Number: 248 / Family: Libellulidae / Genus: Sympetrum
Species: Sypetrum thailandensis / Thai Mountain Darter*
Province(s) sighted: Nakhon Nayok
Habitat: Forested Ponds
In flight: July-October / Sightings (by me): Rare
Species easily confused with: Sypetrum hypomelas
*As there is no common name, I decided to use the first part of the Thai name 'Thai Mountain' and 'Darter' which seems fairly common for the genus, Sypetrum, so the Thai Mountain Darter.
Back in 2018, a couple of nice ode enthusiasts (like me) visited different areas of Khao Yai National Park and eventually spotted Sypetrum hypomelas. They took photos and then noticed that some of them looked different. Noppadon Makbun showed me the photos and I decided to go and look for myself as they did indeed look rather different. When I arrived at the location (just one forested pond), I saw a few common species. Then suddenly, S. hypomelas showed up. Then another... then... huh? Ahhhh! Yes! The 'different' one! And yes, in nature it looked so different, especially when looking at them side by side. In simple terms, it is more red and black, whereas S. hypomelas was more black, red and yellow. Anyway, I got a large number of photos and went home. I tried to collect, but there were people around. Roll on five years and it has now been described by Noppadon. It has been name Sypetrum thailandensis, which I have named the Thai Mountain Darter, based on the Thai name. It is a super beautiful species. I returned a couple of years later and I was a little early (July) for the species but I still managed to spot a solitary female that had newly emerged.
The Male
The Male is similar to S. hypomelas, but differs in the fact that full males are predominantly red and black and there are two black dorsal spots on S7-8 of the abdomen. It is an incredibly beautiful species and I am so happy to have seen it!
Here, you can clearly see the two blacks spots on the abdomen.
Likewise here. Note the damaged wing from flighting (they were quite aggressive).
The Female
This one is not quite fully mature as it will darken a little more, but you can make out the two spots on the abdomen like with the male.
The 'Teneral' Female
This female had just emerged but is identifiable due to the the prominent spots on the abdomen (S7-8).
The Ovipositing Female
Here is a female producing one egg at a time and the firing into the water, which is typical of this genus.
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