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)

Dragonfly (42) - Pornothemis starrei

Family : Libelluidae
Common Name : Mangrove Marshal
Status : Rare
Location : Punggol Forest

According to the Singapore Dragonflies Book, this is a rare mangrove dragonfly species spotted only at Pulau Ubin, Mandai & Lim Chu Kang.  The male has a black thorax & abdomen with dull greenish blue eyes. Females are said to have olive-coloured thorax.

During this morning's macro outing with many of my friends at Punggol forest, we were lucky to spot 2 males at a small muddy stream.   The surrounding was quite dark and this species preferred to perch lowly just above the water making it difficult to shoot.  Fortunately, it was quite cooperative allowing us to take some record shots. 

From the dorsal view, it looks like a bigger version of Chalybeothemis fluviatilis.  I hope I did not identify this species wrongly.

(Punggol Forest - 13 Nov 2010)

(Dorsal view - 13 Nov 2010)

Behaviours of Libellago Lineata

I was fortunate to witness some interesting behaviours of Libellago Lineata recently.  I saw a few pairs of males involving in territorial fights on separate occasions.  When they fight, the two males would confront  and face one another in mid air. They hover a few seconds and make forward movements but without contact.  Usually, one would flee the area after a minute or so but it would come back shortly to challenge the temporary winning male again until the utimate victor is declared!

(Two males involving in territorial fight - 29 Sep 2010)

The winning male has the right of the territory usually within a small area of not more than 3 metres.  I was told that female Lineata normally perch high up in trees and would come down to find a mate when they are ready to do so.  I have seen 3 mating pairs within 2 days and what was interesting is that unlike other damselflies where they usually mate for a long period (sometime in hours), Lineata only mates for about 20 to 30 seconds! Within such a short period of mating time, getting a good shot at it depends alot on luck.  I only managed to shoot about 20 shots from the 3 mating pairs add together, most of which are not of the best quality but I am happy to have finally got a good record mating shot of this species.  

(A mating pair in wheel formation - 29 Sep 2010)

  

After separation from mating, the female would perch on nearby floating log or large tree roots to lay eggs by submersing its adbominal tip into the water.

(A female dips the tip of its adbomen into water to lay eggs)

Based on my observation, the ovipositing process takes about 15 to 30 minutes.  During this period, the male will guard the ovipositing female from the disturbance by rival males by perching very nearby.  The female does not lay its eggs on a fixed spot, it would crawl usually forward as they ovipositing.  Sometimes they would fly away for a second or two but return to the perch.  During this egg laying process, there are good apportunities to shoot both the male and females in a single frame ie. side by side, back to back, facing each other, etc.

(A male guarding the ovipositing female)

(A male guarding the ovipositing female)

(A male guarding the ovipositing female)

Damselfly (30) - Libellago Lineata

Family : Chlorocyphidae
Common Name : Golden Gem
Status : Rare
Location : Lower Pierce Reservior

According to the The Singapore Dragonflies Book, this Golden Gem has only been recorded at Mandai forest stream.  The male has a similar thorax of Libellago Hyalina but it can be easier distinuished with its golden-yellow markings on the first 5-6 abdominal segments and black colour from segment 7-10.  The female is said to be bigger with greyish & dark marking on its thorax and abdomen.

(Juvenile Male - Lower Peirce Reservior, 23 Sep 2010)

The above damselfly was spotted perching on a dry twig near the edge of Lower Peirce Reservior.  For afar, based on at its colour and size, it looked like a female L. Hyalina to me.  But when I moved closer, I got the feeling that it could be a juvenile male L. Hyalina.  It was quite cooperative acutally but I could photograph only 3 shots due to my carelessness.  My tripod touched the twig accidentally when I moved closer causing it to shake violently.  It flew away and disappeared into nowhere!  I searched high and low for the next 20 mins or so but I could not locate it.

I seek Mr Tang's advice on its id and he told me that this could be a juvenile male, L. Lineata.  It doesn't quite look like what was described above as its colours have not fully developed yet.  A great find accordingly to him as it means that this species can be found elsewhere other than in Mandai forest.  He  asked me for the exact location which I obliged as he wanted to study this species further.  I shall visit this place again with the hope of shooting the adult species soon.

Afternote : I revisited this morning and was rewarded with this shot below.  The striking yellowish orange colour of this beautiful damselfly is particularly attractive to me.

(Adult Male - Lower Peirce Reservior, 27 Sep 2010)

 

Dragonfly (42) - Orchithemis Pruinans

Family : Libelluidae

Common Name : Blue Sentinel

Status : Rare

Location : Upper Peirce

This is a rare forest species which prefers to perch under shaded areas.  The male has dark thorax and abdomen.  Abdominal segments 2-4 are powdery bluish-white.  It looks very similar to the dark form of male Orchithemis Pulcherrima except that O. Pruinans is slighter larger and its abdomen is thinner and longer.  The white marking of O. Pulcherrima covers only the second and third segments of its abdomen. The female is said to be brown in colour which has not been recorded in Singapore.

(Male - Upper Peirce, 20 Sep 2010)

This male was spotted recently at Upper Peirce forest.  I have originally thought that it was an uncommon dark form male O. Pulcherrima, which I was glad to add to my collection.  Little did I know that it was actually a rare O. Pruinans making me even happier!  It is an easy subject to photograph as it stays at the fixed spot for a long period.  Even if it flew away, it would return or perch very nearby.  The only problem is the poor lighting as it always choose a shaded area to perch.  I saw quite a no. of them around the vincinity but I am unsure whether they were O. Pulcherrima or O. Pruinans now.

(Side view - Upper Peirce, 20 Sep 2010)

Reference : A photographic guide on Dragonflies of Singapore.

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)

Damselfly (23) - Libellago Aurantiaca

Family : Chlorocyphidae
Common name : Fiery Gem
Status : Rare
Location : Upper Peirce, Endau Rompin National Park
 

Libellago is the most unique genus in Singapore with its wings longer than the body. They are rare, beautiful and require pristine habitat. Their behaviour is fascinating too. There are only three Libellago species in Singapore checklist, one of which (Libellago Stigamtizans) is already extinct here.

(Upper Peirce - 7 Dec 2009)

Although Libellago Aurantiaca is less rarer that Hyalina (see my previous post), it is my most wanted species to photograph. I pariticularly like its vibrant colour of red and yellow and I have been searching for more than a year. So you can imagine how happy I was when I finally saw one at Upper Pierce, the same place where I shot the Hyalina. They love to perch lowerly, just above the water making it difficult to get a good angle. I only managed a good record shot.  I have visited this place many times subsequently but this beautiful damselfly could not be found anymore.

Afternote : I finally got an improvement shot of this species but in Singapore.  This was taken at a swift flowing stream at Endau Rompin National Park.

(Endau Rompin National Park - 3 Oct 2010)

Damselfly (22) - Libellago Hyalina

Family : Chlorocyphidae
Common name : Clearwing Gem
Status : Critically Endangered
Location : Upper Peirce

Libellago Hyalina is a very rare damselfly. Upper Pierce is the only place where this species has been sited. It is therefore classified as critically endangered species. According to Mr Tang Hung Bun, an expert in Singapore Odonata, the common name of this species should be Clearwing Gem instead of Hyaline Jewel which was wrongly used by some people.

Libellago Hyalina is a confusing species because it has several colour forms for both male and female. It is not clear how many colour forms they actually have. The images below are some colour forms captured so far. There could be other colour forms that we are not aware of.

(Male, steel blue form - 3 Dec 2009)

(Male, glowing purple form - 5 Dec 2009)

(Female, grey form - 5 Dec 2009)

(Younger Female, orange form - 3 Dec 2009)

(Younger female, brown form - 7 Dec 2009)

Damselfly (21) - Mortonagrion Arthuri

Family : Coenagrionidae
Common Name : Arthur's Midget
Status : Rare
Location : Pulau Ubin

This damselfly species was first spotted on 11 Sep 2009 during a macro outing at Pulau Ubin.  There were about 4 males and a female perching near the edge of the mangrove swamp.  I only managed some record shots of them as I did not stay long due to too many mosquitoes attacking me.

(Male - Pulau Ubin, 26 Oct 2009)

When I sent the images to Mr Tang Bun Hung for idenitification, he said that he has only seen this species in mangrove areas in Singapore. As for male Mortonagrion arthuri, he has only seen a specimen soaked in alcohol, collected in traps by Dr Patrick Grootaert in Singapore earlier this year.  Although he was confident with his initial indentification, upon his request, I bought him to Pulau Ubin on 26 Oct 09 to further study this species.  His identification is correct.

(Female - Pulau Ubin, 26 Oct 2009)

(Female close-up - Pulau Ubin, 26 Oct 2009)

Damselfly (20) - Archibasis Melanocyana

Family : Coenagrionidae
Common name : Blue-nosed Sprite
Status : Rare
Location : Chestnut Ave

I went to Chestnut Ave to search for the unique Lestes Praemorsus Decipiens on 1 Aug 2009.  I did not find it but I saw this rare species instead.  I did not know that it was rare at that time and I did not make an effort to get some good shots.  Sadly, this place is destroyed and is under redevelopment for a condomium.

(Chestnut Ave, 1 Aug 2009)

(Chestnut Ave, 1 Aug 2009)

Damselfly (19) - Lestes praemorsus (隱紋絲蟌)

Family : Lestidae
Common name : Scalloped Spreadwing
Status : Uncommon
Location : Lornie Trail, Dairy Farm Nature Park, Chestnut Ave

Lestes Praemorsus is an uncommon species, first recorded in Singapore in 1997. It is known to be occured only in Macrichite Reservior. It is a medium-sized species which rests with its wings half-open. It has a unique hockey stick-shaped rather than straight obdomen.

(Chestnut Ave - 2 Nov 2009)

I went to Macrichite Reservior to search for this beautiful damselfly on 2 occasions but could not locate it. When Dairy Farm Nature Reserve Park was officially opened on 5 Sep 09, a picture of this mating damselfly was featured the next day in the Sunday Times. I went to Dairy Farm to try my luck and I was glad to have spotted a female perching just above the water at the Quarry. I could only take a record shot of it from a distance as we are not allowed to go down to the water. I hope it could perch in a better place during my next visit so that I could take an improvement shot.

(Lornie Trail - 14 Aug 2010)

I read that this species has since been found in several other places such as Pulau Tekong Reservior, Upper Seletar Reservior, etc. My friend, Eddy Lee, had recently photographed one at Chestnut Avenue.  He told me the exact location where he found this species and I am happy to get a slightly improvement shot of it.

I saw this species photographed by a new found friend, Federick Ho, at Lornie Trail.  He directed me on where to find this species.  I went there on 14 Aug 2010 and there were about 8 nos. perching lowly along the edges of Macrichite Reservior.  Got some shots but still plenty of rooms for improvement.

On 6 Sep 2010, I was happy to spot a mating pair where the female was laying its eggs into the water.

 

Damselfly (17) - Teinobasis Ruficollis

Family : Coenagrionidae
Common name : Red-tailed Sprite
Status : Rare
Location : Bukit Timah Bicycle Trail, Venus Drive

This rare forest species was spotted on the same day as the Slender Midget (see previous post) around the same area. As I was focusing on the Slender Midget, I managed only a record shot of it. I went back to the same place again 4 days later hoping to get some improvement shots. My wish came true!  It was spotted it again a few months later but this time at Venus Drive.

(Bukit Timah Cycling Trail - 4 Jun 2009)

(Bukit Timah Cycling Trail - 4 Jun 2009)

Damselfly (16) - Amphicnemis gracilis

Family : Coenagrionidae
Common name : Will-o-wisp
Status : Uncommon
Location : Bukit Timah Bicycle Trail, Upper Peirce, Upper Seletar Reservior

This is a swamp forest species and a new record for Singapore in 1997. It has very slim but long tail.

(Very Young Female, Orange Form - Bukit Timah Bicycle Trail, 30 May 09)

The above image should be a very young female with strong orange thorax, yellow eyes & wings. When it gets a little older, it would change into bright red colours (see below). Eye colours would change too.

(Inmature Female, Red Form - Upper Pierce, 14 Nov 09)

When it is fully matured, it would change again into green-olive colour (see below). The males are less attractive with a dark metallic green thorax and it is less common than the female. I have yet to see one (see picture here).

(Matured Female, Olive-Green Form - Bukit Timah Bicycle Trail)

(Matured female closed up)

(Very young female, close-up)