Friday 19 December 2014

The fourth Agriocnemis for Cat Tien

Back in 2011 I visited the Mekong Delta on a work related trip and saw some Agriocnemis specimens there that I identified as A. minima. Problem was I never saw them again. That trip was in the winter. Well, in November I was looking around in Cat Tien, where I had seen A. nana and A. pygmaea on the previous visit. Both were there at the beginning of the dry season. Another Agriocnemis, A. femina was also around, although I saw only a few. But one species was quite common near the fishponds. Yes, you guessed right. Agriocnemis minima. Clearly a dry season species, it had been completely absent in August but was common now. And not at all difficult to recognize either. Below a few pictures of this lovely tiny damsel. So, the fifth Agriocnemis is in the bag. The only one missing from Cat Tien is A. lacteola. Who knows, next time?

The male of Agriocnemis minima with distinctive green on black S2 and mottled orange S8-9. Note the yellow pterostigmata.
The adult female A. minima.
A young female A. minima. Note lack of black mid-dorsal stripe and unmarked prothorax.
Another young female 

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