The male of Gynacantha basiguttata and a male G. japonica thrown in

November 21 I went to Huu Lien to look for the enigma Planaeschna cf. guentherpetersi again, but did not see it. I did catch an Aeshnid that passed overhead in the forest and was very happy to find it was a splendid male Gynacantha basiguttata. I had caught the female a few weeks back too. Apparently it is not that rare inside the forest. The other cool thing I saw was a communal roost of Cratilla lineata. I had seen that in Potamarcha congener, but this was new knowledge to me. At least 15 bundled together on a hanging twig.

On November 22 I went to Xuan Son and looked for the small pale-faced Planaeschna there. I did see one female, but failed to catch it. It was mostly an uneventful day, but I saw a few Gynacantha japonica and was able to take some pictures. Another unexpected species was Trithemis pallidinervis at the river crossing, which I had not seen this far north. And a fine male Ceriagrion chaoi was another nice one. Not at all that common, although regular at Xuan Son.

Very fine male Gynacantha basiguttata, note the dark wingbases.

Scan of the same male. Note the long and slender epiproct and the wingbases.

Pretty male Ceriagrion chaoi

Gynacantha japonica, note the pale epiproct.

And a surprise female Trithemis pallidinervis

It's a male's world (but it would be nothing without females)

Hanging around Pia Oac on April 4 and 5 I bumped into several interesting females that I would like to share here. Plus one interesting copula.

This here is the female of Mnais andersoni, by virtue of its association with a bundle of males

This is a copula of Ischnura carpentieri. The andromorph female it not common at all

Female Trithemis festiva, much more difficult to find than the male

Ovipositing female Anax nigrofasciatus

A different female A. nigrofasciatus, caught hunting over the road on the mountain

Female of Orthetrum triangulare with less clearly marked thorax compared to O. glaucum and dark tip to abdomen

First visit to Huu Lien in 2015 - Trigomphus* **

*This entry was adjusted slightly after publication of the description of Trigomphus kompieri Karube, 2015
**And again after publication of Paracercion ambiguum Kompier & Yu, 2016

Sunday March 22 was supposed to become a sunny day. Sadly, the weather forecast is not very reliable in Vietnam, but after a very cloudy morning I did have some weak sunshine in the afternoon, just enough for things to become a little more active. Last year in April I had found a new species of Trigomphus in Huu Lien, but by then it was already scarce, as Trigomphus is an early genus (season-wise). I wanted to take some better photos of it, so for the first real dragonfly trip in northern Vietnam of the season I headed for Huu Lien. In the morning I saw two males and a female, but they did not linger. When the sun came out in the afternoon they showed better, but sadly no female anymore. This Trigomphus species is the most southerly (apparently) of the genus and with the broad dark line of the flanks quite exceptional. A lovely gomphid. It has recently been described by Haruki Karube as T. kompieri.

I was able to see 31 species over the day, not bad, given that the weather was not good and it is only March. Highlights included 5 freshly emerged Asiagomphus, likely A. auricolor, 3 Epophthalmia elegans, Anax guttatus, and Paracercion ambiguum.

Beautiful Trigomphus kompieri, male

Another male perched by the side of the stream

Same male as in the previous photo, perched this time on a snag 

A common species, but handsome, Trithemis aurora, female

Copula of Pseudagrion microcephalum, one of three Pseudagrion species observed today

Already subject of the blog on many occasions, yet another photo of the pretty Paracercion ambiguum.

One of five freshly emerged Asiagomphus, likely auricolor.

Two interesting discoveries at Xuan Son

On November 29, while looking for Aeshnids in Xuan Son, I ran into a few additional goodies. Not only was a male Merogomphus paviei still around, I was also very surprised to see several Macromia flying about over a sunny stream. Upon capture these were Macromia malleifera, which was amazing, given the fact that I had visited Xuan Son quite a few times since the last record . That was on July 4. Maybe these were a new generation?

The other record of note was a female Trithemis festiva. Now, T. festiva is a very common species, no doubt about that. But I had only had very few previous glimpses of females, irrespective of males being easily found. And I never had the chance to catch one or take pictures. So it was noteworthy to catch one finally. She was ovipositing and after I took some shots I released her to resume her business.

Magnificent Macromia malleifera, a late season flyer too.

The typical pale-yellow postclypeus of M. malleifera.

And this is her, the elusive female of Trithemis festiva

A few more common dragonflies not yet on the blog - Trithemis

There are two (very common) and one less common, but certainly not uncommon, Trithemis species easily encountered in northern Vietnam. One is the very purple Trithemis aurora, a common, but excitingly beautiful dragonfly. There are after all many reddish, but few purple dragonflies about. The second is the dark blue (but with abdomen checkered with yellow) Trithemis festiva, a species occurring as far west as Turkey. And lastly, the somewhat different Trithemis pallidinervis, which sits with wings raised very much like the Idiataphe dragonflies of the New World. There is some difference in the way these different species from the same genus behave. T. aurora males sit often on exposed branches and twigs sticking out of, or overhanging the water. T. festiva likes to sit on rocks or concrete along or in streams and T. pallidinervis is a species not of streaming, but of standing water, and sits on emergents in heavily vegetated shallow waters. It is for instance common in Van Long, but I also saw it in Huu Lien recently. T. aurora females are easily found perched on the tips of branches, often quite high, from where they hunt, T. pallidinervis females can be found perched in the same way as males along lakes and pools, but females of T. festiva are rarely seen, at least by me. T. pallidinervis was introduced before, but for completeness sake, here an old specimen (in fact from Huu Lien)

As purple as it gets, Trithemis aurora, male

A different male

Trithemis aurora female, not a good photo, I know, just did not get round to taking proper pictures of it

Trithemis festiva, male, on a rocky surface

Trithemis pallidinervis, male, and a nice oldish one too

Trithemis pallidinervis

A few years back I visited the Mekong Delta and noticed some striking dragonflies sitting on the tips of stalks with wings raised. This turned out to be Trithemis pallidinervis. It took a while, but when visiting Van Long Nature Reserve I finally saw it again. In fact it is quite common there, both when visiting in early September and in early October. Of course that only means it is present in that period, not that it is absent in other periods. Time will tell. It can quite easily be recognized, with its whitish face, boldly striped thorax, black and white abdomen and the basal spots to the wings, on top of which its behaviour of sitting at the tips of aquatic emergents with wings raised is also a giveaway.

Trithemis pallidinervis, male, at the tip of vegetation with wings raised

And Trithemis pallidinervis, female, likewise