Orchithemis pulcherrima - Colour Forms

Among the many libellulid species in Peninsular Malaysia, Orchithemis pulcherrima may be one of those with the most number of colour forms. These colour forms are not due to level of maturity. Two colour forms (red and dark blue) exist in male while three (red, dark blue and yellow brown) are for female. For male, the red form is the more common one. On the other hand, yellow brown is more common for female. The red form female is said to be rare. I have seen all these colour forms of male and female except the red form female.


red form male
dark blue form male
yellow brown form female
dark blue form female

Archibasis incisura

Archibasis incisura is a blue "large" (hw 22-24 mm) damselfly species. There are three blue Archibasis species in Peninsular Malaysia - A. melanocyana, A. incisura and A. rebeccae. In order to differentiate them confidently, one has to inspect their tail (anal appendages) closely. Archibasis incisura has a notch on its superior anal appendages.


a male Archibasis incisura
lateral view of the anal appendages of a male Archibasis incisura

Idionyx yolanda

I have seen for numerous times the female of Idionyx yolanda (click here to see the female) on various locations, but I have never seen a male I. yolanda. I was totally ecstatic today to spot a male I. yolanda. The male individual was hanging itself down from a small branch just in front of me, and that I managed to snap some nice shots on it.


a male Idionyx yolanda
the dorsal view of the tail (anal appendages) of a male Idionyx yolanda

Tholymis tillarga - Female

Now I have a nice picture of female Tholymis tillarga. The female lacks the white patches on hindwings compared to the male. You may see the male T. tillarga here, the larval emergence of male T. tillarga here and an ovipositing female here.

Female of Rhyothemis phyllis

I have been wanting to take some good shots on the female of Rhyothemis phyllis, and finally I have got it. The female of R. phyllis has similar marking as the male (click here to see the male R. phyllis). Showing below is a young female of R. phyllis.

Rhyothemis plutonia

With the spotting of Rhyothemis plutonia, I've finally seen all the Rhyothemis species occuring in Peninsular Malaysia. There are six Rhyothemis species in Peninsular Malaysia namely R. triangularis, R. phyllis, R. aterrima, R. plutonia, R. obsolescens and R. pygmaea. Rhyothemis plutonia maybe confused with R. aterrima in Peninsular Malaysia. The presence of transparent (hyaline) forewing tips on R. plutonia may distinguish it from R. aterrima. However, the area of the transparent tip may vary in plutonia. Another good character to distinguish between aterrima and plutonia is the more extensive purplish green colour on the wings of plutonia .

Paragomphus capricornis

Paragomphus capricornis is considered a small-medium sized gomphid species. It likes to hang around clear forest stream, and normally perches on stone or sand at the water edge under the sun. I spotted a couple of P. capricornis at Sg Durian, Lintang. I tried so hard to approach them for photos, and they were just too shy!


a male Paragomphus capricornis perching on sandy beach of a forest stream
the characteristic of the tail (anal appendages; side view) of a male Paragomphus capricornis

Prodasineura humeralis

I really had a good photographic session with Prodasineura humeralis at Sg Durian, Lintang. I took some nice shots of P. humeralis in tandem and in wheel. Prodasineura humeralis is a common forest stream species.


a male Prodasineura humeralis
a tandem pair of Prodasineura humeralis
a wheel pair Prodasineura humeralis

Heliocypha biforata - Male and Female

I've finally taken some nice pictures of female Heliocypha biforata. The female of H. biforata does look slightly different from the females of H. perforata and Aristocypha fenestrella.


a male Heliocypha biforata
a female Heliocypha biforata
an ovipositing female Heliocypha biforata

Sg Durian, Lintang, Perak

I was back to my home town in Perak to see my folk over the weekend. Of course, I did not forget to spend a day searching for odonates somewhere near my home town. I went to Sg Durian in Lintang, Perak to observe and take pictures of odonates. For four hours of hanging around Sg Durian, I spotted 24 species of odonates. Sg Durian is located 3 km away from Lintang small town. The water of the river is clear and the river flows through oil palm and rubber plantations.




Odonata Checklist for Sg Durian, Lintang, Perak

Family Calopterygidae
Vestalis amoena

Family Chlorocyphidae
Heliocypha perforata
Heliocypha biforata
Libellago lineata

Family Euphaeidae
Euphaea impar
Euphaea ochracea

Family Megapodagrionidae
Rhinagrion mima

Family Coenagrionidae
Agriocnemis femina
Mortonagrion aborense
Pseudagrion pruinosum

Family Platycnemididae
Copera ciliata
Copera marginipes

Family Protoneuridae
Prodasineura humeralis
Prodasineura collaris

Family Gomphidae
Ictinogomphus decoratus
Paragomphus capricornis

Family Libellulidae
Aethriamanta gracilis
Neurothemis fluctuans
Onychothemis culminicola
Orthetrum chrysis
Orthetrum testaceum
Trithemis aurora
Trithemis festiva
Zygonyx iris

Elattonuera aurantiaca

Elattonuera aurantiaca is truly a forest swamp species. The male has beautiful red colour with a solid black strip on the dorsal thorax. However, the female has yellowish brown marking instead.


a male Elattoneura aurantiaca
a male Elattoneura aurantiaca
a tandem pair of Elattoneura aurantiaca

Macromia cincta

Macromia cincta is quite a large sized corduliid measuring at hw 45 mm. Showing below is a female of M. cincta. The male has similar marking as the female. It is normally found at slow flowing river. Macromia cincta can be readily distinguished by its dorsal thoracic marking - a board white band.

Ovipositing Ceriagrion chaoi

I have been trying hard to have a good picture of tandem pair of Ceriagrion chaoi, and most of the time, I would have the male in focus but the female out of focus or vise versa (click here to see photos I took previously). Now I have a photo of tandem pair C. chaoi with both the male and female in focus. My next task, of course, will be taking photos of C. chaoi in wheel. Strangely, I have not yet seen a wheel pair of C. chaoi though I have been spotting this species on regular basis.

Orthetrum sabina

Orthetrum sabina some time could be confused with young male adult and female of Diplacodes trivialis. However, O. sabina is readily to be distinguished by its larger size and swollen abdominal segments 1-3. The male and female of O. sabina have similar colour and marking.

Onychogomphus thienemanni

Having photos of rare species always makes me delighted. Onychogomphus thienemanni is one of the rare gomphid species for Peninsular Malaysia. This medium size gomphid is normally spotted at small forest stream, and it likes to perch on rocks and logs in the middle of stream under the sun. I spotted this gomphid species at Kenaboi Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan.

Epophthalmia vittigera

Last year July I collected an exuvia of Epophthalmia vittigera. I waited almost one year in order to have good pictures of E. vittigera. It is said that E. vittigera is the largest cordulid in Southeast Asia with the size of hw 52 mm. This guy is always on wings, and it starts its activity patrolling the open pond around 11 am.

Rhyothemis triangularis in Wheel

I have been putting a lot of effort wanting to snap good pictures of wheel pair of Rhyothemis triangularis. I got my luck today to have a flying wheel pair of R. triagularis landed in front of my camera. It is quite difficult to take good picture of wheel pair of R. triangularis because the copulation time is so short - normally it last for less than 15 seconds. Furthermore, the female will appear from nowhere and the male will just grab her immediately. So, most of the time you would be caught by surprise with the wheel pair in front of you. By the time you have your camera ready, the wheel pair would have broken away...... really annoying.

Diplacodes trivialis

I remember a few years ago when I started to get involved in Odonata, I spotted smaller size of Orthetrum sabina. I was so naive to ask myself why the size of O. sabina varied so much. It took me a coupld of months to tell that it was not O. sabina. It was a female of Diplacodes trivialis. Yes, the marking of female and the young adult male of D. trivialis resemble O. sabina. Nevertheless, the matured male adult of D. trivialis is in blue. Diplacodes trivialis is normally found at open marshes.


an almost matured male adult
a half matured male adult
a female adult

Brachydiplax farinosa

Brachydiplax farinosa could be confused with Brachydiplax chalybea and Aethriamanta gracilis because all these three dragonfly species are whitish blue colour. Nevertheless, close inspection will reveal their differences. Brachydiplax farinosa does not have yellow tinted wing base as that of B. chalybea and A. gracilis, and B. farinosa has less extensive whitish blue abdominal segments compared to B. chalybea and A. gracilis. I noted that B. farinosa is less common compared to B. chalybea and A. gracilis.

Wanna Guess?

I caught some of these damselfly larvae from an exposed pond. Would you like to give a wild guess the identity of this damselfly larva?




One of these larvae that I caught emerged, and I took a few nice shots on its emergence....... this one is a female.



Any idea what species it is?

Aethriamanta gracilis

Aerthriamanta gracilis is a small whtish blue dragonfly found at open ponds. It likes to perch under the sun. Sometimes, A. gracilis could be confused with Brachydiplax farinosa. Yet, it is readily distinguished by its more open wing venation, much darker wing base and more whitish colour on body.

Zygonyx iris

Zygonyx iris is frequently spotted at fast flowing forest streams and waterfalls. It patrols the stream actively without much perching. Taking photographs on this species is extremely difficult. However, I was so lucky to have this male Z. iris perched before me on a stick hanging over the flowing stream for very short while. The photo was taken at Kenaboi Forest Reserve in Negeri Sembilan.

Nepogomphus walli

Nepogomphus walli is a small gomphid species found at small forest stream. I spotted this gomphid species in Kenaboi Forest Reserve. Of course, it was my first time to bump into N. walli, and I was lucky to have photos of male and female N. walli.


a male Nepogomphus walli
a female Nepogomphus walli