White Legs

I decided to do a bit of exploring early this morning before getting to work and did not come back disappointed.

Spotted the Copera ciliata of the family Platycnemididae today. 

Initially, what I noticed was a small blurry whitish blob that was moving around rather stealthily, almost like a ghostly shadow, and I could vaguely see the tail or abdomen to realise it was a damselfly but I couldn't figure out what it was.  So I followed it.  When it finally perched and I zoomed in and saw it close-up for the first time, it was a nice surprise to see another species of damselfly that is new to me. 

This damselfly is dainty, it is beautiful and it looks rather unique because of the white legs.

 

 

The Pocket Guide describes this species as having clear white bands on the thorax but I thought what I saw was more of a blueish tint on this damselfly.

 

 

This species is widespread in tropical Asia.

 

 

Calopterygidae - Vestalis gracilis

January 2010: Am still on the big debate whether it is the V. gracilis, V. amoena or the V. amethystina?
Having taken more recent photos, I'm thinking more towards V. amoena...
But until I can confirm it for sure, I guess the species identification for this damselfly is still pending.

12 APRIL 2011: ID confirmed to be the Vestalis gracilis thanks to our Odonatologist in Malaysia, C.Y. Choong.

Three Damselflies

Don't you just love them!

Sometimes these dragonflies and damselflies do test your patience as they flutter about and buzz around and won't even let you get near, much less stay still for you to take a photograph.  And sometimes they would just pose so sweetly for you!

Came across this trio of Heliocypha biforata, a male and two females, perched on a twig.

 

 

Although they did not just sit there the whole time and pose for me and one or the other would fly away and come back to the same perch, they did give me this photo opportunity and I did manage to get this one shot of all three damselflies in a row.

How often would this happen?

 

 

Damselflies Galore

Taken on 10-Aug-2009
Langkawi

Odonata of Langkawi

It has been over three months since I took that first dragonfly photo.

Since then, I have taken many more photos of dragonflies and damselflies and learned lots, lots more about them.  And I am still learning.

During this time, I came across C.Y. Choong's blog, "Odonata of Peninsular Malaysia", and started reading and learning from him through his blog.  From here, I found the link to Asia Dragonfly and later, also bought "A Pocket Guide: Dragonflies of Peninsular Malaysia & Singapore" by A.G. Orr, and have since found many other links for references.

I am now ready for more.

The term dragonfly is often used generally to refer to both dragonflies and damselflies.  These insects belong to the order Odonata.  There are two main suborders in Odonata: Zygoptera (damselflies) and Anisoptera (dragonflies), and a third suborder, a very small group which is almost extinct, called Anisozygoptera. 

The name Odonata actually refers to the large teeth-like mandibles of both the larva and adult of these creatures.

To differentiate between the two, damselflies are generally very slender while dragonflies are stouter, stronger-flying insects.  As for their forewings and hindwings, they are similar in shape and venation for the damselflies and commonly held closed above the body.  With the dragonflies, however, these wings are more or less dissimilar and commonly held spread out when they are at rest.

To date, I have managed to put a few names to the dragonfly and damselfly species I have captured on digital images.  If you are an odonatist and you do see an error in the identification of species, I sincerely hope you would point it out to me so I could correct it.  I would be happy to learn from you.

I hope to start compiling the checklist for "Odonata of Langkawi" soon.  And I have a few months of catching up to do on what I've got thus far...

Wish me luck!