Two interesting females with their males

On April 5 I flushed a fresh damsel from a stream in Cao Bang Province at the foot of Pia Oac Mountain that upon study through my binoculars appeared to be a female of Sinosticta debra, a species I found first for Vietnam last year in Xuan Son National Park. But it flew off before I could take a picture. Luckily on April 18 I saw another female briefly in Xuan Son and this time managed to take a quick ID shot. The same day I also managed some photos of the male. Probably, as this is an early species, the next time I visit they will already have receded in the mists of time.

On April 19, this time in Huu Lien, I saw several Gomphidia abbotti, a not so common, but widespread, species in at least the north of Vietnam. But I also caught a female, something I had not seen previously.

Gomphidia abbotti, male

And Gomphidia abbotti, female

The vulvar lamina of the female

And the final segments in lateral view

Something completely different, elegant Sinosticta debra, male

Undoubtedly as elegant, the female, at least a photo

Sinosticta debra - another addition to the Vietnamese list

Sinosticta is a genus with 4 species. Two are blacker than yellow on the thorax, S. ogatai and S. hainanense, and to these recently two additional species have been added, both more yellow than black on the thorax and rather similar in outward appearance. These are S. debra, described by Wilson in 2007 from Guangdong, and S. sylvatica, described by Yu & Bu in 2009 from Hainan. These two species differ in minor details of the appendages, with the cerci longer than the paraproct in S. sylvatica and shorter in S. debra, in the pattern of the face, with two blue spots on the frons in S. sylvatica, and the extent of the black line along the metapleural suture, extensive in S. debra and short in S. sylvatica. None of these species have been recorded in Vietnam before.

It was thus quite a surprise to find S. debra in Xuan Son National Park on 12 and 13 April, with several males observed on both days!

Sinosticta debra, male, rather rufous individual

A different male, less reddish

Another male, this individual with somewhat restricted antehumeral stripe

Same individual with restricted antehumeral, showing blackish frons without greenish blue spots.

The appendages in lateral view. The inner tooth on the ventral side of the upper appendages not visible here, but cerci clearly shorter than paraprocts.

Likewise, cerci shorter than paraprocts, dorsal view