Onychogomphus castor

Many members of Gomphidae are not easily spotted and most of them are inhibitants of forests. It was my first time to bump into Onychogomphus castor. I spotted a male and a female O. castor at the Kijang Waterfall of Kenaboi Forest Reserve. The male O. castor has a beautiful curved tail (anal appendages).


a male Onychogomphus castor
a female Onychogomphus castor

Heliocypha perforata - Male and Female

The Semong and Kenaboi Rivers in Kenaboi Forest Reserve are rich of Heliocypha perforata. Taking good photos of them was not too difficult.


a male of H. perforata
an ovipositing female of H. perforata

Aristocypha fenestrella - Male and Female

I found some Aristocypha fenestrella at a tributary of Semong River in Kenaboi Forest Reserve. Only A. fenestrella not other species of Chlorocyphidae was spotted at the tributary. I spotted both the male and female of A. fenetrella, and I took a few good shots on them.


a male of A. fenestrella
a female of A. fenestrella

Vestalis Larva

I caught this Vestalis larva at a tributary of Semong River (Kenaboi Forest Reserve), and I spotted Vestalis amethystina at the site where the larva was sampled. So, I guess the larva is most likely of V. amethystina. The Vestalis larvae are normally found at leaf debris and under stones of clear flowing forest streams.

Onychothemis coccinea vs Onychothemis culminicola

Onychothemis coccinea and O. culminicola are forest species with O. culminicola being less common. Onychothemis coccinea has orange abdomen while O. culminicola has dark red abdomen. I bumped into O. coccinea in many occassions but only twice for O. culminicola. In all the occassions, I did not manage to snap good pictures of these two Onychothemis species until the luck came to me at Kenaboi Forest Reserve. I spotted both the species at Semong River. It took me a lot of patience to approach both of them for good shots. Now, I have added two more odonate species for my photo collection.


Onychothemis coccinea
Onychothemis culminicola

Kenaboi Forest Reserve, Negeri Sembilan

Kenaboi Forest Reserve is located in Jelebu District of Negeri Sembilan. The highest point of the Kenaboi Forest Reserve is Gunung Besar Hantu. I joined the scientific expedition to Gunung Besar Hantu organised by Jabatan Perhutanan Semenanjung Malaysia and Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Sembilan. However, I did not climb up to Gunung Besar Hantu (1480 m). We stayed at the forest reserve for four nights. We drank the water from Semong River and bathed using the water from Kenaboi River. The water from the rivers is so crystal clear. I really enjoyed the expedition. One of the highlights of the Kenaboi Forest Reserve is the Lata Kijang (Kijang Waterfall). The waterfall is so high, and I was amazed by the beauty of the waterfall.

Of course, my main intention to Kenaboi Forest Reserve was to record the odonate diversity. Within the very short four days of field work at various locations of Kenaboi Forest Reserve, I managed to record 40 species including some rare ones - Onychogomphus castor, Onychogomphus thienemanni and Nepogomphus walli. There were plenty of Neurobasis chinensis, Heliocypha perforata, Euphaea ochracea and Vestalis amoena at Semong and Kenaboi Rivers.


Semong River
Kenaboi River
Kenaboi River
a tributary of Semong River
Kijang Waterfall

Scientific Expedition - Gunung Besar Hantu

I'm off to Gunung Besar Hantu, Negeri Sembilan for a couple of days on odonate study/sampling. This is a scientific expedition organised by Jabatan Perhutanan Semenanjung Malaysia and Jabatan Perhutanan Negeri Sembilan. I should come back with some nice pictures of habitats and odonates...... stay tune....... :)

My Blog.......

My blog was mentioned in a small article of the Star Online by Sam Cheong on April 27, 2010.

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2010/4/27/central/5779461&sec=central

I would like to correct a fact mentioned in the article:

"There are at least 25 known species of dragonflies and damselfies in Malaysia....." should be read as "There are at least 250 known species of dragonflies and damselfies in Peninsular Malaysia......". The figures 25 and 250 are too much different... hehehehehe

Larva of Pseudagrion rubriceps

I showed the larval emergence of Pseudagrion rubriceps in an earlier entry (click here to read the entry). However, I did not show clearly the gill pattern of the P. rubriceps larva in the earlier entry. Thus, I'm showing here the side view of P. rubriceps larva with clear gill pattern.

Damsel Larva

I sampled this larva from a grassy drain where plenty of Copera marginipes adults were spotted. The larva definitely a Copera marginipes/vittata species because it has beautiful fringed gills. I did not see any vittata adult at the site, therefore I guess the larva should be marginipes. You may view vitatta larva here. Anyway, I am breeding the below larva to confirm its id.