Coeliccia information and a new Coeliccia from Da Lat*

*Adjusted on April 15, 2016, after publication of this species in Zootaxa by Rory Dow as C. suoitia.

A few days back Philip Steinhoff sent me the links to the very interesting article he just published together with Gabriele Uhl on "Taxonomy and nomenclature of some mainland SE-Asian Coeliccia species (Odonata, Platycnemididae) using micro-CT analysis". It is worth the read, not only because of the interesting technique used to make visible the genital ligulae in old museum specimens, but also because it sorts out the names of some of the commoner Coeliccia species from Vietnam, by making clear the synonymy. For my blog this means that I have to change C. acco into C. pyriformis, I already used C. scutellum and C. cyanomelas (not C. tomokunii nor C. onoi).

Please use the below information if you want to access the paper. Do not forget to read on below the message that I copy from an email by Philip.

You can either get it straight on the Zootaxa homepage: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2015/f/zt04059p276.pdf
There, you can also get the 3D PDFs, which are published as supplement: http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/content.html

Or you can get it from Philip's RG page:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287798126_Taxonomy_and_nomenclature_of_some_mainland_SE-Asian_Coeliccia_species_Odonata_Platycnemididae_using_micro-CT_analysis

While on the subject of Coeliccia, yesterday I was birding in Ta Nung Valley in Da Lat and noticed an interesting Coeliccia. It had white superior appendages and blackish inferiors, which were also clearly longer. Otherwise it had a largely blackish abdomen, with minor markings on S10 or in some individuals also S9. The thorax had a yellow antehumeral stripe on black dorsum. It was clearly an unknown species (to me). Subsequently Rory informed me this is likely a species recently described and soon to be published. So no work to do for me, but a nice find. Below a few shots of specimens in hand and in the field.

The cool Coeliccia suoitia from Da Lat. This seems the mature type, of which I saw four.

Thorax in somewhat dorsal view. Note the white horns on the prothorax.

White superiors and longer dark-grey inferiors. In another individual the spots on S9 were absent and those on S10 more bluish and smaller

In lateral view some bluish on inferiors and lower part of superiors dark grey.

Another male out and about