Rather Obscure-Looking Yet Pleasing

 

I found this dragonfly perched on a grass stem at a pond recently. 

It is the Indothemis limbata of the family Libellulidae.  This medium-sized dragonfly has hindwing length of 29mm, dark wing tips and a dark patch at the base of its hindwings that aid in the identification of this species.

Here's a look at his face...

 

 

There is a slaty blue patch on its face that is almost a match to the colour of its abdomen whereas the compound eyes, thorax and basal dark patch on its hindwings are uniformly dark-coloured.  The colours and the way it is perched makes it almost inconspicuous in its surroundings.  It seems like a rather obscure-looking dragonfly yet the slaty blue colours give it a pleasing look.

The Pocket Guide lists this species as rare and local over open water and I did not see too many of them at the pond.