Damselfly (16b) - Amphicenis gracilis, Male

I am happy to have finally photographed a male, Amphicenis gracilis. Typically of this species, it perched near a small pool of smelly muddy water under very dim surrounding.  It was pretty tough shooting in such poor lighting condition especially this damselfly is highly sensitive to the use of flash.  As such, most of my images are captured without flash such as this one:

  

(Lornie Trail - 21 May 2011)

The following image is the only acceptable shot with flash:

(Shot with fill flash)

I will certainly revisit this place to get improvement shots as well as close-up.

See related posts:

16 - Amphicenis gracilis

16a - Improvement shots of a pretty immature female, A. gracilis

Dragonfly (43) - Macromia cincta

Family : Corduliidae
Common Name : Stream Cruiser
Status : Rare
Location : Lornie Trail

According to the Book on Dragonflies of Singapore, this is a huge dragonfly which can be seen flying along forest trails near swampy areas.  It is a rare species which is knowm to be found at MacRitchie Resevior.

They have beautiful bluish-green eyes and there is an unmistakable whitish band on the side of its thorax.

I was glad to spot this dragonfly hanging on a tree branch when I went with 2 friends for odonata hunting at Lornie Trail yesterday.  The eyes of this dragonfly are more bluish in colour and my guess was that it should be a female which was later correctly confirmed by Mr Tang.  It was quite cooperative and I managed to take both the dorsal and side views.  Unfortunately the sunlight was harsh and I couldn't get a good shot of the dorsal view ie. the bright branch in the background is quite distracting.

Having said that, I am still happy with what I have as it is my first dragonfly post in 2011! 

(Lornie Trail - 20 Jan 2011)

Damselfly (28) - Agriocnemis Nana

Family : Coenagrionidae
Common Name : Dwarf Wisp
Status : Very rare
Location : Lornie Trail

This is the smallest damselfly in Singapore, a very rare species.  It is about 2 cm, slightly smaller than Agriocnemis Femina.  The thorax and abdomen of the male are blue in colour with black markings.  It looks like a smaller version of the male Pseudagrion Microcephalum.  The female has a greenish yellow with black marking thorax, more attractive than the male, in my opinion.

(Female - Lornie Trail, 15 Sep 2010)

I spotted this tiny female at Lornie Trail this morning.  After I took a single shot, a female dragonfly (Acisoma Panorpoides) suddenly came and preyed on it!  The dragonfly ate so fast that within a few minutes, my precious damselfly species was gone.  My friend found another female nearby but before we could capture it, it flew away.  As this species was very small in size, it was extremely difficult to re-locate it.  A real pity that I did not photograph this species well :-(  

(Eaten by a dragonfly - 15 Sep 2010)

Afternote : I revisited Lornie Trail on 20 Oct 2010 and I sighted one female around the same area.  I was happy to capture some improvement shots this time round.

(Lornie Trail - 20 Oct 2010)

Dragonfly (41) - Nesoxenia Lineata

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Striped Grenadier
Status : Uncommon forest species
Location : Lornie Trail

According to the "Singapore Dragonfly Book", this is an uncommon forest species which has been recorded  only in MacRichie Reservior and Kent Ridge.  It looks quite similar to Agrionoptera Insignis especially from the side view.  My way of differiating these 2 species are (1) N. Lineata is slightly smaller than A. Insignis; (2) the dorsum of the thorax of N. Lineata is pale blue in colour; (3) for N. Lineata, only abdominal segments 6-8 are red in colour while the abdomen of A. Insignis is red throughout.  From the dorsal view, it also looks a little like the male Agrionoptera Sexlineata.

(Lornie Trail - 25 Aug 2010)

This was spotted along Lornie Trail just after the golf link, my first sighting.  It perched quite high up on a twig and I had to fully stretch the tripod on the board walk in order to get an eye level shot.  It stayed there for a long period without moving abit except glancing at me occasionally while I took pictures of it.  I wanted to get a dorsal view but it was too high up for me.

Dragonfly (40) - Urothemis Signata

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Scarlet Basker
Status : Common
Location : Lornie Trail

This is another common dragonfly but my first sighting was only recently at Lornie Trail.  The eyes, thorax  and abdomen are all red in colour. From the dorsal view, there are 2 black marks near the abdomen tip.  I may have seen this species before and mistaken it as Crocothemis Servilia.  Both are all red in colour and you need to take a closer look to differentiate them.

(Male - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

There were quite a no. of them flying near the reservior edge and a few of them appeared to enjoy perching under the hot sunlight. I was lucky to find one that perched comfortably under a shaded tree which made it easier for me to shoot. The female is said to be light yellow brown in colour which I hope to see one soon.

Dragonfly (38) - Macrodiplax Cora

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Coastal Glider
Status : Common
Location : Lornie Trail

M. Cora is a middle-sized dragonfly species with a relatively large head.  The male has a dark brown thorax and its abdomen is red in colour while the female has light orange-yellow thorax and abdomen.  The immatured male looks similar to the female except that its colours is a little darker.  Both sexes have distinguishable thick broken black marking on the upperside of the abdomen. 

(Immatured male - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

Although this species is classified as common, strangely, this was my first sighting in my 3 years of chasing dragonflies.  There were 2 of them perching on a dry twig quite a distance from the reservior.  Occasionally, they would fight one another but returned to the same perch.  An easy species to photograph.

(Frontal view - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (37) - Chalybeothemis Fluviatilis

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Green-eyed Percher
Status : Uncommon
Location : Lornie Trail

This is a small and thin uncommon dragonfly which is slightly smaller than that of the Diplacodes Trivialis.  As its common name suggests, both sexes have attractive green eyes.  The thorax of the male is metallic dark blue colour.  Accordingly to the Dragonflies of Singapore's Photographic Guide Book, the female is similar but with brown colour on the dorsum of thorax and the wing base tinted with brownish yellow.

(Male - Lornie Trail, 23 Aug 2010)

Similar to my 2 previous posts, this male was also sighted at the edges of Macritchie Reservior along Lornie Trail.  A skittish species which did not allow me to go fewer than 2 metres near.  I could only shoot from the walking path looking down into the reservior water where this dragonfly perched just slightly above.  Even with my 1.4TC attached to a 180mm macro lens, this image was heavily cropped.  I hope to get an improvement shot of the male soon and to meet the female too!

Revisited Lornie Trail during my morning off this morning (25 Aug 2010) and was rewarded with another 3 new collection of dragonflies and some improvement shots of exisitng species.

(Front view - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

(Dorsal view - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

I was excited to witness a mating pair but fortunately it lasted only for a minute or so and I was too slow to get a good shot at them. 

(Mating pair - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

  

Dragonfly (36) - Indothemis Limbata

Family : Libelluidae

Common Name : Restless Demon
Status : Critically endangered
Location : Lornie Trail

This species is listed in the Singapore Red Data Book as critically endangered.  The male is dark blue in colour with some silver markings at the last few segments of its adbomen.  The colour of the female is said to be paler and is even more rare.

(Male - Lornie Trail, 23 Aug 2010)

On 23 Aug 2010, 2 males were spotted around the reservior edges along the Lornie Trail.  They perched on some leaves in the middle of the water making it difficult to shoot.  The above image was taken with my tripod set at the slope of the reservior edge.   I had to attach my 1.4TC to get a reasonable reach to this dragonfly.  Fortunately, it stayed at this perch for a long period enabled me to take some decent shots.

(Lornie Trail - 23 Aug 2010)

I revisited Lornie Trail on 25 Aug 2010 and I am glad to obtain an improvement shot of this species.

(Lornie Trail - 25 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (35) - Aethriamanta Brevipennis

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Scarlet Adjudant
Status : Rare
Location : Lornie Trail

Aethriamanta BrevipennisIt is a small and short species but strongly built with broad abdomen.  The male is bright red in colour which looks a little like a small version of Orthetrum Chrysis.  The female is yellowish brown in colour.

(Male - Lornie Trail, 23 Aug 2010)

Today is my first encounter of this male species at Lornie Trail.  It preferred to perch lowerly, about 10 -15 cm above the reservior water and it appeared to enjoy perching under the bright sunlight.    As such, it is not easy to photograph and I could only manage some record shots.

(Male - Lornie Trail, 23 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (34) - Aethriamanta Gracilis

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Pond Adjutant
Status : Uncommon
Location : Lornie Trail

Aethriamanta Gracilis is a small dragonfly which looks very identical to Brachydiplax Chalybea, except that it is smaller size and more open wing venation.  Similarly to B. Chalybea, males are more common than females.  There were about 8 to 10 nos. of male at some bushes along Lornie Trail and I think I spotted one female but I did not manage to capture it in pixel as it was flying without perching.  The males were quite skittish and therefore I could only manage some record shots.

(Male - Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

(Male - Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

(ID unknown - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

The female is said to be "yellowish brown in colour with black marking".  Based on this description, the above image could be a female A. Gracilis which was spotted on 25 Aug 2010.

(Side view - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010 )

Afternote : After Mr C.Y. Choong commented that it is unlikely to be a female A. Gracilis, I wrote to Mr Tang H. B. for a second opinion.  He is certain that it is not any of the Aethrianmanta species as the venation does not match.  He also rules out the possibility of Trithemis festiva, judging from the markings on the thorax.  As this dragonfly was about the same size of Aethrianmanta gracilis, he felt that, for this reason, it is less likely to be Indothemis limbata.  However, he would not rule out this possibility as he has not seen a female Indothemis limbata himself.  He added that if it is really a Indothemis limbata, then this image could be the first female photo of the species taken in Singapore!  I have uploaded a side view shot (see above).

On 6 Sep 2010, I spotted 2 mating pairs but only managed to get a record shot (see right image) as dragonfly usually mates for less than a minute!

Damselfly (25) - Pseudagrion Australasiae

Family : Coenagrionidae
Common Name : Look-alike Sprite
Status : Uncommon
Location : Lornie Trail

After collected more than 50% of the damselfly species in Singapore, it is getting very difficult to add new species to my collection.  So, I was pleasantly surprised to spot this uncommon P. Australasiae at Lornie Trail this morning.  It was drizzing at that time but that did not stop me from photographing it.

(Female - Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

The female of this species should be rarer than the male.  The male looks very similar to P. Microcephalum where both are light blue in colour.  P. Australasiae is slighter bigger in size than P. Microcephalum.  Accordingly to Mr C.Y. Choong, the blue colour of P. Microcephalum is brighter than P. Australasiae but the ultimate confirmation on these two species is very much relied on the structure of their tail (anal appendages). Pseudagrion Microcephalum has longer anal appendages compared to P. Australasiae.  I have photographed both the male and female of P. Microcephalum but I am not sure whether I have shot the male of P. Australasiae as I did not know how to differentiate these 2 species previously.

(Female closeup - Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

On 25 Aug 2010, I have finally captured a decent shot of the skittish male.  Yes, it is indeed longer than P. Microcephalum and a strong flyer.  Not an easy species to photograph.  My next target is to shoot them mating!

(Male - Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (33) - Trithemis Pallidinervis (灰脈蜻蜓)

Family : Libellulidae

Common Name : Dancing Dropwing

Status : Uncommon

Location : Dairy Farm Nature Park, Lornie Trail

This is a medium sized yellowish brown dragonfly with relatviely long legs.  The male and female have similar marking. However, the face of male is metallic purple while the female is rather yellow white in colour.  It likes to perch in the open with its wings nicely folded up which make it easier to photograph.  It is a cooperative dragonfly and not difficult to get nice backgroung.  The challenges are the harsh sunlight and strong wind. 

(Female - Lornie Trail, 14 Aug 2010)

My first sighting of this elegant species was at Dairy Farm Nature Park a few months ago. I could not get any shot at that time as it was perching in the water, a distance from the board walk. I am glad to spot this species again this morning at Lornie Trail.  A little disappointed as I did not handle the harsh sunlight well.  I will definitely revisit Lornie Trail to get some improvement shots in the coming weeks.

(Female - Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

I revisited Lornie Trail 2 days later and I spotted about 4 to 5 nos. of this species perching near the edge of the reservior.  This lighting was better this time but it was as windy.  The green background in the above picture is the water, a lightly better shot, in my opinion.  I shall revisit this place soon :D

Dragonfly (28) - Diplacodes Trivalis (侏儒蜻蜓)

Family : Libelludidae

Common Name : Chalky percher, Blue percher or Ground Skimmer

Status : Common

Location : Wild Wild West, Chestnut Ave, Jurong Woods II, Lornie Trail

This is a relatively small-sized dragonfly that usually prefers to perch lowly on grass. The male has beautiful blue eyes, a blue-grey body with black on the tail. The female has green eyes, greenish body and black markings on its tail. They are quite skittish in the day or late morning. Best time to shoot them is early in the morning while they are probably still sleeping.

(Female - Wild Wild West, 21 Mar 10)

(Female close-up - Wild Wild West, 21 Mar 10)

(Male - Wild Wild West, 8 Jun 08)

(Male close-up - Wild Wild West, 8 Jun 08)

Dragonfly (20) - Orthetrum Testaceum

Family : Libellulidae
Common name : Scarlet Skimmer
Status : Common
Location : Singapore Botanical Gardens, Lornie Trail

(Male - Singapore Botanical Gardens)

A common dragonfly often found in ponds. Male has dark brown-coloured thorax with redish abdomen while female is brown with obscure marking. Males are more common than females. The male looks very similar to Orthetrum Chrysis. 

(Mating, Singapore Botanical Gardens - 22 Jan 2008)

Dragonfly (14) - Rhyothemis Phyllis

Family : Libellulidae
Common name : Yellow-Barred Flutterer
Status : Common
Location : Holland Woods, Chinese Gardens, Jurong Woods II, Kranji Nature Trail, Chestnut Ave, Lornie Trail

This is a common dragonfly species and is easily recognisable by it back and yellow markings on its wings. A beautiful dragonfly that prefers to perch on very thin leaves or stems making it quite difficult to photograph as a slight breeze would cause the perch to swing resulting in motion blur.

(Holland Woods - 22 Aug 2009)

Dragonfly (13) - Ictinogomphus Decoratus Melaenops

Family : Gomphidae
Common Name : Common Flangetail
Status : Common
Location : West Coast Park, Venus Drive, Lornie Trail, Rifle Range Nature Trail, Singapore Botanical Gardens

(Venus Drive, 25 Feb 2009)

This is one of the biggest dragonflies (about 12 cm long) that I have seen in Singapore, easily 4 times the size of Asian Pintail (see previous post). It is classified as a very common species but I would consider it relatively common as I have spotted them only 4 or 5 times so far.  I first spotted it at West Coast Park and recently at a slow-moving open stream in Venus Drive. It has a aggresive look maybe due to its huge size and certainly not an easy species to get close. The nearest distance that I was able to shoot was more than a metre away but fortunately, it often returned to the same twig where it perched.

On 13 Sep 2010, I finally got an improvement shot of this giant dragonfly.

(Singapore Botanical Gardens - 13 Sep 2010)

Damselfly (8) - Pseudagrion Microcephalum

Family : Coenagrionidae
Common Name : Blue Sprite
Status : Common
Location : Singapore Botanical Gardens, Chinese Gardens, Lornie Trail

(Male - Lornie Trail, 23 Aug 2010)

This blue sprite damselfly is a beautiful species which is commonly found in ponds and open streams. The male is characterised by an overall bright light blue colour with black stripes on its thorax. The female is light brown with obscure greenish markings. The males are more commonly seen than the females.

(Female - Dairy Farm Nature Park, 25 Apr 2010)

Surprisingly, despite such a common and attractive species, I don’t see many of us photographing it. The reasons could be that they are not an easy species to approach and their habits of perching very lowly in the streams making it difficult to shoot. I personally have seen them many times in Singapore Botanical Gardens and Jurong lakes but have ignored them until recently when I decided to make an effort to shoot it when I spotted many of them in a small stream at Venus Drive. I was lucky to find a mating pair but didn’t have a good shot as the ground and lighting conditions were not ideal.

(Mating pair - Venus Drive, 13 Feb 2009)

(Male closeup - Venus Drive, 13 Feb 2009)

My recent sighting of this species was at Lornie Trail where there are plenty of them.  I was fortunate to capture a mating pair at the edge of the nearby reservior.

(Mating pair - Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (2) - Nannophya Pygmaea [小紅蜻蜓]

Family : Libellulidae
Common name : Pygmy Dragonfly
Status : Common
Location : Lornie Trail, Rifle Range Nature Trail, Chestnut Ave, Upper Peirce

(Not fully Matured Male - Chestnut Ave, 4 Jan 2009)

Nannophya pygmaea (or pypmy) is one of the smallest dragonflies species in the world and certainly the smallest dragonfly that can be found in Singapore. It has a total length of approximately 15mm long and a wingspan of only about 20mm.

(Mature Male - Rifle Range Nature Trail, 20 Feb 2010)

The mature male (above pictures) is almost entire red particularly on its eyes and body.  The immature males is yellowish brown in colour (see below).  The female's abdomen has bands of brown and white.

They are very cooperative and photographing them is relatively easy. The challenge is to get a uniform background and a good angle having its wings not covering their faces which I didn't quite manage to do it for these 3 images.   I have seen the female but I have yet to get any shot of it yet.

(Immature male - Chestnut Ave, 4 Jan 2009)