These largish (1.5 inch long) bugs seem to be season. I found good numbers of them lounging on wayside shrubbery, pondering the fate of their little patch of secondary forest so close to the heart of the city that it's a wonder the land has not been optimised (I am told this particular plot of real estate is owned by post-Malaccan royalty and hence beyond the clutches of Knight Frank).
At first glance, I almost thought they were longhorn beetles (Chrysomeloidea), but that's a silly notion actually, since there is probably very little old growth in the area and won't be unless something nasty (like greatly feared ducky diseases) wipes out the local population of Homo sapiens to offer the earth a respite.
The bugs were hanging about on the branches and were non too sociable. I tried placing one in front of another and the latter decided to just let go and drop to the ground than face its brethren. As far as I can tell, these are bugs (Hemiptera) in the family Coreidae, which are commonly known as squash bugs after their fondness for certain host plants. Their thoradic shield boast two protrusions that may serve as camouflage or defense against predators and this species has a distinctive irregular flank stripe that is quite effective in deceiving casual eyes into seeing a split twig and white space rather than a slow-going sapsucker. Should illusion fail to defeat dickheaded ducks, stink glands on their legs present a more pungent deterrent by effectively destroying my duck's already slim chances of enjoying indecent company. Not that I get much of such pleasures actually, given the dodgy menagerie that twits at my duck these days....
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