245: Pornothemis sp.

  Number: 245 / Family: Libellulidae / Genus: Pornothemis

Species: Pornothemis sp. / -

Province(s) sighted: Trat (Mainland & Koh Kood)

Habitat: Mangrove Forest

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

Species easily confused with: Pornothemis starrei

On holiday in Trat with Beau, my brother, Paul, and his missus, Suu, part of the trip was to visit mangrove areas. We also met up with an old friend and birder, Mark Hogarth, who now lives on Koh Chang. He went out with us one day to search for birds in the mangroves. For me, I had three potential species in mind, with the hope of more. I was preying to see a lifer for me in the shape of Mortonagrion arthuri, Pornothemis starrei (which had just been seen somewhere in Trat province) and also maybe Raphismia bispina and other mangrove specialists. However, several hours of walking in and two things were clear: there are very few species at mangroves and, if there are any, they don't show early. To the point, of the first outing, I didn't even see a single ode! Not one, but enjoyed seeing lots of crabs. On a further trip, we set out early (bloody birders), and walked and walked. Several nice birds were spotted but odes: 0. Nothing. Nada. By about 8:30am, the day was warming up and the birds were retreating. Then, as I walked along a boardwalk, I massive dragonfly moved from one branch and went a bit further away... then.... wait, it's not a massive dragonfly... it's a copula! Sadly, it was quite far out and I only got a few record shots of it against a gloomy backdrop, even using the camera's own flash! It was clear straight away that it was Pornothemis starrei, until I got back to my room... it looks a little different and is missing a lot of the markings. And according to Noppadon Makbun, there could be more than one species in the genus in Thailand and should be left at Pornothemis sp. for now. Hopefully, that will change soon! Still very happy to see it, though that was it... not a single other species or specimen. Finally, once I reached Koh Kood, we were looking from a bridge at mangrove and I saw another male Pornothemis sp. at great distance through binoculars, perching on a tree branch over mangrove... by the time I got down to it, it had gone. We even decided to stay one more day and visited there the next day to find it and others. We did but other than an enormous gomphid (with strange markings) that eluded the camera and a few very common species, that was it. Not a single other Pornothemis sp. to be found, though it had been threatening rain all day. Bad weather, too late in the year or just a bad day at the office? Who knows? I will have to return one day. 

The Copula

Though it looks very similar to Pornothemis starrei, there are very few greenish-yellow spots like you find on that species. Therefore, for now, I will leave it as Pornothemis sp.