Dragonfly (35) – Aethriamanta Brevipennis

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Scarlet Adjudant
Status : Rare
Location : Lornie Trail

Aethriamanta BrevipennisIt is a small and short species but strongly built with broad abdomen.  The male is bright red in colour which looks a little like a small version of Orthetrum Chrysis.  The female is yellowish brown in colour.

(Male – Lornie Trail, 23 Aug 2010)

Today is my first encounter of this male species at Lornie Trail.  It preferred to perch lowerly, about 10 -15 cm above the reservior water and it appeared to enjoy perching under the bright sunlight.    As such, it is not easy to photograph and I could only manage some record shots.

(Male – Lornie Trail, 23 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (34) – Aethriamanta Gracilis

Family : Libellulidae
Common Name : Pond Adjutant
Status : Uncommon
Location : Lornie Trail

Aethriamanta Gracilis is a small dragonfly which looks very identical to Brachydiplax Chalybea, except that it is smaller size and more open wing venation.  Similarly to B. Chalybea, males are more common than females.  There were about 8 to 10 nos. of male at some bushes along Lornie Trail and I think I spotted one female but I did not manage to capture it in pixel as it was flying without perching.  The males were quite skittish and therefore I could only manage some record shots.

(Male – Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

(Male – Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

(ID unknown – Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

The female is said to be “yellowish brown in colour with black marking”.  Based on this description, the above image could be a female A. Gracilis which was spotted on 25 Aug 2010.

(Side view – Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010 )

Afternote : After Mr C.Y. Choong commented that it is unlikely to be a female A. Gracilis, I wrote to Mr Tang H. B. for a second opinion.  He is certain that it is not any of the Aethrianmanta species as the venation does not match.  He also rules out the possibility of Trithemis festiva, judging from the markings on the thorax.  As this dragonfly was about the same size of Aethrianmanta gracilis, he felt that, for this reason, it is less likely to be Indothemis limbata.  However, he would not rule out this possibility as he has not seen a female Indothemis limbata himself.  He added that if it is really a Indothemis limbata, then this image could be the first female photo of the species taken in Singapore!  I have uploaded a side view shot (see above).

On 6 Sep 2010, I spotted 2 mating pairs but only managed to get a record shot (see right image) as dragonfly usually mates for less than a minute!

Damselfly (25) – Pseudagrion Australasiae

Family : Coenagrionidae
Common Name : Look-alike Sprite
Status : Uncommon
Location : Lornie Trail

After collected more than 50% of the damselfly species in Singapore, it is getting very difficult to add new species to my collection.  So, I was pleasantly surprised to spot this uncommon P. Australasiae at Lornie Trail this morning.  It was drizzing at that time but that did not stop me from photographing it.

(Female – Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

The female of this species should be rarer than the male.  The male looks very similar to P. Microcephalum where both are light blue in colour.  P. Australasiae is slighter bigger in size than P. Microcephalum.  Accordingly to Mr C.Y. Choong, the blue colour of P. Microcephalum is brighter than P. Australasiae but the ultimate confirmation on these two species is very much relied on the structure of their tail (anal appendages). Pseudagrion Microcephalum has longer anal appendages compared to P. Australasiae.  I have photographed both the male and female of P. Microcephalum but I am not sure whether I have shot the male of P. Australasiae as I did not know how to differentiate these 2 species previously.

(Female closeup – Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

On 25 Aug 2010, I have finally captured a decent shot of the skittish male.  Yes, it is indeed longer than P. Microcephalum and a strong flyer.  Not an easy species to photograph.  My next target is to shoot them mating!

(Male – Lornie Trail, 25 Aug 2010)

Dragonfly (33) – Trithemis Pallidinervis (灰脈蜻蜓)

Family : Libellulidae

Common Name : Dancing Dropwing

Status : Uncommon

Location : Dairy Farm Nature Park, Lornie Trail

This is a medium sized yellowish brown dragonfly with relatviely long legs.  The male and female have similar marking. However, the face of male is metallic purple while the female is rather yellow white in colour.  It likes to perch in the open with its wings nicely folded up which make it easier to photograph.  It is a cooperative dragonfly and not difficult to get nice backgroung.  The challenges are the harsh sunlight and strong wind. 

(Female – Lornie Trail, 14 Aug 2010)

My first sighting of this elegant species was at Dairy Farm Nature Park a few months ago. I could not get any shot at that time as it was perching in the water, a distance from the board walk. I am glad to spot this species again this morning at Lornie Trail.  A little disappointed as I did not handle the harsh sunlight well.  I will definitely revisit Lornie Trail to get some improvement shots in the coming weeks.

(Female – Lornie Trail, 16 Aug 2010)

I revisited Lornie Trail 2 days later and I spotted about 4 to 5 nos. of this species perching near the edge of the reservior.  This lighting was better this time but it was as windy.  The green background in the above picture is the water, a lightly better shot, in my opinion.  I shall revisit this place soon 😀

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)

 

A Book on Dragonflies of Singapore

A photographic guide to the Dragonflies of Singapore was officially launched on 2 August 2010. The book is published by the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research of the National University of Singapore, and is co-authored by Tang Hung Bun, Wang Luan Keng and Matti Hämäläinen. The following is a short paragraph about the book:

“In 1854 Alfred Russel Wallace collected 30 dragonfly species from Singapore. Since then a total of 124 species have been recorded within the territorial limits of the nation, including seven new records made just in the last two years. Dragonflies of Singapore covers all these species. Informative textual accounts of all species and large, full-colour photographs of almost every species enable the reader to identify almost any dragonfly encountered in the field. This book is an essential tool to enthusiasts, naturalists and general readers who wish to learn about dragonflies. At the same time, it captures quintessentially their sublime and ephemeral beauty.”

I am glad to receive a complimentary copy on 19 Aug 2010 from the Authors as I have contributed one of my damselflies photos in the book.  A very well written book with nice, colourful pictures of all 124 dragonflies species.  With such a quality book, it is not expensive at S$22. 

If you wish to purchase a copy of the book, it is now available for order at this nature bookstore.

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 (30) – Macrogomphus Quadratus

Family : Gomphidae

Common Name : Forktail

Status : Uncommon

Location : Upper Peirce

This is an uncommon dragonfly spotted at Upper Peirce.  My personal experience with hugh forest species is that they are skittish and once they flew off, they disappear and never come back.  But this one was an exception.  It was quite comfortable with me so long as I maintained a safe distance of about one metre.  It would fly away only if I attempted to get closer.  But the lucky thing was that it would come back and perch somewhere nearby.  

(Upper Peirce – 5 Jun 2010)

As this was my first time seeing this species , I took as many shots as possible to make sure that I got it right. Being a large subject, the main problem was the difficulty of getting an acceptable background.  I chose to use a large aperture of f5.6 & f8 for most of my shots.

(Side view)

(Doing stretching exercise)

Damselflies from Panti Forest

I joined my nature photography friends to Panti Forest today. There were 15 of us, 10 doing birding while the rest of us focused on macro shooting. Panti forest is more well-known for bird watching and photography, so it was really a pleasant surprise to me that there are so many species of damselflies, many of which cannot be found in Singapore.

(Heliocypha biforata, male)

(Libellago stigmatizans, Orange-faced Gem, male)

(Heliocypha biforata, female)

(Pseudagrion pruinosum, Grey Sprite, 赤斑蟌)

(Elattoneura analis)

(Rhinagrion macrocephalum)

 

 

Dragonfly (29) – Orthetrum Glancum (黑尾灰蜻)

Family : Libellulidae

Common Name : Common Blue Skimmer

Status : Uncommon

Location : Rifle Range Nature Trail, Dairy Farm Nature Park

Orthetrum Glaucum is a medium size dragonfly species.  The males are blue in colour with a greyish at the tip of its abdomen.  The females are golden yellow in colour and they are less commonly found than the males.  They usually perch on messy bushes and sometimes on stones under the hot sunlight making it difficult to get nice shots.  So far I have sighted them at Dairy Farm Nature Park and Rifle Range Nature Trail.  Hope I can get an improvement shot soon.

(Rifle Range Nature Trail – 2010)