Caliphaea confusa and Caliphaea thailandica

In spring of this year I saw both Caliphaea confusa and C. thailandica in Yen Bai. Now during my road trip around the northern provinces I saw both species again. They were still very similar to each other, but completely different from the spring specimens I saw. Now both species had turned into really spectacular copper-red insects that would in the darker recesses of forest streams (thailandica) or more in the open (confusa) act out their territorial disputes. These males with their red bodies and whitish abdominal tips are beautiful to behold indeed. I saw many C. thailandica in Pia Oac Nature Reserve, where they were common along small streams under forest cover. C. confusa on the other hand I saw in Sa Pa at forest edge where they were active in the bright sun. Clearly both species have a long flight period, from early May to July at least.

Female Caliphaea confusa, by association with males

Caliphaea thailandica male in Pia Oac 

Caliphaea confusa male in Sa Pa

Two Caliphaea species

On May 10 and 11, when working the streams along QL32 west of Nam Bung, I was lucky enough to run into several Calopterids I had not seen before. These were very busy days, with so many discoveries that I did not take enough time to get proper photos. So hopefully at a later stage. Even the in hand shots are not great. Ah, well… But at least I was able to pinpoint the identities. Although these are very similar species in outward appearance, their appendages are rather different. See also the great entry on the subject of Caliphaea on Sebastien's blog. Whether the differences in color as obvious in the pictures could serve as ID feature needs more study.

Caliphaea confusa, male

Caliphaea thailandica, male

The typical double tooth on the inferior appendages of C. confusa, dorsal view

Ventral view of the rather boring inferior appendages of C. thailandica, with apologies for the poor quality of the photo.