There are at least 4 species of Rhyothemis in Vietnam, but one is very common and widely spread and this is the one species I have so far encountered in the north of Vietnam. The sometimes very similar R. phyllis occurs for instance in the Mekong Delta, where indeed I have seen it. But alas, no pictures. Rhyothemis variegata on the other hand can be quite easily encountered, even close to Hanoi. It is especially common in the foothills and we saw many near Van Long, where below photos of males were taken early September. The female was caught at Tay Thien, Tam Dao National Park, late August. These endlessly fluttering beauties apparently are the reason that Sebastien Delonglee got into dragonflies. Well, there is something about them...
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| Rhyothemis variegata, male |
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| And another male, with typically front and hind wings at different angles |
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| Rhyothemis variegata, female |
hehe that`s true Tom, it was in Cuc Phuong, no birds around but many R. variegata fluttering everywhere...
ReplyDeleteSadly, northern Vietnam appears not to be a “high spot” for Rhyothemis species. That’s a pity, because all the species of this genus are stunning. I have so far only seen one Rhyothemis ssp. (variegata), even though Vietnam has been very spoiled by nature with 7 species recorded !
The other ones are phyllis, aterrima, plutonia, severini, triangularis, obsolescens. Fuliginosa (Japan, China) may also occur in (northern) Vietnam. Apparently, phyllis, aterrima and obsolescens are southern species.
Rhyothemis ssp. are not easy to overlook, so I guess they are either absent or very local in the Hanoi area (except variegata of course...).
Sebastien