Insects and creatures of Lipat Kajang.

A dragon fly (not of Lipat Kajang but can be found in Lipat Kajang if one looks diligently among the grass of the padi fields)

The first thing you will notice as you walk (walking or getting out of your vehicle) into Lipat Kajang are the mosquitoes. There is plenty of them. And if you were to walk in the rubber land you will find that there are hundreds of them following you and trying to such your blood.

And the next thing you will notice are the flies, of all shapes and sizes. Where do they come from? I don’t really know. Dirty environment? Probably. Or that these flies are just there. Some just follow you around just to bother you and others come when you are opening your food and trying to eat. Blue bottles . well there are a few but they hardly disturb you. But the worse are the ‘rengit (a sort of sand flies). They bite you and the bites are very itchy. And in the hot humid climate, you are really bothered.

But other insects are beautiful creatures, such as dragon flies. These dragon flies are found where there is water. Their breeding grounds I am told. They are of various varieties and they fly about in the morning and early afternoon but as soon as the sun inclines towards the west they will mostly rest on twigs, and very much aware of their surroundings …..when you get too near to them they just fly away. The other are butterflies. There are also a variety of them flying around especially when there are flowers and fruits around or when there are trees bearing young leaves. They are beautiful creatures. But there are also many of them on cow dungs and in places where dirty water collects.

When I was younger we used to see a lot of praying mantis especially during the padi harvesting season. Now that the kampong folks do not plant padi anymore you hardly see them.

Ants, there are plenty of them. Normally harmless ants, ants in troops and in bulky line moving from one spot to another. Ants of all sizes. But he worst ants are the ‘kerengga’ whose nest is a colony, especially on fruit trees, and when you try to get to the fruits they will attack you ……. quite painful bites, as they bite and spray a sort of acid on your wound. And they do not attack in ones but in as many as they can gather themselves, and they are very aggressive.

Other insects are not so prominent but if you care to watch you may see strange insects flying around or even resting.

Creatures in the kampong are not that frightening except when for the first time you see them There is the harmless millipede of all sizes, and I have seen millipede of a child's arm size but most of them are pretty small , probably about 2 or 3 cm in diameter and about 3 inches in length. You touch this millipede and it will roll into a tyre shaped being, protecting themselves I suppose.

The dangerous creatures are scorpions and centipede. Scorpions are mostly black in colour and may be 4 inches long with 2 pincers infront and a stingy raised up tails. They bite when disturbed and the sting can be fatal. The other dangerous creatures are the centipede. The redder they are in colour the more dangerous they are. Flat shaped and they come in different sizes, depending on their length or vice-versa. I have seen centipede as long as about 9 inches but small one may be just 3 inches long. They attack when they get in squeezy situations. And they have poisionous teeth which bite and they inject a sort of poision (most likely) and the poison may paralyse the victim and may even lead to death (which I have not heard of to date).

The other creatures are leeches, they are a nusiance really, especially the samaller ones. They are mostly found on damp ground, rearing their heads expecting to stick to victims to suck blood from. But the worse leeches are the big ones found in swampy areas such as in the padi fields. They move about, swimming in the water looking for victims. They can be as long as 6 inches in length (I am not lyng). When they get to you they quickly make puncture in your skin and suck you blood. When full they will still cling to you but easily removed (and killed). Buffaloes are their normal victims. In areas where there are plentiful of them you may find buffaloes bathing in such waters will have 2 or 3 of such leeches all blood full hanging to the underbelly of these buffaloes.

The creatures of Lipat Kajang are strange but not very dangerous, unless you carelessly handle them.



Lipat Kajang people (or decendents) are encouraged to participate& contribute (Orang Lipat Kajang, atau keturunan, di jemput memberi sumbangan idea)