200: Tyriobapta torrida Kirby, 1889

Number: 200  / Family: Libellulidae / Genus: Tyriobapta

Species: Tyriobapta torrida / Tree Hugger

Habitat: Forested Small Streams, Trickles and Swampy Ponds

Province(s) sighted: Narathiwat

In flight: April-August / Sightings (by me): Rare (but several males at one pond)

Species easily confused with: N/A 

The first 'new' southern species I saw when I arrived at Hala-Bala Wildlife Sanctuary was a bit of a surprise. Not because of the species, but because of the fact that it was happily 'hugging' a concrete post. In fact, once I managed to get decent photos I moved too much as it simply flew to the next post... we are, of course, talking about the awesome Tyriobapta torrida, commonly known as the Tree Hugger. However, here I get the impression that they are as much at home on posts as they are on trees! He did eventually fly slightly further away and onto a tree when I attracted the attention of a few locals. Maybe it should be renamed as the Concrete Post Hugger, though I am not sure that this name is as nice haha. 

I also saw a second male a stream lower down but this one was most certainly on a tree and was far more skittish. Since then, I have returned to Narathiwat and found more locations where it resides, with one swampy pond and stream housing quite a lot of males, though females still eluded me.

The Male
He is easy to identify (if you can find it) due to its distinctive blue/clear wings.

The first male I ever saw on 'his' concrete post...

Now in hand...

The 'Young' Male

At a natural swampy pond, there were several youngish males that were not yet in full bloom...