A Surprising Find!

Instead of going directly to my usual haunt in the usual way, I thought I'd take a longer walk and use a different route for a change.

Surprise!  Surprise!

Spotted this dragonfly perched up high on a twig on a tree!

 

 

To think that I was actually looking out for birds when this guy caught my attention! 

And then I had to climb up a wall to get a good look and a slightly better angle for a photo, all the while hoping this dragonfly won't get frightened off and buzz away somewhere else.  Never mind about falling off that wall!

As it turned out, he does like his perch on this twig!

 

 

This is a male dragonfly of the species Pantala flavescens of the family Libellulidae, with hindwing length of 41mm.  The Pocket Guide describes this species as having distinctive dark tips to the hindwings, colours of abdomen quite variable depending on maturity with younger dragonflies being light ochre while females range from yellow ochre to umber brown; and this species would venture far from water over rainforest canopy, is migratory and often present in large swarms.

Now... that makes me wonder.  Again, this seemed to be the only male dragonfly of this species in this area...  Or at least the only male of this species that I had spotted on this day!  Or perhaps they would be in large swarms during migration?  That is something I would hope to see one day!

So far, I have seen only the female dragonfly of this species before and this is the first time I have spotted the male.  Now that I know this dragonfly likes to perch up high, I will keep an eye out in these high places from now on.

With some species of dragonflies and damselflies, I would always see both the females and males of the species all the time.  With some other species, I have spotted the males often and from time to time I would catch sight of the females as well.  Even sometimes only when there is a pair in tandem or in wheel.  With a few other species, the females are just mysteriously absent!

I wonder where they are hiding?

With the Pantala flavescens, when I first came across this species it was a female dragonfly that I had spotted, and she was also perched on a twig, though just a little above eye level.

More places to keep a lookout!

 

Note: Click on "pantala" in the "Tags" below to read up on the female dragonfly.