73. Ceriagrion chaoi (Schmidt, 1964)

No: 73 / Family: Coenagrionidae / Genus: Ceriagrion

Name: Ceriagrion chaoi / Fiery Coraltail Marsh Dart*

Habitat: Exposed and Weedy Upland Ponds

Province(s): Petchabun, Chaiyaphum, Chiang Mai
In flight: Year-round / Sightings (by me): Uncommon

Easily confused with: Ceriagrion auranticum, Ceriagrion malaisei, Ceriagrion praetermissum

*For the common name, I have simply added 'Marsh Dart' be consistent with the genus, so now its the Fiery Coraltail Marsh Dart.

One species I visited Doi Inthanon in Chiang Mai for last April, was Ceriagrion chaoi. Noppadon Makbun informed me that they were residing at the pond near the main headquarters. Low and behold, the first thing I saw was just that. The only problem was that they were extremely shy creatures and difficult to get anywhere near. I managed to get a few half-decent shots though, but only of the male.

*There used to be two forms of this species at one point (appendages were almost identical). However, fairly recently, C. chaoi is only the 'red' form and the 'orange' form is now possibly 

The male

The male is easy to identify. It has a green/yellow thorax and an orange abdomen with slightly darker colouration to the end segments.

And this one at Doi Inthanon in 2010.

The 'Red' Form

There seems to be currently two forms of the species currently, though there is every chance one of them ic C. belona or something else. Here is a male I photographed at the lower reaches of Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary.

A copula

This copula, I saw at the Helicopter Pad Lake, Nam Nao National Park (09/07/2011) and is in fact the only time I have come across this species here.