Oligoaeschna foliacea

Gynacantha limbalis (Female)

Gynacantha subinterrupta

Heliaeschna idae (Male)

Gynacantha subinterrupta - Female

Gynacantha basigutatta - Female

Cephalaeschna laidlawi

Cephalaeschna laidlawi or some other workers calling it as Periaschna laidlawi is a rare montane dragonfly species in Peninsular Malaysia. Before my encounter on this species, only a few specimens have been collected by other workers (Forster 1908; Laidlaw 1931; Kawashima and Sasamoto 2006). Forster (1908) and Laidlaw (1931) collected one male and two female adults. On the other hand, Kawashima and Sasamoto (2006) collected three larvae (two males and one female - all successfully bred to emergence).

My first time to encounter this species was in 2007 - a few larvae were collected from a forest stream and successfully bred to emergence. My second time to encounter it was in 2011 - a few beautiful male adults were collected in the wild. It means that I am the second person to encounter male adult (not from emergence) in the wild after Forster (1908). How lucky I was.....

I supposed many might not have seen the real full colour of this species (newly emerged adult might not have yet to develop full colour). Here you go....

Anax panybeus - Female

This is a female of Anax panybeus...

Anax panybeus - male

This is a male of Anax panybeus......

Exuvia - Anax panybeus

An exuvia of Anax panybeus (male)......

Anax panybeus - Female

It is a female of Anax panybeus.

Anax Larva

A larva of Anax guttatus or Anax panybeus........

P/S: It has emerged. It is a female of Anax panybeus.

Gynacantha basiguttata

Gynacantha basiguttata is one of the common aeshnid species in Peninsular Malaysia.

Ovipositing - Anax panybeus

I witnessed a female of Anax panybeus ovipositing in an open pond.....

Gynacantha subinterrupta - Female

I knew that one Gynacantha subinterrupta female larva wanted to emerge in an very early morning. I waited until 2 o'clock morning for the larva to emerge, and I was so tried that I decided to go to bed....


a female larva of Gynacantha subinterrupta is out of water and clinging high away from water. It emerged three hours later.
the young adult of female Gynacantha subinterrupta - 15 hours after the larval emergence
the young adult of female Gynacantha subinterrupta - 15 hours after the larval emergence

Anax panybeus - Female

The female Anax panybeus has similar marking as that of the male one......

Larval Emergence - Anax panybeus (Male)

In order to record the larval emergence of Anax panybeus I had a sleepless night. The A. panybeus larva broke its larval casing around 2.30 am and had its wings fully open arond 4.30 am. I was really impressed by the emerald green colour on the thorax of the emerging adult as the colour was so bright and intensed.



This male larva image (F0 stage) was taken some time ago. Ten days later, the larva went through metamorphosis and turned into a beautiful Anax panybeus male adult.

Anax guttatus vs Anax panybeus - Anal Appendages

Anax guttatus and A. panybeus are quite similar to each other. In fact when I caught a specimen of A. guttatus a few years back, I labelled it as A. guttatus. My mistake was immediately pointed out by Dr. A.G. Orr when he inspected my specimen during his visit to Malaysia.

One important character to distinguish A. guttatus from A. panybeus is their anal appendages. The anal appendages of A. panybeus is more massive and larger than that of A. guttatus. Of course, the shape of anal appendages for both the species is also slightly different.


left is A. guttatus and right is A. panybeus

Comparison: Anax guttatus vs Anax panybeus

Two Anax species are recorded in Peninsular Malaysia - Anax guttatus and A. panybeus. The anal appendages and the length of abdominal segment 3 are the main characters to differentiate these two species. However, I am showing you here the differences of blue marking on the thorax and dorsal abdominal segments 1-3 for both the species.


left: Anax guttatus; right: Anax panybeus

Finally It Has Emerged!

The aeshnid larva that I have been talking about (click here to see the larva at F0 stage) has finally emerged! This morning I saw the beautiful newly emerged adult aeshnid not far from the exuvia. It is a male Anax panybeus!


exuvia of Anax panybeus
newly emerged Anax panybeus