Mnais mneme and other Xuan Son goodies

Yes, we are in business! The first real sunny day of the spring in North Vietnam and I found myself in Xuan Son, for birds, but it was rather quiet, but I had good views of a singing Spotted Wren Babbler. But the sun also brought out quite a few dragons. Interestingly, several species were already in copula or ovipositing, so had been around for some time: Orthetrum pruinosum, Copera marginipes, Trithemis festiva, Pantala flavescens, not the rarest of species, but still.

The best species of the day was stunning Mnais mneme. I saw three males, all orange-winged. One I caught and it was very large, abdomen 49 mm, larger than either M. mneme or M. andersoni as described in Asahina's 1975 papers. The appendages pointed to M. andersoni, but the distal segment of the penile organ, as he calls it, is only very shallowly v-shaped, much like his Laos type. Based on this, and helped by the size, I identified it as M. mneme.

Mnais mneme, male orange-winged form

Appendages in ventral view. Tip of inferiors with hook and inferiors well short of superior appendages.

But see the almost t-shape of the distal segment

Another surprise was Ceriagrion azureum, two males in a rice field of all places. I had only seen this beautiful species in Ba Be National Park before. As they were a bit far away and I did not bring the long lens, a record shot only.

Ceriagrion azureum, beautiful species, bad photo

Heliocypha perforata was already common, with many males displaying. Here an immature male and a female.

Heliocypha perforata, female

And H. perforata, immature male, just starting to turn blue on the abdomen

Yet another species already common was Euphaea masoni. Many males were flitting about. Here an almost mature male and a female.

Is she crying, or just shy? Euphaea masoni, female

E. masoni, immature male

Vestalis gracilis was very common in some places, whereas in autumn it is not so easy to find in Xuan Son. I was a bit surprised how common it was already.

Two males Vestalis gracilis, side by side

And the last species I have photos of, Cratilla lineata. This species was also already ovipositing. Here a male.

Cratilla lineata, male

As it is interesting to know what the temporal distribution is of species, here the other species seen today:

Neurobasis chinensis, Aristocypha fenestrella, Agriocnemis femina, Paracercion calamorum, Coeliccia scutellum, Copera marginipes, C. ciliata, Prodasineura autumnalis, Pantala flavescens, Trithemis festiva, Orthetrum pruinosum, O. glaucum, O. triangulare, Brachythemis contaminata.

A total of 20 species, yes, we are in business!

Tidying up the last bits of Xuan Son

Just before the weekend starts with new adventures time to tidy up the remainder of records from Xuan Son. I will start with another new species for me, Vestalaria miao. And to be honest, I cannot be a 100% sure of the ID. Noguchiphaea yoshikoae occurs also in the area, but has characteristic horns on the prothorax, not present in Vestelaria. And Vestalaria miao was recorded right there in Xuan Son, but who knows, maybe another species is present too. So the search for more evidence continues. Here she is:

Vestalaria miao, female, with slightly tinted wings

The same female in hand, note the absence of horns on the posterior lobe of the prothorax

For comparison female Noguchiphaea yoshikoae of Tam Dao in September, very similar although wings slightly different in shape and clear, eyes of different color

Note the horns on the posterior lobe of the prothorax

The second species to publish here is Cratilla lineata, of which I encountered a female in the rain. Cool as addition to the earlier male. She is very similar in markings, but of course with a differently shaped abdomen.

Cratilla lineata, female

What else was worth to mention? How about a teneral male Pseudagrion pruinosum? Here he is, as a possible stumbling block for the unwary.

Pseudagrion pruinosum, immature male. The appendages are a give-away. The neck looks rather bull-like, due to a rain drop that has lodged itself there.

Close-up of the neck and the rain drop. Soon after it would remove it by brushing.

The last to enter for today was an array of Calopteryds. The first is Calopteryx coomani, a species I have seen regualrly at Tam Dao National Park and that also frequents Xuan Son. Especially the female is superficially similar to the female of Matrona basilaris, but that species has, just like the male, a milky shine to the bases of the wings due to the fine maze of veins there, absent in C. coomani. Both are large species, but C. coomani is even more robust.

Atrocalopteryx coomani, male, with blueish shine to abdomen and visibly here translucent areas in the wings.

Male showing the largely translucent front wings and bases to the hind wings.

Atrocalopteryx coomani, female

Matrona basilaris was already introduced in an another entry, but not the female. Compare here to the female of Atrocalopteryx coomani, to which it is rather similar when perched and the milky bases to the wings are not visible. The color of the wings is more greenish and the wings are more slender.

Matrona basilaris, female. I saved this one from the water, where it had become entangled in cobwebs when ovipositing. It did not linger when I released it and perched far away, which explains the grainy picture.

Matrona basilaris, male, for completeness sake

And finally, because it is such a special species, another Matrona taoi male. I find this species much more like A. coomani than like M. basilaris, when it comes to size and shape of the wings.

Matrona taoi, male

Megalestes haui, what a beauty

September 14 I ventured towards Ba Vi for the first time not with a taxi, but with my freshly arrived car. It was a brilliant day, with lots of sun and quite warm, but we met more leeches than dragonflies. Gomphids were absent. Maybe the season has ended. We were lucky enough though to find one male Megalestes haui low along one stream, just a little higher up than the resort. Here is an impression.

Megalestes haui, male, in natural light

Close up of head, stunning eyes

Dorsal shot of the appendages

With flash, more metallic and a little less reddish

 Near the puddle at the French Summer Camp ruins, a very useful small reservoir of clean water that came into being when the newly constructed walkway blocked a small forest stream, a male Cratilla lineata was temporarily made prisoner. I have found this species several times at Ba Vi at small ponds in the forest.

Cratilla lineata, male

Otherwise little was happening, Coeliccia pyriformis and C. scutellum, Cryptophaea vietnamensis, Agriomorpha fusca, that was about it along the forest streams.