Chlorocyphidae - Sundacypha petiolata

Chlorocyphidae - Sundacypha petiolata (Selys, 1859)

Sundacypha petiolata is a beautiful damselfly species. I have yet bumped into it in Peninsular Malaysia, but I encountered it in remote forest of Sarawak. Sundacypha petiolata is listed in the Odonata checklist of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. I think it is quite uncommon in Peninsular Malaysia. Sundacypha petiolata likes shady slow flow streamlets. The yellow thorax, red abdomen and dark hindwing tips are characteristics of S. petiolata. I captured a few shots of S. petiolata from Sarawak (see below images).

Libellulidae - Tholymis tillarga

Libellulidae - Tholymis tillarga (Fabricius, 1798)

One day late afternoon around 4pm many years ago (I just started to learn dragonflies) I went down to an open pond to take some pictures of dragonflies. I saw a medium size red dragonfly flying to and fro the bank of the pond. It was so active, and there was no indication it would stop and perch on twigs. Even though it flied continuously, I did notice that there were two whitish things on its wings. Immediately, I knew that this red dragonfly was definitely different from the common red dragonfly species I had come across so far. Yes, it was Tholymis tillarga. Tholymis tillarga is known to be active a few hours before dusk. During midday, however, it will hang itself vertically and inactively under the leaf at shady habitats. This is the best time to take some good shots of this guy.

Coenagrionidae - Mortonagrion aborense

Coenagrionidae - Mortonagrion aborense (Laidlaw, 1914)

Mortonagrion aborense is one of the three Mortonagrion species recorded for the Peninsular Malaysia, and it is the most common one among the three. The size of M. aborense is small (hw 15 mm). It is normally found at shady ponds or shady slow flowing streamlets. The blue marking on the tail (abdominal segment 10) is variable. Some individuals have a spot of blue marking on the abdominal segment 10, but the individuals of M. aborense (see photos below) found in Bangi Forest Reserve have blue marking on the entire abdominal segment 10.

a male M. aborense perching on a leaf
a tandem pair of M. aborense with the female ovipositing
a tendam pair of M. aborense; top is male and bottom is female

Agrionoptera sexlineata - Larval Emergence II

This entry is still on the larval emergence of Agionoptera sexlineata. I am fascinated by the stage when the whole body of the emerging adult being pulled out from the larval casing. The whole act of pulling out the whole body from the casing takes less than 30 seconds.

The emerging adult (female) is getting ready to pull out the last part of its body from the casing. At this stage, the head of the emerging adult is still upside down.
The emerging adult is bending over its body to cling the legs on the head part of the casing. The act of bending body is so quick, and it only allows my camera to take one shot.
The emerging adult has its whole body just out from the casing. It will take 2-3 minutes break before continuing the next stage of emergence - the expending of wings.

Larval Emergence - Lathrecista asiatica

The larvae of Lathrecista asiatica and Agrionoptera sexlineata are quite similar in shape. I didn't pay much attention on the L. asiatica larva until it emerged. Just before the emergence, however, I did realize that the size of asiatica larva is slightly smaller than that of sexlineata. I shall look into the masks of this two species to find out if there is any difference.

a newly emerged female L. asiatica and its casing

Agrionoptera sexlineata - Matured Male

This entry is still on Agrionoptera sexlineata. I look a little bit obsess on this lovely insect. Now, I'm going to show you how the matured male A. sexlineata look like. Here you go.......

Agrionoptera sexlineata - Larval Emergence I

I finally managed to photograph a series of emergence of a male Agrionoptera sexlineata. The whole process of emergence took about 2 hours.

Hunter Hunted

I spotted two male adults of Tyriobapta torrida hunted by two large water spiders at the leafy shady pond in Bangi Forest Reserve. The hunters were hunted! Hey Mr. Spider, how is it? Yummy?

Habitat - Leafy Shady Pond

One of the unique habitat for Odonata in Bangi Forest Reserve is leafy swampy shady pond (see below pictures). I have seen flying adults of Copera vittata, Podolestes orientalis, Agrionoptera sexlineata, Tyriobapta torrida and Neurothemis fluctuans hanging around the pond. Many larvae of Gynacantha basiguttata, Agrionoptera sexlineata and Copera vittata also have been collected from the pond.

Libellulidae - Agrionoptera sexlineata

The newly emerged female Agrionoptera sexlineata is still surviving. I took a few snaps of it after one and a half days of its emergence. Now the colour of its thorax and abdomen is more intense. It is really a lovely libellulid species.