184: Nannophya sp.

Number: 184 / Family: Libellulidae / Genus: Nannophya   

Species: Nannophya sp. / -   

Habitat: Forested and Well Vegetated Ponds   

Province(s) sighted: Chaiyaphum, Chantaburi  

Sightings (by me): Extremely rare 

In flight (that I have seen): July - August    

Species easily confused with: N/A

Straight after seeing Ceriagrion pallidum for the first time, around the corner of the same little forested pond, I saw a microscopic, but bright red dragonfly hanging on to reeds for dear life in very blustery conditions. To be honest, I had to look at it for a few seconds before my mind would compute. It was Nannophya sp. - a lifer species for me. I had always wanted to see Thailand's smallest species, but feared I would have to travel south in order to do so. However, there it was, much smaller than I could ever dream. I shocked myself into action and managed to get a few shots away before the wind was too much and it shot off never to be seen again. I spent a few hours searching the rest of the pond, but eventually the sun disappeared and with it any chances of finding more. I will return to get improvement shots and I hope that it isn't as rare as I think it is. Maybe I won't see it again. Who knows? I believe it has been recorded once at Phu Kradueng, Loei, but other than that it is mostly seen in the far south, though it is rare there too. Sadly, I am yet to find another specimen at Phu Khieo WS but I will keep looking. 

However, through an organised ode trip with several members of the Facebook Group, Dragonflies of Thailand, we managed to locate several males and females in Chantaburi (though it was incredibly hard photographing them on such a windy day). I am not sure if they are the same species or different.

To add to the Nannophy melting pot, a new species of dragonfly has recently been described as Nannophya miyahatai from southern Laos by Yokoi, Souphanthong & Teramoto in 2020. It very much looks like that species, though I cannot be sure without specimens to check. Anyway, here is what I have photographed so far:

The 'Chantaburi' Male

This does fit the description of N. miyahatai very well indeed, though too difficult to say from photos alone. Key differences in this and the standard N. pygmaea, is that its abdomen is slimmer and quite a bit longer and the yellowish wing bases are much reduced in this specimen.

The 'Chantaburi' Female

The female is very similar to that of N. pygmaea, but like the male, the colour on the wing bases is heavily reduced.

The 'Chaiyaphum' Male

I cannot see too many differences in the two males, except this has a little most red on the thorax, though that could simply be down to age. Sadly I only got a fleeting glimpse of this solitary specimen and I have never seen another since.

Any thoughts?