must see part of the Cloud Forest before entering the Secret Garden where visitors get to see giant small sculptures and plants such as the Episcia and Kohleria cultivars before reaching the exit.

CLOUD FOREST PART 1

With the recent opening of the Gardens by the Bay's Bay South gardens to the public on 29 Jun 12, the secret is finally out.


This is one of my few visits to the Cloud Forest conservatory and I am sure there are lots of photos of the conservatory on the internet. I will let my photos speak for itself. Greeting visitors at the entrance is the highest man-made waterfall in Singapore. Some of these plants are truly amazing and I love the beads of water droplets collecting on the leaves of the conifers right after the misting. The Rhododendrons are also spectacular and look almost like fake plants.

The giant snail sculpture and totem pole add a mysterious allure to the tropical montane forest look.

TRADESCANTIA & SNAILS

Recently, these 2-3 cm snails were munching away the leaves of these variegated Tradescantia spathacea 'Hawaiian Dwarf'. Hmm, this is new to me.

GARDEN SNAIL

This is another common garden snail that I actually love. I found it crawling in my planter of Fittonia, so I had to transfer it somewhere so that my Fittonia plants are well protected from them. However, it was quite disconcerting to see the transparent shell and this strand of transparent worm-like thing moving on the shell. I have absolutely no idea whether it is part of the creature or not though. 

FIREFLY

I learnt some interesting facts about fireflies in Singapore:

• there are more than 10 species and they can be found in several habitats, such as mangroves, secondary forests etc
• of this, there are at least 5 new species not recorded
• more than 1 species can occur in a single habitat
• usually they are higher in diversity but low in numbers or higher in numbers but low in diversity in these habitats
• the fireflies here do not blink in synchrony or unison unlike those found elsewhere
• the males have 2 lanterns while the female have only 1 lantern on their underside of the abdomen nearer the tail end
• their life cycle is up to about 6 months (longer than butterflies!) and they go through the same stages as butterflies e.g. eggs, larvae, pupae, adults, and the adult stage is only about a month or two
• the carnivorous larvae feeds on snails whilst the adults feed on plant nectar and pollen
• the larvae are found more inlands in pools of water whereas the adults are found nearer the coast
• the light emission serves as a warning against predators not to feed on them because they are distasteful or contain toxins but it is also evolved for mating purposes

This is a huge lesson and I have a profound respect for such small creatures. Links on fireflies are shown below:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Firefly
2. http://www.firefly.org/firefly-habitat.html

GARDEN SNAIL

There was a common garden snail hidden in the tree trunk. From the Phyllum Mollusca, Class Gastropoda, which includes members such as slugs, octopus and squids etc, snails are a group of slowly moving or crawling invertebrates (without a background) with a calcareous shell and a slimy body that secretes a mucous like substance.

They are often unpalatable and distasteful and thus have few natural enemies or predators. Their most famous member on cuisines is the escargot, which is a dish of cooked land snails.

Links on snails are attached below for reference:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollusca
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snail
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Escargot