109: Echo modesta (Laidlaw, 1902)

No: 109 / Family: Calopterygidae / Genus: Echo

Name: Echo modesta / White-faced Clearwing 

Habitat:  Slow, Heavily Forested Streams

Province(s): Kanchanaburi, Phuket, Yala
In flight: March-August / Sightings (by me): Uncommon

Easily confused with: N/A

Another member of the Calopterygidae family and the 6th I have now seen, is Echo modesta, commonly known as the White-faced Clearwing. It's a stunning damselfly and is easily recognizable with its white face. Annoyingly, though I have seen the male on 3-4 occasions, I am yet to photograph the female... though I did actually see one in Yala but left it until the next day to avoid disturbing the area for the next day. 

The Male

It's similar to other species in the family, but has a kind of 'box-shaped' thorax. The wings are also hyaline. The easy way to spot this species, however, is the mature male's white face. 

Another male from Phuket.

And another male I saw in Yala.

The 'Young' Male

I was fortunate to spot a young male, which is the same as the adult, but hasn't yet developed a white square on its face.