Coenagrionidae - Aciagrion hisopa

More Of The Blues

 

Another blue damselfly! 

Don't ask me how I knew this would turn out to be a different species when I decided to take this photo.  I didn't.  I had thought it seemed a bit different and, true enough, it is different from all those other blue damselflies that I have come across previously.

This little blue damselfly is the Aciagrion hisopa of the family Coenagrionidae and this species is common in open areas.  The males have hindwing length of 17.5mm, S8-10 of its abdomen is blue and there is also the distinctive markings on its head.

 

 

 

View of the head and thorax of the Aciagrion hisopa.

 

 

 

S8-10 of the abdomen

 

Blue damselflies aside, perhaps I've got a bit of the blues too.  I am quite used to being on my own but since that hectic weekend in the valley, being home by myself is just not quite the same.  I am restless.  Anyway, I am sure I will get back into the swing of things soon enough.

And, perhaps, all I need right now is just another dose of nature.....

 

 

What A Week!

The week was hectic, fun, tedious, refreshing, exhausting, nice, great...  just great!

I was one among some 200-odd people who converged at a small sleepy village that lies in a valley, surrounded by mountainous ranges on the third largest island in the world, for an adventure that would get your adrenaline pumping and your heart rates racing, though I was not among the 100-odd people who were competing out there.  Hectic as the week may be, there were moments when I could just be a tourist off the beaten track, taking the time to smell the flowers, enjoy the scenery, look at a few dragonflies and, of course, take a few photos like tourists do.....

 

 

The mountain range in the early morning hours and the river that runs alongside the lodgings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The village boys who came out to watch us...

 

 

 

 

 

 

A red dragonfly perched on the barbed wire fence in the fields, the Orthetrum testaceum.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another dragonfly, the Neurothemis terminata.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Orthetrum testaceum, a pair in wheel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bamboo forest...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A villager and his dog walking up the steep tracks to his village that's miles away.  A lot of the villagers have to walk several hours just to get somewhere.  And the kids walk several hours in the morning over mountainous terrain to get to school each day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possibly a Neurothemis disparilis or a female of the Camacinia gigantea.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stormy skies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Athyma nefte, the Colour Sergeant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Neptis hylas, the Common Sailor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bright yellow flowers growing wild next to the tracks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A close-up of the pretty bell-shaped yellow flowers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the villages in the valley.