My third Vestalaria species in Vietnam: V. vinnula

In September last year I visited the mountains west of Da Nang close to the Laotian border and one of the objectives was Vestalaria vinnula, which had been recorded there by Toan previously. Interestingly on the stream where it was supposed to occur I found the very similarly looking V. miao. This is not to say that V. vinnula there had been a misidentification. I have seen the specimens and the identity is beyond doubt. Apparently in a different season a different Vestalaria inhabits the same stream. Very interesting. But I was of course also disappointed.

But when in December we visited Lam Dong Province near Da Lat one of the few damselfly species around was in fact Vestalaria vinnula (co-occurring there with similar looking Mnais mneme, a species that has pterostigmata and thus is easily separated from Vestalaria species upon a closer look). Here a few photos from V. vinnula. This species has longer inferior appendages, unlike V. miao, in which the inferiors are very much reduced. The shape of both the superiors and inferiors is much like those of V. smaragdina from the northern mountains and difficult to separate on the basis of these even on close inspection, but unlike V. smaragdina and very much like V. miao, V. vinnula has darkened crescents along the wingtips. The combination of long inferiors and dark crescents help easily establish its identity.

V. vinnula was described from the Lam Dong Province and subsequently also found further north, near Nha Trang, and, as indicated above, also occurs west of Da Nang. Given its widespread occurrence and the close proximity of some of the locations where it has been seen to the Lao PDR, it is probably not endemic to Vietnam. Apparently is survives well into December and it is thus conceivable it can be observed year round.

Vestalaria vinnula male. Note the darkened crescents on the wing apex and the in this photo just visible obvious lower appendage.

Appendages in lateral view. In this way it cannot be separated from V. smaragdina (on ventral or dorsal view it can, but not with ease), but the combination with the wing pattern helps clinch the ID.

Another male, this specimen with some pruinosity on the ventral side, very much like hyaline-winged Mnais mneme, which lacks the dark crescents and has dark pterostigmata.

Huu Lien - still a treasure trove*

*Updated after publication of Paracercion ambiguum

On October 19 I was all day at Huu Lien and as we know I ran into beautiful Coeliccia galbina. Thus it was a memorable day. Most other goodies were there too. On the gomphid front Labrogomhus torvus was still flying. Not surprising, as we saw it into December last year. Ceriagrion nipponicum, Vestalaria miao, Atrocalopteryx atrocyana and A. auco (the newly described endemic), Paracercion ambiguum, Prodasineura croconota, Gynacantha japonica and many more. Here are a few additional photos.

Price for rarity is likely deserved by Atrocalopteryx auco. Although its brother A. atrocyana is common all over Huu Lien, I saw only a single male of this species.

But what I did not expect was a great many Prodasineura croconota still flying. Last year I had not seen them and only discovered them in spring this year. But apparently I just overlooked them last autumn. Quite a few tandems were active. This is of course a female.

And this a tandem, with the exquisite male easily identified

Just like last year, Gynacantha japonica was active at dusk, hawking over the paddies. Until now I have not found this species anywhere else. This is a male.

These are the distinctive appendages in ventral view, about 4 times the length of the epiproct

Recognizable by the almost absent lower appendages and the brown crescent along the wing tips: male Vestalaria miao.

And there he is! The Paracercion ambiguum. As usual common along the stream from the reservoir.

Looking for Aeshnids

After last weekend in Pia Oac and the not-quite Planaeschna tomokunii, I decided to see if I could find a male. I woke up to a bright and sunny Pia Oac on Saturday morning and soon caught another male Planaeschna tamdaoensis, but from that moment my luck changed. Although I saw quite a few Aeshnids on this in the end rather cloudy day, I failed miserably with the net and did not catch any. Especially bothersome, because some certainly were not P. tamdaoensis, not likely P. cf. tomokunii for that matter. I did get a few better shots of Vestalaria smaragdina this time, and my first andromorph female Ischnura carpentieri, when I spotted what looked like a male ovipositing. Of course in this genus this is not uncommon, but whether or not it is also common in this species I do not know. Otherwise the birding was relatively good, with a large flock of Grey-headed Parrotbill, a new species for me, and pretty dandy Golden Parrotbills in another good flock.

Sunday I went to Tam Dao, to find the real Planeaschna tomokunii, but I did not see anything really, although I was happy to take photos of female Megalestes haui and it was good to see Coeliccia scutellum. This is a common species, but I had been spending relatively little time in places where they occur this summer, so it was good to meet again. Otherwise this day was enlivened with a flock of 24 Crested Serpent Eagles lifting off from a small hill in the plain to start their day's migration.

Female Ischnura carpentieri eating a bug after ovipositing

The male for comparison, note the brighter pterostigmata (amongst others)

Megalestes haui male from Pia Oac

Megalestes haui female from Tam Dao, above the village

Yes, I know, this is a dragonfly page and it is a shitty photo, but hey, recognizable, Grey-headed Parrotbill

Male Vestalaria smaragdina. Note the long inferior appendages and unmarked wings.

Male Noguchiphaea yoshikoae, also from Pia Oac, showing for instance the apical dark spot on the front wing

An amber-winged female of Vestalaria smaragdina. Note the lack of horns on the prothorax. 

Male Coeliccia scutellum, having just dropped the bug it was eating (now on the leaf between the legs)

Vestalaria smaragdina and Noguchiphaea yoshikoae at Pia Oac

Right near the top of the pass on the TL 212, near the little bog that has been such a great place during recent trips, the forest was full with Yellow-and-green Calopterids. In the early morning just inside the forest edge we noticed several females of Noguchiphaea yoshikoae, with their horned prothorax and obvious pseudo-pterostigma relatively easy to recognize. Later, when the sun was out, we also had quite a few males. We then also started noticing a few orange-winged similar looking damsels mixed in with the crowd, but on closer inspection these missed the spot at the wingtip and on even closer inspection, missed horns on the prothorax and had different appendages. At home the riddle was quickly solved. These are Vestalaria smaragdina, a widespread montane species, occurring from India in the west to Vietnam in the east, although to my knowledge only collected by Asahina from Sapa. Being an autumn species, it may have largely eluded visiting research parties, that favor springtime and early summer. We not only saw it at the same location with the Noguchiphaea. Although we only noticed the latter species at that one location, we ran into Vestalaria smaragdina at several streams at different altitudes inside the park. For Noguchiphaea this is a new location. I have seen it before at Tam Dao and inside Xuan Son NP.

Male Vestalaria smaragdina, somewhat skittish and later I was focussed on other things, so this is the best in situ shot

Scan of male V. smaragdina, showing orange wings without pseudo-pterostigma. Clear-winged males also occur.

Appendages of V. smaragdina in dorsal view

And in ventral view, showing the hooked inferiors and lobed superiors

Female Noguchiphaea yoshikoae under flash, note bleu-grey lower eyes

Male N. yoshikoae caught in the act. Note the blue lower eyes and dark spot on wingtip.

Characteristic appendages of the male, with dorsal spine

Noguchiphaea yoshikoae and Vestalaria miao

This weekend provided excellent opportunity to compare two similar species, even if in fact they belong to different genera. Noguchiphaea yoshikoae, named in 1976 by Asahina, and Vestalaria miao, named by Wilson and Reels in 2001. In Xuan Son National Park they can be seen side by side almost, at least in close proximity and on the same small stream. Interestingly in the morning only V. miao was present, but later in the afternoon there were as many N. yoshikoae as there were V. miao.
Although both species have a green head, green prothorax, green and yellow synthorax and green abdomen with whitish S8-10 dorsum and otherwise also a similar shape, there are clear structural differences in the shape of the appendages and in the typical horns that Noguchiphaea sports on the posterior lobe of the prothorax. These are more apparent in the female than in the male, but are well visible in hand. However, there are some clear characteristics that can be seen with binoculars to separate these two species. Although V. miao has a brownish edge along the wingtips, N. yoshikoae has very clear black "stigmata" (although technically not the same as pterostigmata, it is a pigmented area, black and well demarcated. Also, the lower half of the eyes is, just as in the females, blueish grey in Noguchiphaea, but green in Vestalaria.

Vestalaria miao, male

Another male. Note green eyes and diffuse brownish wingtips.

Noguchiphaea yoshikoae, male. Note blueish grey lower halves to eyes (and dark reddish brown upper) and very sharply demarcated stigmata of the front wings.

In close up the horns on the pronotum are also visible in the males of Noguchiphaea.

Note the lack of horns in Vestalaria and the color of the eyes

Note the horns on the posterior lobe of the prothorax and the color of the eyes of Noguchiphaea

Noguchiphaea yoshikoae, male in hand, compare shape with V. miao

V. miao, male in hand, compare with N. yoshikoae for instance shape of appendages

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