The world of Protosticta revisited

*This entry was updated on 24 December 2022 in view of two publications:

Kompier (2018) Protosticta curiosa Fraser, 1934 and its synonyms in Vietnam and China (Odonata: Platystictidae)

Phan et al. (2022) Taxonomic and faunistic notes on the genus Protosticta Selys, 1885 in Laos (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae)

In Kompier (2018) it was pointed out that P. albifrons was a junior synonym of P. curiosa Fraser, 1934, and in Phan et al. (2022) is was pointed out that in turn P. curiosa is a junior synonym of P. trilobata Fraser, 1933.

To my dismay I noticed that I had not yet published here on the blog 4 species of Protosticta found in the course of last year. To be more precise, one had been published by Jan van Tol in 2008, P. linnaei. Another had been known for a while, but was considered a dark form of P. satoi. It was published last year, by me, as P. nigra. A third species I found in a small touristic area with wet forest near Bao Loc. This was P. proboscis. And lastly I ran into yet another species, that occurred side by side with P. satoi in Xuan Son National Park: P. trilobata, described by Fraser in 1933. All this just goes to show that you really need to give these little critters a close look. For let's be honest, they do look alike a lot. It is really in many cases only possible to tell them apart by a close look at their tiny caudal appendages. See below for photos of all species, but if you are interested in their diagnostic features, please read up on them in Phan & Kompier, 2016 and Kompier, 2016.

Female of P. trilobata. Note the large white spot on S9, the thin black metapleural line and the pattern on the prothorax.

The male of P. trilobata. Similar thin black line and prothorax pattern. The true and straightforward feature is of course the shape of the caudal appendages, but that is impossible to see here.

The male of P. linnaei. Note the pattern of the prothorax. Again, the appendages would be the give-away feature, but you need a microscope.

The handsome female P. linnaei. Note the lack of a white spot on S9.

Now, this handsome devil is more easy to identify, thanks to the black thorax. This is P. nigra.

Yes, and this fellow is again rather similar to the previous ones, before P. nigra. It is P. proboscis, its name coined after the drooping central lobe at the apex of the appendages. Anyone that can identify it from a distance is a true connoisseur. 

The world of Protosticta

Once you start looking at Protosticta species, you will find there is a whole world out there! Only recently I published a paper with Toan giving details on the currently known 9 species from this genus for Vietnam. Two of these are large and different: Protostica grandis and P. ngoai. One has very typical appendages: P. spinosa. The remaining 6 are very similar. I had not yet seen several of these, but on May 5 in Quang Tri province I found an area where I kept bumping into one of these: P. caroli (first described by Jan van Tol in 2008). It can be identified by the only partially pale S9, the stubby inferiors (compared to for instance P. socculus) and the prothorax of which always the posterior lobe is extensively dark, which extends onto the central lobe. But really one needs a microscope to settle its identity for sure.

In the same area, but on a drier slope, I ran into what seemed a "very" different species. A little smaller, it was crispier, in that the white rings on the abdomen were really white, the prothorax had only on oval black spot in the posterior lobe, it has all white S9 and under the microscope there are also important differences in the appendages (like a missing lobe). Careful checking at home showed it was none other than P. socculus.

Relatively boring P. caroli. It shares with P. socculus the broad black line over the metapleural suture. S9 is only two-thirds pale, but not truly white, and the abdominal rings are likewise not very crisp.

Another specimen, similarly with limited white on S9.

A male in hand. This specimen has minimal dark markings on the prothorax, but still all dark posterior lobe, dark extending onto central lobe in two triangles, remainder off-white. The colour of the thorax is a dull dark green. 

P. socculus. Note the very white abdominal rings, the crisp white prothorax with contrasting posterior lobe

A close-up of the prothorax. Note also that the colour of the thorax is a different green.

Four new Protosticta species described for Vietnam

Today Zootaxa published our article on Protosticta in Vietnam (Quoc Toan Phan & Tom Kompier: A study of the genus Protosticta Selys, 1855, with descriptions of four new species from Vietnam (Odonata: Platystictidae)). Two species I already published on my blog. Today I could officially add their names: P. socculus and P. spinosa. Please see under Protosticta.

Several new species of Protosticta for Vietnam*

*This posting was adjusted on April 7, 2016, when the name of this species was first published (Phan & Kompier, 2016) as Protosticta socculus. This species can be identified by the shape of the appendages (under the microscope, I am afraid).

At the end of September I observed several boldly patterned Protosticta specimens in Quang Nam Province, close to Da Nang in central Vietnam. I cannot publish them here yet, for their identity was a puzzle. In the meantime I have been working with Toan, who did the ground work for it, on an article on Protosticta species and this species is one of several we hope to publish soon. It is close in appearance to several other species with bold patterning of the thorax, like P. khaosoidaoensis, P. linnaei, and P. caroli. An intricate puzzle for sure. Once you get into the detail, this is a fantastic genus of many hard to identify species.

Protosticta sp. nov. from Bhalee, Quang Nam Province. Note the largely whitish prothorax, the boldly patterned synthorax and the pattern on the abdominal segments of whitish basal rings and brownish subapical rings. The true identification character is the shape of the inferior appendages.

Protosticta beaumonti - interesting addition to the Vietnamese list

June 7 we visited Mau Son Mountain, close the border with China. Sebastien had visited the area the previous weekend and was plagued by mist. We had mostly cloudy conditions. Nevertheless we also ran into most of the species he saw and a few others. One species that grabbed my attention was the Protosticta there, that looked different from what I am used to see from P. satoi, a species that occurs in a light and a dark color phase and moreover is apparently rather variable in body length. It has caused me before to be convinced for a while (in Ba Be National Park) that two species were involved, so extreme is the individual size variation. And although the Protosticta of Mau Son was long-bodied, it was about the same length as my largest P. satoi from Ba Be. Nevertheless, it had quite a different and consistent thorax pattern, with a clear elongated spot on the metepisternum. Under the microscope the appendages, at a first glance very similar to P. satoi, do in fact display some differences, with several more pronounced lobes and processes. Additionally the dorsum of S9 of the female is dark, not white as in P. satoi. This combination convinced me enough to make me search the literature.

Jan van Tol (2008) erected P. satoi as a different species, but postulated that it might be conspecific with P. beaumonti (Wilson, 1997) from southern China. Do Manh Cuong (2011) discusses the whole issue. It is clear though that the Protosticta from Mau Son is structurally different in detail and consistent with the description by Wilson, including the patterning of the female abdomen. Apparently, the species had been overlooked in Vietnam. I apologize for the bad close-ups. These little critters are, well, little.

Protosticta beaumonti, male, in full glory

The thorax pattern, different male

The female. Apart from the similar spot on the flanks, note the dark dorsum of S9.

In close-up for the skeptics

The complete and long bodied male

Appendages of P. beaumonti in lateral view

Those of male Protosticta satoi, indeed, one could think they were similar 

But look close in ventral view, look at the processes of the superior appendages of P. beaumonti

Compare with the smooth appearance of P. satoi

And it is not just the angle, here dorsal view of P. satoi, likewise, much smoother

Protosticta enigma - a new species? Help!*

*This posting was adjusted on April 7, 2016, when this species for published in Zootaxa (Phan & Kompier, 2016) as Protosticta spinosa. Unlike many other species in Vietnam, luckily this species is very distinctive and easily recognizable.

May 10 I was checking the forest along a stream just west of Nam Bung in Yen Bai Province. I spotted a damselfly moderately high up in the shrub along a rocky outcrop. I could just about reach it. Fragile as always and sort of the same, it seemed different from Protosticta satoi, with a colorful prothorax. Under the microscope the inferior appendages are very weird and very interesting, with a large spine directed inward at the halfway point. It is very different from P. satoi. Jan van Tol described several new species for Vietnam, but this is not one of them. Does anybody have suggestions?

Protosticta spinosa

Close-up of prothorax

Thoracic pattern

Now take a look at this, appendages in dorsal view

Lateral view

And here it is, the ventral view. Now, that is weird and distinctive, I would like to suggest. If it is known, somebody is bound to recognize this.

En route to Sapa, Xuan Son

*Update 24 December 2022: the Protosticta grandis of Xuan Son may be a different species from the known "grandis" types. It is certainly not P. grandis sensu Asahina.

Between April 12 and April 18 we travelled to Xuan Son, on to Sapa, back along route 32 to Ba Vi and finally home to Hanoi. As I was showing birding pal Hein around, it was a birding trip, but I did manage to keep an eye open for dragonflies. Luckily the weather was cloudy and misty a lot of the time, so I could reasonably well concentrate on the birds (great birds!), but nevertheless almost every day unexpected spring findings occurred. Over the next days there is a lot to research, I am afraid. I know that Vietnam is not very well researched, but this is ridiculous! And I need help, so if you have suggestions to the species in the photos, tell me! Otherwise, more will become clear, hopefully, in the next days.

Let's start in Xuan Son (April 12 and 13)
Over the two cloudy days we encountered 27 species. Big surprise was Archineura hetaerinoides, with at least 2 females and 4 males present. Mnais mneme was very common on little streams, with dozens of males and females around. On the same heavily vegetated small streams under forest cover (but also some mixed with abundant Euphaea masoni on the bigger streams) Euphaea guerini, another species I had not seen before. Protosticta grandis was another addition to the Xuan Son list. I encountered about 6. Both Coeliccia poungyi and C. sasamotoi were already around, the former with one individual, but the latter common. Best species, maybe, was a damsel not uncommon along the forest track close to the first stone bridge. I have as yet no idea what it was, but it was beautiful. I saw only males, 2 on the 12th and 4 on the 13th, perched on top of leaves close to the forest floor or up in bushes. And there was a common Gomphid of which I saw many males and a few females, a species of Nihonogomphus I identified as N. schorri, known only from Huu Lien. Last but not least, on both days I saw Philoganga vetusta, a male and a female.

Let's start with the unknown. Any ideas?

Archineura hetaerinoides, male

Ochre Titan revisited, Philoganga vetusta, female

Protosticta "grandis", immature male

Nihonogomphus schorri, great range extension

And Coeliccia poungyi, a crisp male

Protosticta at Ba Vi

*Updated on 24 December 2022. It is clear that Protosticta grandis sensu Asahina occurs in southern Vietnam. From my specimens it is clear that P. taipokauensis occurs on Ba Vi Mountain. Of course be 100% positive from the photo here is impossible, but it is highly likely that species.

Sorting through my photos of the first days of our stay in Vietnam, in fact of the first trip to Ba Vi, I came across two Protosticta species. The first seems to be a common species, Protosticta satoi. This is an interesting little forest damsel that keeps low to the ground and in dark and wet places, where they hang of the tips of leaves. It is interesting also because it occurs in two distinct color phases, described by Jan van Tol. Typical light specimens have a light prothorax, bordered by a dark line both anteriorly and posteriorly. Such are the specimens from Ba Vi. But at Ba Be National Park I noticed stunning differences in size and also the coloration of the prothorax was quite variable, with some mostly dark, including the pronotum, and in others with the centers of the lobes of the pronotum dark, but the remainder light. However, I could not find distinct differences in the appendages. additional work may yet point out whether the basis of this variability is intraspecific, or in fact that several species are involved.

The second species is much larger and more straightforward. This is Protosticta taipokauensis. 

Protosticta satoi, male, showing off typical pronotum

And Protosticta satoi, female

Protosticta taipokauensis, male