An Afternoon With The Vestalis!

It had rained in the morning.

So... there goes my plan for the day, I thought.  Nevertheless, I was quite happy to stay indoors with a good book and stay dry and nice on days when I don't have to get all drenched in the rain like when I am working in the outdoors.

Contrary to what the weather forecast had said, rain in the morning and thunderstorms in the afternoon, the sun did come out much later in the day.  I was feeling rather lazy by then and was a bit reluctant to get moving but an opportunity to go looking for dragonflies is something I seldom resist!

The first creature to greet me was a Vestalis damselfly.  And as it turned out, this is one of the rare days with encounters of more than a dozen Vestalis damselflies!  Perhaps even a score... I had lost count!

Not only that, even though I had just missed witnessing a pair in wheel, I did get the chance to observe the behaviour of an ovipositing pair.

The male Vestalis gracilis damselfly was guarding the female throughout the ovipositing process, which took over fifteen minutes to complete.

The female damselfly took her time, carefully ovipositing her eggs into the grass stems at several different spots in the flowing water.

The male damselfly would be nearby the whole time.  Sometimes perched right next to her and keeping a lookout while at other times keeping a watchful eye on the female.

Once the oviposition was completed, both damselflies flew away in different directions to perch in different places.

I would have taken tons of photos but it was not easy.  The female would be perched on a grass stem that is quivering in the ripple of the stream.  With the slight breeze, she would also be quavering and almost swaying from side to side while she is ovipositing her eggs.  Add to that, my hands were shaky in my haste to capture the moment as fast as I could in case I missed it.  Arrrgh!

Finally, I did calm down enough to get a few shots that good enough!

After that, I did come across another pair of Vestalis damselflies in the midst of their courtship dance and sat down to watch and wait.  During this time, the female damselfly stopped momentarily to perch only once and the dancing would continue again.

But it was not meant to be.  After about thirty minutes, both damselflies went their separate ways.  Perhaps it had been just tedious.  Or perhaps because night would be approaching soon.

But, besides the Vestalis damselflies, I have another two species to add to my checklist!

What a great day indeed!

Truly A Graceful, Elegant Dance

I recently had the chance to observe the dance of a pair of damselflies.
And I wondered if it could be the ritual for their courtship-mating dance?

It was a bright, hot, sunny morning and the venue was at a small stream in an open area.  I could have easily missed the whole spectacle but for the ghostly fluttering movements that caught my eye.  I crept in closer and crouched down to watch and wait. 

This pair of Vestalis damselflies were just dancing in the breeze.  The female damselfly would always be at the front, facing into the breeze and fluttering her wings while the male damselfly would flutter just behind her, following her every movement.  And they would just be dancing on the spot like that.

After a while she would dash a few meters away, followed eagerly by the male damselfly and the pair would then dance on the spot again.  And they went on like that for quite a long while, going to and fro, to and fro, just fluttering away.

I crouched there in the hot sun and waited.  No wonder passers-by think I'm out of my mind, right?  But all I could think of was that this pair of damselflies would have to stop and perch at some point, isn't it?  And I had hoped they would perch near to me.

And they did.

Vestalis gracilis, male

Vestalis gracilis, female

So I managed to take photos of each of the male and female damselflies.  These are the Vestalis gracilis damselflies.

On several occasions, when the female perched on a stem of grass, the male would also stop to perch just inches away, at opposites and face to face with the female damselfly.  After a short break, the dancing starts again.  And the whole sequence is repeated.  Eventually, they went too far away and disappeared soon after that.

It is just too bad that I could not take photos when they perched face-to-face or even of their dance though I have the performance filmed in my mind's eye.

These Vestalis gracilis damselflies are as graceful as their name suggests and their fluttering dancing movements were certainly elegant.

The Adult Damselfly

Several months ago, I had featured an immature damselfly of the species Echo modesta (read it here).

Soon after that, I have been back exploring in the same area in the forest, again and again, to look for this damselfly and hoping to find the adult.  And I did.

 

 

The above photo shows an adult male damselfly of the species Echo modesta of the family Calopterygidae, which can be easily recognized by the large, distinctive, seemingly incandescent white patch on its head. 

He is certainly good looking!

However, this damselfly seems to be rather shy of people and kept flying away to hide.  Or, to phrase it correctly, it is probably wary of me as it is not often that people would venture there and I was the intruder after all.

Anyway, I am hoping to get a photo of the female one of these days.

 

 

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.

Green And Graceful

 

The Pocket Guide lists three different species of Vestalis damselflies to be found in Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore.  All three species look very similar and are best differentiated by studying their appendages. 

The Vestalis species from the family Calopterygidae are large damselflies with metallic green body, long legs and broad wings, which actually give them a rather graceful gait when they fly. 

 

 

Both the above photos show the male damselfly of one of the Vestalis damselflies.

The correct species id can be confirmed based on certain markings on the thorax (specifically for the Vestalis gracilis) and by studying the appendages of the damselfly, as shown below.

 

 

Anyway, the males and females of the Vestalis species have similar markings and their colours give them a good camouflage whether they are perched among leaves in the forest or fluttering away to hide.  The female can be differentiated by their less brilliant colours and the different appendages.  The following photo shows a female Vestalis damselfly.

 

 

Here's a photo of the abdomen of the female damselfly:

 

 

This species of damselfly fascinates me.  Frankly, I have always thought dragonflies to be more captivating than the tiny damselflies, perhaps due to the plasticky faces of the Ischnura species that one often encounters everywhere.  But these Vestalis species are large damselflies yet they are graceful, look almost as fragile as the tiny damselflies and they do have nice looking faces too!

I had also come across the male of this species a few months ago at a different location.

UPDATE 12 APRIL 2011:  This species is confirmed as the Vestalis gracilis by dragonflyman, C.Y. Choong.  Thanks a million!

 

Calopterygidae - Neurobasis chinensis

Glimmering Green Wings

This past week, I have been out scouting for dragonflies and damselflies whenever I can.  And I must say that being in the forests and near streams listening to insect choruses and the sounds of flowing water have been most peaceful and just sweet! 

It is certainly the best music for the ears; not to mention the mind and soul.

My explorations have also been fruitful.

I have found the mature male of the Neurobasis chinensis and this is what it looks like:

 

 

I sat down to observe this male damselfly and when it had landed on a perch, it will initially flutter its wings several times, repeated at intervals, displaying the brilliant colours of its hindwings.  After a while, it will then remain quite still and motionless for a long time unless disturbed.  Sometimes, it would be grooming. 

When disturbed, it will then take off from its perch, find another place or fly back to the same perch and repeat the fluttering displays of its bright glimmering green hindwings again.  I took the chance in keeping the camera focused on it and patience and perseverence did pay off!

 

 

It is a good looking male damselfly, isn't it?

Also observed the female of this species fluttering its wings and giving a display while it was perched on a rock nearby.

 

 

That got me to wonder if these fluttering displays are signals and do they mean anything?

When I came across the female Neurobasis chinensis for the first time some time ago, I did not find the male damselfly then and I also did not observe any wing display by the female.  Click here to read the earlier article.

 

 

More Species!

I had a field day exploring in the outdoors!  Again!

It was really great to just take my time walking along trails through the woods, scouring the forest floor, canopy, streams... looking at everything I can lay my eyes upon in nature!  More particularly for dragonflies and damselflies but also for birds, butterflies, flowers, insects, toads, lizards... you name it!

And I did find a few species of dragonflies and damselflies that I have not come across before so it has been a fruitful day!

There is this species of damselfly of the family Calopterygidae that I have not managed to identify as yet.  To make matters worse, I did not manage to get good shots of this damselfly.

 

 

These photos are the best that I have and I had managed only a few shots before this damselfly flittered away into the shrubs out of reach and out of sight!

 

 

Darn!

Anyway, I have updated the Checklist and there are now 30 odonate species recorded for Langkawi, hopefully I did get them all correct, plus another two unidentified including the damselfly above.  Can anyone help identify this damselfly species?

 

Updated 20 Jan 2010:

ID confirmed by Ian to be the Echo modesta of the family Calopterygidae.  According to the Pocket Guide, this species is the largest of the broad-winged Zygoptera, the males having hindwing length of 34-38mm.  Wow! 

Also, this one that I found is a young adult so it is lacking in certain identification features such as the white patch on the head for the male and dark wing tips for the female.

 

And So It Is The Neurobasis chinensis!

 

Yippee!

Many thanks to Ian Choong, who has confirmed that the beautiful, green and graceful damselfly that I had thought might be the Vestalis species, is actually the Neurobasis chinensis, female, also of the family Calopterygidae.  This species is widespread in mainland tropical Asia and Sumatra.

 

 

I had needed that expert eye to confirm this and when it comes to Odonata of Peninsular Malaysia, he really is the expert here, having spent many years observing and studying them.

 

 

Since he has confirmed the identification of this species, I now notice the white pseudo-pterostigma on the hindwings too.  This applies to the females of this species.  I do hope to come across the male of this species one of these days.  From the Guide Book, the male looks like he'll really make heads turn.  It's definitely a wow!  So I am keeping my fingers crossed and now have renewed motivation to keep scouring Langkawi for it.

 

 

Previously, I had been looking at the thorax and appendages; literally everything but the markings on the wings!  And sometimes when you are looking for outstanding details in too many pictures of similar things for too long, they all become a blur and look the same!  Yet now, the markings on the wings seem so obvious.  I had been so blind to it.

Lesson learned.

And, as I would always say, learning never stop.

 

 

Green Is In!

 

Isn't he glitzy?  Just look at the metallic green body of that damselfly!

I was walking on a forest trail with a friend when I spotted this guy while she spotted a spider.  This damselfly was rather well camouflaged among the bushes. 

Me:  "Ahh!  Look!  A damselfly!" 

Friend:  "Where?"

Me:  "There!  Do you see it?"

Friend:  "Where?"

You get the gist!  A green damselfly among green foliage with daylight growing dimmer is not the easiest thing to spot. 

And I had to go looking again another day for more photographs to properly identify it.  That first time, he was perched on a leaf and did not move away too much but the angle and lighting was not the best.  The next time I went there on my own, this guy was being totally elusive and would not let me get near at all.  He would show himself, then go hide in the bushes where I cannot find him and when I did, he went fluttering away to perch on another leaf further away and higher up.  It went on like that quite a few times...

Perhaps he was playing a game of hide-and-seek?  Or is he now camera shy?  Or perhaps he just liked my friend better than he does me!

One thing for sure, this green male damselfly is certainly a grand and good looking one!

 

 

Could this possibly be the Vestalis gracilis of the family Calopterygidae?  The superior appendages of this species are curved inward strongly and the thorax is marked with discrete light green patches.  Or it could even be the Vestalis amoena or Vestalis amethystina?  All three species in this family look very similar and it would be difficult to tell them apart just from looking at photos like these.

The Vestalis gracilis can be found mainly in the north of Peninsular Malaysia though it is widespread in continental Asia, while Vestalis amoena is widespread in Sundaland except Java and the Vestalis amethystina is widespread in Peninsular Malaysia.  Tough one here, isn't it?

Anyway, the Calopterygidae family of damselflies are commonly known as Broad-winged Damselflies due to their broad wingspans, with many species having metallic-coloured bodies and heavily-tinted wings.

I still do not have the best shots of this damselfly and will definitely go there again for more!  But I did get a good shot of this spider on my second visit to this area...

 

 

It seems to me to be the Nephila pilipes, one of the species of the Golden Silk Orb Weavers noted for the large, strong and impressive webs they build. 

And, my dear friend, this spider pic is for you!

 

 

Damselflies Galore

Taken on 10-Aug-2009
Langkawi