Watanabeopetalia - cool Chlorogomphids

On May 18 I was lucky enough to catch two different Watanabeopetalia species in the Sa Pa area. This genus was established in 2002 by Karube, based largely on the shape of the penile organ, and contains 4 species, 3 of which occur in Vietnam, I think. These are Watanabeopetalia uenoi, W. usignata and W. ojisan. But at the moment I do not have all the literature, so I may have to update this later. Anyway, I caught a male W. usignata and a male W. uenoi. They can easily be separated on the basis of their very different facial patterns.

W. uenoi is known only from the Pia Oac and Sa Pa areas. W. usignata was known from Sichuan and Shaanxi in China and recently found also at Sa Pa. It is thus no surprise that I found both species at Sa Pa, but they may be regarded as specialties.

For those interested, this is genus 133 for the blog. There are still several that I have not posted yet. Boy oh boy, what diversity!

Male Watanabeopetalia uenoi, a pretty and slender species

Its face is orange brown

Appendages in dorsal view

And in lateral view

Superficially similar male Watanabeopetalia usignata

But a very different facial pattern

Different appendages in dorsal view (note inferiors)

And also quite different in lateral view

Both species in dorsal view. Left W. uenoi and right W. usignata. The latter is slightly larger. Note the different pattern on S2.