An Early Riser

I have spent countless number of hours sitting by the pond during the mid to late morning and on several afternoons just watching these damselflies.  Nothing ever happens.  All they do is stay very still on their perch and some of them don't even budge until you get really, really close.  And only then would they flitter away to perch somewhere else and that's it.  

Nothing else happens!

So I'd started thinking perhaps these damselflies preferred their solitude?

It's great in a way because you can get in plenty of photos and these damselflies have such amazing bright colours and are really pretty to look at!  But, isn't the natural instinct always for the survival of the species?   Why aren't these damselflies doing anything?  What is their cycle or pattern of behaviour?

And then, one morning, I finally got to the pond early enough, as the sun was coming up behind the hills, and there they were.  There were a few pairs of these Ceriagrion cerinorubellum damselflies in wheel and in tandem.  

Beautiful!

Finally!

Morning Rendezvous

Spent a few hours this morning being mesmerized by dragonflies and damselflies at a pond.  The whole scenery was alive with the buzzing of various dragonflies and damselflies such that I was totally enraptured!

As I watched, my heart went out to this Platylestes heterostylus as a Pseudagrion australasiae kept attacking it as it perched on a stem, chasing it away.  It took a while, and several perches later, before it found peace of mind and eventually began its morning stretching routine by flexing and swinging its abdomen in an aerobic workout.

This Pseudagrion australasiae is really quite a bully...

One of the Lestes praemorsus at the pond.  There were quite a number of them, all perched quite inconspicuously, minding their own business, each in its own world of daydreams.

I wonder what happened to that wing of this Neurothemis fulvia?  Looks as if it's been scorched.  Doesn't it make you wonder?

The Aethriamanta gracilis was rather flighty but finally managed to take a few photos.  Spotted several of them this morning.

Also spotted about five of these tiny yellow damselflies of the species Ceriagrion calamineum.

A contrast to the yellow damselfly above is this dashing red dragonfly, the Urothemis signata.

A number of these hovered near my feet.  These really tiny Agriocnemis femina could easily dart away and disappear from sight in a fraction of a second.

These damselflies sharing a twig.

And another favourite hangout on a twig with more than just one damselfly.

And then, there was also this bee that had me distracted for a bit.....

What a great morning indeed!

More Pics of the Ceriagrion cerinorubellum

 

The Ceriagrion cerinorubellum is indeed a colourful and attractive-looking damselfly!

 

 

...no matter how you look at it!

 

 

Hopefully, one of these days I will get to observe a pair in tandem, or in wheel, and get even more pics!

Anyway, it was in the afternoon on a beautiful day when I spotted these beautiful creatures.  And for some reason, even those man-made structures looked kind of "alright" as they stand tall on this hill in their attempt at grandiosity even as they add a finishing touch to the scenery.

 

 

The monstrosity of those towers have been dwarfed by the expanse of the clouds.

I'd say the skies made all the difference!  Wouldn't you agree?

 

 

A Colourful Damselfly

Recently visited a pond and found a good number of these damselflies there.

 

 

The Ceriagrion cerinorubellum... a rather colourful damselfly indeed!

Quite striking, actually.

 

 

Coenagrionidae - Ceriagrion auranticum

Coenagrionidae - Ceriagrion cerinorubellum

A Colourful Find On A Cloudy Morning

It was cloudy, overcast and a bit gloomy this morning.  Since I was already up, I thought I might as well pay a visit to the pond anyway.

As I had thought, the place was quiet and full of inactivity.  And there was none of the usual chirping of birds to break the silence of the dawn and fill the air with greetings for a new day.

I saw only a few of the usual common odonata species hidden among the grasses, still waking up and getting warmed up for flight and I did not see the usual scene of dragonflies buzzing around patrolling their territories.  Nevertheless, there was a pair of Ischnura senegalensis in tandem, a pair of Pseudagrion microcephalum in wheel, a pair of Copera ciliata in tandem and a few of the Agriocnemis femina just starting to move about more actively.  I took a few photos of all of  them and continued walking around the pond.

Just when I thought that's about the most I will find for this morning, a spot of colours caught my eye.

 

 

This brightly coloured damselfly is the Ceriagrion cerinorubellum of the family Coenagrionidae.  The male of this species has hindwing length of 17mm.  According to the Pocket Guide, this is one of the commonest and most colourful member of its family and this damselfly is a ferocious predator, consuming teneral individuals and other damselflies larger than itself.

Yet this was the only damselfly of this species that I found.

 

 

It has amazing colours on the thorax and abdomen but its face has a "plasticky" appearance like the Ischnura senegalensis owing to the large mandibles that make up a big proportion of its face.  As you can see in the above photo, it gives the damselfly a seemingly savage look.

I guess its reputation as a ferocious predator explains why it was quite undeterred by me as I got closer to have a good look and take a few photos.  I could move about freely and this tiny damselfly did not even flutter away warily like some of the other species do.

It is as fearless as it looks!

 

 

Damselfly in Pastels

 

This damselfly is so tiny that you could easily have missed it if you don't keep an eye out for these little creatures.  And though it looks rather colourful close-up, it can also quite easily blend into its surroundings just as well with its colours.  This damselfly that I found has a rather pretty pastel yellow thorax, green compound eyes and an orangey-reddish abdomen.  The abdomen would be rather red in mature males.

This damselfly is the Ceriagrion auranticum of the family Coenagrionidae.  According to the Pocket Guide, the male has hindwing length of 17mm and it is widespread in mainland tropical Asia.

 

 

I have only seen this species of damselflies on two separate occasions in all these months and so far only one single individual each time.  That's how infrequent the sightings can be for some of these species though it is listed as widespread in the Pocket Guide.  So you can imagine it is quite a pleasant surprise to stumble upon them once in a while.

I must admit I have not been out looking for dragonflies for a while.  Lately, it has been so hot that after a day's work out kayaking in the sun, all I want to do after that is to rest in my cool, shady nest at home.  But I think I will be needing another dose of dazzling dragonflies and damselflies again one of these days to put a smile on my face...

 

Updated 20 Jan 2010:

Ian has kindly pointed out that the adult Ceriagrion chaoi has red eyes while the C. auranticum has green eyes.  So, there you go..... the mature C. chaoi has yellow thorax, red abdomen and red eyes while the C. auranticum has green thorax, orange abdomen and green eyes...  And what have I got here?  Green eyes, yellow abdomen and yellowish-orangey abdomen.  How confusing can these creatures be?