Yet another Aeshnid hunt at Xuan Son

*Post updated on November 15, 2025. The genus Planaeschna has been synonymized with Aeschnophlebia. Also, Kompier et al. (2021) treated the Planaeschna [Aeschnophlebia] species of Vietnam in detail. Names are adjusted below between square brackets [].

On November 29 I drove again to Xuan Son with the objective of finding Planaeschna [Aeschnophlebia] species. It was a brilliant sunny day, possibly the last of the year, so maybe the last chance to find additional males. In a way I was lucky. There were Planaeschnas all over the place. However, they were all females. Over a dozen Planaeschna [ishigakiana] guentherpetersi were around and one of the similar, but different, Planaeschna sp., also a female. I hoped hard for a male, but although I saw a male fly by in a hurry, there was no chance to catch any.

Two other Aeshnids were around. I saw literally hundreds of Boyeria karubei at dusk and a few during the day and I saw a male Gynacantha japonica hanging in a bush. Below a few photos.

One of the several females Planaeschna [sihigakiana] guentherpetersi that I caught. A record shot. Note the typical pattern on S2.

Another female discovered perched. Note the typical pattern in the dorsum of S2 and the yellow wing bases. 

The female Planaeschna sp., different in for instance the pattern on S2 and the much shorter cerci. [This species, described as Planaeschna sp. 1 in Kompier et al. (2021), likely is Aeschnophlebia owadai.]

Facial pattern of Planaeschna sp.

Hanging male Gynacantha japonica. Note the small, light-colored epiproct.

One of the many Boyeria karubei around