Friday, November 6, 2009

Vestalis amoena and Vestalis amethystina

There are two Vestalis species in Peninsular Malaysia - V. amoena and V. amethystina. These two species very much resemble to each other. The characteristic to differentiate them is on the structure of their anal appendages (tail). Both the Vestalis are found abundantly in Gunung Inas Forest Reserve, Kedah. I managed to snap a few shots of each of them. Of course, there is noway to tell them apart just from the photos. What I did was to catch them after shooting, and identify them on the spot using my hand lense.

Vestalis amoena

Vestalis amethystina