Anotogaster sakaii

In early spring I encountered a teneral male Anotogaster sakaii in Sa Pa and thanks to Haruki Karube and his students, I also saw one near Tam Dao hill station in May. As this is a monstrously large and spectacular species, I was more than thrilled to see several more during our trip through the northern provinces in late June and early July. At Pia Oac I saw several males and a fantastic female and another male was photographed at Sa Pa at the Love Waterfall swampy area. The size of the male, at 10.5 cm, is already huge, but the female is almost 12 cm and one of the largest dragonflies around. Holding it, it has true weight.

Male Anotogaster sakaii in hand

Female Anotogaster sakaii in hand

Just to give an idea of its monstrous size

Female perched (posed)

Another male in Sa Pa

Face of male, note the orange bases of the mandibles, without yellow markings

Face of female, with same general pattern