252: Coeliccia doisuthepensis Asahina, 1984

   Number: 252 / Family: Platycnemididae / Genus: Coeliccia

Species: Coeliccia doisuthepensis / Doi Suthep's Sylvan*

Province(s) sighted: Chiang Mai

Habitat: Forested Stream

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

Species easily confused with: All Coeliccia Species 

*As there is no common name, I have used 'Doi Suthep' from the Thai name and given the genus the name 'Sylvan', creating Doi Suthep's Sylvan.

One species I had often dreamt about and even looked for it at Phu Hin Rong Kla in hope... but never saw it was Coeliccia doisuthepensis. During a recent trip to Chiang Mai with Noppadon Makbun, we visited an area that is known to have the species amongst others. Sadly, like most other species, it didn't show as it was really dull and breezy. Suddenly, Noppadon pointed out a female in a real darkened area and a spent an age trying to get good shots, and they turned out OK. Then suddenly as I was walking up, I saw a male. It flew about 10 metres away from me and landed on a leaf that was constantly shaking from the breeze. I fired off a few shots but it very quickly became skittish and flew higher and higher up... and... gone. And that was it. I really was expecting it to be quite easy to shoot but nope. Another species I have to return to Chiang Mai to get improvement shots. 

The Male

The male is similar to other species in the genus but S9-10 are orange. There are also more markings present on the thorax. These were the best I could do on a windy day before it flew away.

The Female

Similar to most females in the genus, this one differs slightly due to the yellowish markings at the end of the abdomen.

I will return one day for better shots.