Dragonfly (40) – Urothemis Signata

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Scarlet Basker
Status : Common
Location : Lornie Trail

This is another common dragonfly but my first sighting was only recently at Lornie Trail.  The eyes, thorax  and abdomen are all red in colour. From the dorsal view, there are 2 black marks near the abdomen tip.  I may have seen this species before and mistaken it as Crocothemis Servilia.  Both are all red in colour and you need to take a closer look to differentiate them.

(Male – Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

There were quite a no. of them flying near the reservior edge and a few of them appeared to enjoy perching under the hot sunlight. I was lucky to find one that perched comfortably under a shaded tree which made it easier for me to shoot. The female is said to be light yellow brown in colour which I hope to see one soon.

Dragonfly (38) – Macrodiplax Cora

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Coastal Glider
Status : Common
Location : Lornie Trail

M. Cora is a middle-sized dragonfly species with a relatively large head.  The male has a dark brown thorax and its abdomen is red in colour while the female has light orange-yellow thorax and abdomen.  The immatured male looks similar to the female except that its colours is a little darker.  Both sexes have distinguishable thick broken black marking on the upperside of the abdomen. 

(Immatured male – Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

Although this species is classified as common, strangely, this was my first sighting in my 3 years of chasing dragonflies.  There were 2 of them perching on a dry twig quite a distance from the reservior.  Occasionally, they would fight one another but returned to the same perch.  An easy species to photograph.

(Frontal view – Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (32) – Orthetrum Chrysis

Family : Libellulidae

Common Name : Spine-tufted Skimmer

Status : Common
Location : Rifle Range Nature Trail, Venus Drive

This is a common and relatively unattractive dragonfly species.  It is not easy to get a nice shot as they are usually quite sensitive to human.  I often gave it a miss and therefore, I am not surprised that I could only found one record image in my harddisk.  I shall make an effort to spend sometime on this species and get a better shot next time.

(Rifle Range Nature Trail – 22 Apr 2010)

 

Dragonfly (31) – Trithemis Festiva

Family : Libellulidae

Common Name : Indigo Dropwing
Status : Common
Location : Venus Drive

Trithemis Festiva is not really an uncommon species as I have seen them a few times at the stream near the entrance of Venus Drive.  They love to perch under strong sunlight and are quite active in the late morning.  Thus, getting a good shot of them is not easy.  This record shot was taken more than 1.5 years ago and it is a shame that I have not been able to get improvement shots of this beauty since then.

(Venus Drive – 6 Jan 2009)

Spotted this dragonfly at a stream in Endau-Rompin National Park.

(Endau-Rompin National Park – 31 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (28) – Diplacodes Trivalis (侏儒蜻蜓)

Family : Libelludidae

Common Name : Chalky percher, Blue percher or Ground Skimmer

Status : Common

Location : Wild Wild West, Chestnut Ave, Jurong Woods II, Lornie Trail

This is a relatively small-sized dragonfly that usually prefers to perch lowly on grass. The male has beautiful blue eyes, a blue-grey body with black on the tail. The female has green eyes, greenish body and black markings on its tail. They are quite skittish in the day or late morning. Best time to shoot them is early in the morning while they are probably still sleeping.

(Female – Wild Wild West, 21 Mar 10)

(Female close-up – Wild Wild West, 21 Mar 10)

(Male – Wild Wild West, 8 Jun 08)

(Male close-up – Wild Wild West, 8 Jun 08)

Dragonfly (21) – Orthetrum Sabina

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Variegated Green Skimmer
Status : Common
Location : West Coast Park, Chinese Gardens, Jurong Woods II, Toa Payoh Town Gardens.

A relatively large dragonfly species. Quite commonly found near ponds. I have seen them at many locations such as Chinese Gardens, West Coast Park, Jurong Woods II, Toa Payoh Town Gardens, etc. The appearance of the male and female is almost identical. They are usually quite skittish and not easy to photograph.

(West Coast Park – 28 Feb 2008)

(West Coast Park – 28 Feb 2008)

Dragonfly (20) – Orthetrum Testaceum

Family : Libellulidae
Common name : Scarlet Skimmer
Status : Common
Location : Singapore Botanical Gardens, Lornie Trail

(Male – Singapore Botanical Gardens)

A common dragonfly often found in ponds. Male has dark brown-coloured thorax with redish abdomen while female is brown with obscure marking. Males are more common than females. The male looks very similar to Orthetrum Chrysis. 

(Mating, Singapore Botanical Gardens – 22 Jan 2008)

Dragonfly (16) – Pantala flavescens

Family : Libellulidae
Common name : Wandering Glider
Status : Common
Location : Wild Wild West, Hort Park, Jurong Lake, Jurong Woods.

Pantala flavescens is the most widespread dragonfly species in the world!   It can be seen almost everywhere such as ponds, canals, plantation, coastal areas, glassland and even on the road.  I have seen them flying in good numbers while driving many times.  Although they are common, trying to get a good photo of them is surprising difficult as they are often active and flying non-stop when spotted.  Best time to shoot them is in the early morning when they have not awaken.

(Male – Jurong Lake, 25 Jul 2008)

(Male – Wild Wild West, 10 Oct 2009 )

Dragonfly (14) – Rhyothemis Phyllis

Family : Libellulidae
Common name : Yellow-Barred Flutterer
Status : Common
Location : Holland Woods, Chinese Gardens, Jurong Woods II, Kranji Nature Trail, Chestnut Ave, Lornie Trail

This is a common dragonfly species and is easily recognisable by it back and yellow markings on its wings. A beautiful dragonfly that prefers to perch on very thin leaves or stems making it quite difficult to photograph as a slight breeze would cause the perch to swing resulting in motion blur.

(Holland Woods – 22 Aug 2009)

Dragonfly (13) – Ictinogomphus Decoratus Melaenops

Family : Gomphidae
Common Name : Common Flangetail
Status : Common
Location : West Coast Park, Venus Drive, Lornie Trail, Rifle Range Nature Trail, Singapore Botanical Gardens

(Venus Drive, 25 Feb 2009)

This is one of the biggest dragonflies (about 12 cm long) that I have seen in Singapore, easily 4 times the size of Asian Pintail (see previous post). It is classified as a very common species but I would consider it relatively common as I have spotted them only 4 or 5 times so far.  I first spotted it at West Coast Park and recently at a slow-moving open stream in Venus Drive. It has a aggresive look maybe due to its huge size and certainly not an easy species to get close. The nearest distance that I was able to shoot was more than a metre away but fortunately, it often returned to the same twig where it perched.

On 13 Sep 2010, I finally got an improvement shot of this giant dragonfly.

(Singapore Botanical Gardens – 13 Sep 2010)