15. Mnais andersoni (McLachlan in Selys, 1873)

No: 15 / Family: Calopterygidae / Genus: Mnais

Name: Mnais andersoni / Anderson's Greenwing / แมลงปอเข็มน้ำตกใหญ่ท้องขาว

Habitat: Upland, slow-moving clear streams
Province(s): Chiang Mai
In flight: March to June / Sightings (by me): Locally common

Easily confused with: Caliphaea angka; Caliphaea thailandica; Mnais yunosukei

One of the most beautiful damselflies I have seen is Mnais andersoni. I was lucky enough to see this species in all forms in Chiang Mai. They are quite large in size and like the Vestilas family, they are quite clumsy when landing. Both males and females were extremely common. They like to hang around trees and branches that overhang slow moving streams and live together in large numbers.

The male

There are two types of male and this one is an orange winged specimen. The fully mature male is highly distinctive with orange wings and a beautiful white thorax. It also has yellow/green markings along the prothorax (?). The end segments on the abdomen are also white.

The male close up

This shows just how beautiful the markings are on the male.

Young male

This is a young male that hasn't yet developed the white markings on the thorax.

The (other) male

The second male is the clear winged male (known as hyaline winged male). This one is similar to the orange-winged specimen but the wings and thorax colours are notably different.

Teneral male

The young male is a metallic green and has amazing white/cream eyes.

Can't take my eyes of you...

A good photo of the eyes (same specimen as above).

The female

The female is very similar to the male, but the abdomen is robust and the end segments are grey.

The mature female

This is a mature female, similar to above but has browned in colour.

A copula

This is a breeding hyaline pair.

A copula... again

This is a breeding orange winged pair.

I saw Mnais andersoni at a number of areas in Chiang Mai, up in the mountainous areas, along tree-lined streams. They were extremely common and I saw them from March-May while I was there. If you are in Chiang Mai you must go and see this species... it looks amazing close up. Many, many thanks, once again, to Noppadon Makbun for leading me to this species.

14. Ceriagrion indochinense (Asahina, 1967)

No: 14 / Family: Coenagrionidae / Genus: Ceriagrion

Name: Ceriagrion indochinense / Indochinese Marsh Dart* / แมลงปอเข็มสีพื้นอินโดจีน

Habitat: Upland and lowland ponds and marshy areas
Province(s): Widespread
In flight: Year-round / Sightings (by me): Locally common

Easily confused with: Ceriagrion calamineum; Ceriagrion fallax; Ceriagrion nigroflavum; Ceriagrion pallidum

*Name made up by me.

There are 12 Ceriagrion species known in Thailand and Ceriagrion indochinense is one of 7 I have been lucky enough to see so far. Khon Kaen is a good place to spot this genus as it is very hot and dry. C. indochinense is fairly common and likes to live near a variety of waterways, such as open lakes to tiny muddy ditches. I have also seen a very large colony that lives in the shrubbery right next to the River Chi in Khon Kaen, a large but slow moving river.

The male

The male is far more common than the female and is easily recognisable by its green thorax and eyes and its bright yellow abdomen. The end segments of the abdomen are often slightly brown in colour.

It's dog eat dog...

... or damselfly eat damselfly in this case. This male is busily eating a female C. Auranticum... something I have seen this species do a lot. 

The female

The female is dull compared to that of the male. It can be confused with female C. auranticum but is bigger in size, lighter in colour and they live close to the males. 

There were numerous females at Nam Nao National Park recently which varied slightly in colour. This one I think is fully mature...

And the wheel position...

Close-up of how the male utilises his claspers ...

I have seen C. indochinense on a regular basis around the northeast of Thailand and they tend to live in large numbers when spotted. I have seen this species from February-November but I'm not sure exactly when it is in flight, probably year round.

13. Calicnemia imitans (Lieftinick, 1948)

No: 13 / Family: Platycnemididae / Genus: Calicnemia 

Name: Calicnemia imitans / Grey-banded Mountain Damsel* / แมลงปอเข็มหญ้าแถบเทา

Habitat: Forested uplands streams
Province(s): Chiang Mai; Kanchanaburi
In flight: March to April / Sightings (by me): Uncommon

Easily confused with: N/A

*Name made up by me.

There are four species of Calicnemia and I have been lucky enough to spot three species so far. Calicnemia imitans was the first I saw and is probably the most common. C. imitans likes dark and forested areas along slow moving shallow streams. 

The male

The adult male has blue and black stripes on the thorax and the abdomen is very slim and blue also. 

Two's company...

A pair of males

The young male

The young adult male looks very similar to the mature male, but has yellow stripes instead of blue. 

The female

The female looks very much like the young adult male. 

Teneral female???

I saw this newly emerged specimen at first light in Kanchanaburi and sent the photos to Noppadon. He believes it to be Calicnemia sp. and it looks mostly like C. imitans to me. If you know otherwise, please let me know. 

If you click on the photo you can clearly see red and yellow veins running along the abdomen.

Here, she was happy to sit on my thumb. Stunning little thing.

C. imitans is a species I have only seen at a few places in Chiang Mai from March-April. The male seemed to be more common than the female, but they are fairly abundant when you spot them. Thanks to Noppadon Makbun for directing me to them.

12. Paracercion melanotum (Selys, 1876)

No: 12 / Family: Coenagrionidae / Genus: Paracercion 

Name: Paracercion melanotum / Asian Lilysquatter* / แมลงปอเข็มบางเอเชีย

Habitat: Uplands & lowlands ponds and marshland
Province(s): Khon Kaen, Chantaburi 
In flight: Year-round (scarce February-May) / Sightings (by me): Locally common

Easily confused with: Paracercion calamorum; Pseudagrion australasiae; Pseudagrion m. microcephalum

 

*Name made up by me.

Another small blue damselfly that I have seen on few occasions is Paracercion melanotum. At first I was very confused with this species and Psuedagrion microcephalum. There are a number of differences, but the easiest way to distinguish the two is the '8' mark on segment 2 (see picture 2). P. melanotum is also smaller.

The male

The male is easy to spot with its bright azure blue and black colouration to the thorax and abdomen. The eyes are particularly stunning. 

The young male

The young male has the same markings as the adult, but the colour hasn't yet fully developed. 

The female

I saw the female for the first time two weeks ago (Dec 11 2010) and I was really happy to see it. The female is much duller in comparison with olive green colouration to the thorax with a feint orange stripe. I recently saw a second female in Khon Kaen (March 13 2012).

Female close up

Early morning exercise ...

The mature female

Until recently I thought that the female was only green. Now I have just spotted my first female that has blue flanks along the thorax and abdomen. She also has lots of parasites on the underside of her abdomen. Looks like she's just scooped up a load of caviar ...

I have seen this species between March-December in Khon Kaen, as well as once at Chantaburi.

11. Coeliccia didyma (Selys, 1863)

No: 11 / Family: Platycnemididae / Genus: Coeliccia

Name: Coeliccia d. didyma / Twin-spotted Sylvan / แมลงปอเข็มท้องยาวฟ้าสองขีด

Habitat: Shaded forested streams
Province(s) sighted: Widespread 
In flight: April to October / Sightings (by me): Common 

Easily confused with: Coeliccia albicauda, Coeliccia erici, 

Coeliccia nigrescens, Coeliccia sp.

Coeliccia is one of my favourite genus of damselflies and Coeliccia didyma is the one I have spotted the most. There are twelve known Coeliccia species in Thailand and I have now spotted six, so I am half way there! C. didyma likes very shady forested areas along slow moving rivers and streams.

The male

The male is far more common than the female and is easily recognisable with its blue markings / stripes on the thorax and the end segments and caudal appendages are also blue. 

 

Male with a difference...

This male has tiny additional markings on the thorax. According to Noppadon, there can be minor differences in population, even in the same population. So don't start jumping for joy thinking you've just discovered a new sub-species (like I did).

The young male

The male differs in appearance as it ages. Below is a sub-adult male. You can see the markings on the thorax are slightly different than those of the adult and the colour is also different.

An even younger male...

This very young male is similar to the one above, but hasn't yet developed any of the blue colouration differs in appearance as it ages. Below is a sub-adult male. It also has the same markings as the one above.

The female

I haven't seen too many female C. didyma, but I was lucky to spot two females at Nam Nao National Park. The specimen below is an adult female. It is very similar to many other female Coeliccia species but the markings on the end segments are distinct. Younger females are yellow instead of blue.

The young female

A copula

I have spotted C. didyma at a number of places throughout the year. The best place I have seen them was Nam Nao National Park, mainly because there are 4 species of Coeliccia that reside there, including C. didyma, C. chromothorax, C. poungyi and a species very similar to that of C. loogali.

10. Urothemis signata signata (Rambur, 1842)

No: 10 / Family: Libellulidae / Genus: Urothemis

Name: Urothemis s. signata / Scarlet Basker / แมลงปอบ้านกลางปีกแต้มใหญ

Habitat: Open ponds, marshes, uplands & lowlands
Province(s) sighted: Petchabun, Chaiyaphum, Khon Kaen, Chantaburi, Nakhorn Ratchasima 
In flight: April to November / Sightings (by me): Common 

Easily confused with: Crocothemis servilia, Macrodiplax cora, Rhodothemis rufa, Urothemis abbotti, Urothemis signata insignata

Another common dragonfly that loves sunbathing is Urothemis signata signata. It loves perching on sticks and branches in the blazing sunshine. They can be easily confused with Macrodiplax cora (Noppadon Makbun corrected my initial I.D.), but the main difference is that only the latter segments of the abdomen have black dorsal marks, whereas M. cora has black marks all along the abdomen. Also, I think M. cora is only found as north as Bangkok (this bit is not true anymore ... I found M. cora in Khon Kaen.)

The mature male (red form)

Has long legs like Trithemis species.

Here, you can clearly see only the last 2 segments have black dorsal patches, which helps identify the species.

The young male? (yellow form)

I am convinced that there are two forms of this species. Though the red form is far more common, and all start off life yellow (and become red) I have spotted some rather old-looking yellow males and females. Maybe some just don't become red. No idea why.

... a strange male

Here's a male from Chantaburi that has a red face and dark red eyes (the ones in KK have a whitish face) and also it has no distinguishable marks on the abdomen. I saw several like this but were very difficult to get near. 

The adult female (red form)

The female is very similar to the male. They are less easily frightened than the males and seem to like having their photo taken!

Slightly younger female (has a beautiful marbled effect)

Target sighted ... she's about to strike

Young female (yellow form)

Female in the hand ...

Unfortunately, this 'yellow' female I found dead in a spider's web (freshly killed). 

 

... a very old female (that is still yellowish)

I have seen this species in vast, open spaces and farmer's fields to small swampy enclosed areas (but still in the bright sunshine),   and I have spotted them at many locations around the country.  Also, if you spot one, you will probably see lots at the same time.