232: Podolestes coomansi Lieftinck, 1940

         Number: 232 / Family: Argiolestidae / Genus: Podolestes

Species: Podolestes coomansi / Coomans Flatwing*

Province(s) sighted: Narathiwat, Yala

Habitat: Peat Swamp Forest and Swampy ponds, Streams

In flight: August / Sightings (by me): Rare

Species easily confused with: Podolestes orientalis 

*Due to no common name, I decided to name it Coomans Flatwing, with 'Flatwing' being associated with Podolestes and it being named after Mr. L. Coomans de Ruiter of Manado (Celebes), in recognition of his significant assistance, field activity, and collection efforts. The Thai name translates as the Blue-spotted Flatwing. However, this name is already take in English with Podolestes orientalis, which also resides in Thailand.

While walking through natural peat swamp in Narathiwat outside of Sirindhorn Peat Swamp Forest searching for odes. It was initially very quiet for species and individuals were in low numbers. But one I did eventually bump into was an extremely skittish species Podolestes coomansi, commonly known as Coomans Flatwing. I was incredibly happy to see it... or rather Noppadon Makbun saw it first. I managed to get a few shots away, but it was very, very difficult and would fly away at the slightest movement. Over the course of the next few days in Narathiwat and Yala, the species would pop up now and then but in very low numbers. I managed to get a good shot of the male and a record shot of the female. I saw 2-3 females but they were even more skittish than the males!

The Male

The male is uniform dull brown but punctuated with sky blue stripes and spots along the abdomen and the thorax. It really is a stunning species and was noted by Noppadon that it was more brightly coloured than the ones spotted at the peat forest in Surat Thani.

The Female

The female is very similar to the male, but has a more prominent blue patch at the end of its abdomen and is far more skittish than the male. This is the best I could get on the trip.