On A Forest Trail...

I went for a walk along a forest trail next to a clear flowing stream and did not come back disappointed.

There weren't too many dragonflies around at all, but at least there was one that turned up to greet me and so I now have another species added to the checklist.

 

This Cratilla lineata of the family Libellulidae is the only species I saw along the trail that day. 

In terms of size, it is on the larger side of medium, if that makes any sense, with hindwing length of 36 - 38mm for the male and 38 - 40mm for the female.  This species can be found in closed forests and forested swamps and several species occur throughout eastern tropical Asia.

This picture shows a young mature dragonfly, and looks to me to be female.  Her wings are not completely clear and her markings are more similar to the C. metallica but lacking the dark wing-tips of that species.  Also, a study of the wing venation confirms it to be the Cratilla lineata.

 

I am sure that if I venture further along the trail and go there often enough at different times of the day, I would come across other species so that is something I have to find out.  Or, at the very least,  I should find the male of this species?

Sometimes I battle with myself when it comes to dragonfly identification.  A photograph can differ so much from a coloured drawing in a book or even other photographs in a database.  And that is not all.  Dragonflies can have various different morphs and colour forms like some species of birds do too.

I suppose catching specimens and studying them with a magnifying glass would easily aid in identification but my intentions at this time involve taking only digital photographs!  So am I out of my mind when I stare at various pictures of the same dragonfly for hours on end?

And then I spend even more hours in the outdoors taking in the beauty and serenity of places such as this in the forests.....