Two Caliphaea species

On May 10 and 11, when working the streams along QL32 west of Nam Bung, I was lucky enough to run into several Calopterids I had not seen before. These were very busy days, with so many discoveries that I did not take enough time to get proper photos. So hopefully at a later stage. Even the in hand shots are not great. Ah, well… But at least I was able to pinpoint the identities. Although these are very similar species in outward appearance, their appendages are rather different. See also the great entry on the subject of Caliphaea on Sebastien's blog. Whether the differences in color as obvious in the pictures could serve as ID feature needs more study.

Caliphaea confusa, male

Caliphaea thailandica, male

The typical double tooth on the inferior appendages of C. confusa, dorsal view

Ventral view of the rather boring inferior appendages of C. thailandica, with apologies for the poor quality of the photo.