Bug hunting in Singapore Polytechnic (SP) (19 Nov 2008)

This time, I turned my attention to my very own campus to find out just how well established are the bug populations in our ponds.

The first pond is a relatively long one (~ 20m) well stocked with Koi and other large fishes. It stretches along the boundary of the campus along Commonwealth Avenue West. This is a really cool idea as it acts as a fence without installing a fence. With Esther's help, we combed through the bed at a few spots for bugs with the now familiar net. Besides lots of floating green algae, the whole place is a desert devoid of bugs. Oh, did I mention that the bed is made of an artificial stone? This, plus few aquatic plants and the presence of swarms of hungry fishes probably account for the bug free environment.

We next checked out the pond at the Eco-garden. "Eco-garden" sounds like an nice place to find a balance ecology. This is a smaller pond with nice landscaped waterfalls. Apparently, the name can be deceptive. With feet stamping on the bed of big rocks and net vigorously sweeping through the water, nothing turned up. (Is this a surprise or what?) The only "bug" we found was a snail shell (sans the snail) attached to an underwater rock.

Overall, SP has been a disappointment in its bug population. I guess that is what comes from making everything artificial.