A few more damsels from Cat Tien worth mentioning

During the first week of August I was the guest of Roy Bateman at the lodge there, helping with the dragonfly list for the reserve. A terrible time as far as the weather was concerned. I sadly lost one camera to the incessant rain and my lenses were foggy for a large part. Still, a few additional record shots…

Let's start with Pseudocopera ciliata. A common species, but the interesting thing is that as far as I know this species is monotypic. However, in northern Vietnam the apical half of the inferior appendages is white, like the remainder of the appendages, whereas in Cat Tien, and as far as I could verify from photos from Thailand also elsewhere in the south the apical half is black.

Close-up of the appendages

This little lady is a fresh female Onycharga atrocyana, photo taken in the rain, sorry.

And this little fella is Agriocnemis nana, a pretty whispy thing that I saw on several occasions, one at the pond in the lodge garden. Apparently a southern species

When I saw this immature Argiocnemis rubescens my heart skipped a beat. It is so different from the pruinose pale examples I saw in Bac Kan Province that it is hard to believe it is the same species, certainly if you also take a look at the mature version from Cat Tien.

For this is the very blue mature male. I saw many, and none should any trace of pruinosity. Like: really? The same species?

The immature male along a tarmac road in inundated grass

A mature male perched at the edge of a pool

Some additional species at Huu Lien from April 21

The two Copera species of Huu Lien and the one Pseudocopera were already common and easily found. Here are the males of P. ciliata and C. marginipes in their full glory.

Pseudocopera ciliata is the easy one, large, and white when mature

Here a male Copera marginipes with its simple, but large superior appendages

A somewhat messier C. marginipes. C. vittata normally has much less white on the last segments.

A remarkable and large species was Orolestes selysi. The dark-winged form and the hyaline form occurred side by side.

A fantastic dark-winged specimen of Orolestes selysi

The somewhat less striking, sorry to say, hyaline version.

I also had the opportunity to take a better look at some immature Orthetrum glaucum.

First, a female Orthetrum glaucum.

A fresh, still less pronounced, female

The interesting immature male. The striking pattern is later completely obscured by pruinosity.

Copera marginipes and Pseudocopera ciliata

These two common species are spectacular in many ways. But...they are both common and in the right places very common (at seeps and little streams with overhanging vegetation for instance, or at the bottom of wet cliffs). So, you can always postpone taking their picture and concentrate on different things. But now, looking back at the last two months, I did not take that many photos, although there have been plenty of opportunities. No female C. marginipes! No immature male P. ciliata!
Marginipes is the smaller of the two. I call it yellow foot. And ciliata I call white foot. This is for obvious reasons. Displaying or fighting males in flight hold their legs forward, a striking feature. Fresh specimens have all white abdomens, a cause of confusion for the unwary. And immature specimens of P. ciliata have reddish legs, another cause of confusion.

Pseudocopera ciliata, male, with striking white legs and blackish knees

Female Pseudocopera ciliata, with reddish legs

Another female

Copera marginipes, male, with striking yellow legs

Still immature male with whitish abdominal segments, but thorax and legs already of mature coloration