A third Aethriamantha species - A. gracilis

Last year I encountered Aethriamantha gracilis in three different provinces in central Vietnam. The first encounter was with several males in a large pool in fields adjacent to a river in Quang Nam Province in early May. The initial enthusiasm, because I considered this a new finding for Vietnam, was dampened a little when already a few weeks later I found it near Bao Loc in some peaty ditches, where it was still present in June. And in September I found it at yet another very different location, at a pond in the forest near K'bang in Gia Lai Province. Clearly this is not a rare species, maybe overlooked because of its similarity to several of the Brachydiplax species? But let's face it, it is a little gem and worth paying attention to.

Male Aethriamantha gracilis, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, June 2016

Another male

Well, they all pretty much look the same, another male.

A few more libellulids from Cat Tien*

*Adjusted on December 28. Tetrathemis platyptera replaced by T. irregularis hyalina.

I saw a few more interesting Libellulids at Cat Tien in early August; interesting as I had not seen them before, or rarely, or in the case of Tetrathemis, was a new record for me.

The first is a small Neurothemis species, N. fluctuans. It differs from the quite a bit larger N. fulvia by the hyaline margin along the posterior edge of the hindwing.

An immature male Neurothemis fluctuans.

The female of Lathrecista asiatica, a common species of the south, although absent in the north. It occurs on pools and puddles in the forest

Immature male Lathrecista asiatica

Male Lathrecista asiatica with red abdomen and pruinose thorax.

Yet another stunning little male dragonfly that was common at the fishponds, Aethriamantha brevipennis. Although Sebastien has recorded it in the north, I have never seen them there and these were my first observations.

Again I apologize for the poor quality of the picture, this one taken with a very much steamed up lens.  It is the female of Tetrathemis irregularis hyalina, which I saw on several occasions on forested ponds.

Speaking of pretty bad photos, a record shot of Tramea transmarina euryale, yet again. Although not common, certainly not rare either.

Male Pseudothemis jorina, another southern species. In Northern Vietnam common P. zonata occurs. I do not know where the border between the distributions of these closely allied species is, or whether there is overlap.

A new dragonfly and a new damselfly

A friend introduced me to an institute in the suburbs of Hanoi that has a 1 hectare large forested garden with several small ponds. This place is home to Mortonagrion aborense, a damselfly known from surrounding countries, but new to Vietnam. Although it rained intensely for most of the time I was there, I did manage to see 3 males. Here is one male, not the best of pictures, I am afraid.

Mortonagrion aborense, male

While there I noticed a small dark dragonfly sitting on the tip of a lotus flower stalk. It turned out to be a beautiful male of Aethriamantha aethra. Sebastien Delonglee mentions that this species was only added to the Vietnamese list in 2011, when it was found in the south of the country. Shortly after, Sebastien also located it at a pond in the suburbs of Hanoi, but sadly that pond was lost to construction. Maybe it is indeed, as Sebastien suggested, not so rare, but just under recorded. Nevertheless, a splendid surprise.

Aethriamantha aethra, male