Zyxomma obtusum

Anisoptera
Species Name: Zyxomma obtusum
Family: Libellulidae
Crepuscular is a term used to describe animals that are primarily active during the twilight - at dawn and at dusk. This species is one of the few dragonflies with this habit. The male Zyxomma obtusum is almost entirely white in colour (except the tips of its wings) and as it suddenly appears in the dim light at dusk (or at dawn) over a pond it looks almost ghostly! Photographing it is a challenge for me and I need lots of luck - I simply focus on where I expect it to fly pass and shoot my flash gun at it, maybe once out of 20 shots I get an acceptable image!

Unlike the male the female is brown in colour with bright green eyes, I had photographed it once with the male though the image was too fuzzy to display.

The range of this species is said to be Indonesia, Japan, Philippines and of course also here in Malaysian Borneo.

Prodasineura verticalis

Zygoptera
Species Name: Prodasineura verticalis
Family: Protoneuridae

A medium-sized damselfly of clear streams, with hindwings measuring 19-20 mm and abdomen about 30 mm. The male is mostly black with bright orange stripes on its thorax and small yellow spots on the abdomen. The pterostigma or wing spot is diamond-shaped and dark brown in colour. The female is similarly coloured but her thoracic stripes are paler and more yellowish. I have seen this species in the streams near the Madai waterfall, Silam and the Tabin Wildlife Reserve all in Lahad Datu.

Males are often seen hovering over fast flowing stream when they are rather difficult to see. Oviposition takes place on vegetation, and submerged roots in shallow running water, with the pair in tandem. (See my second photo.)

The common name (in India) for members of family Protoneuridae is Bambootails and P. verticalis is the Black Bambootail. The distribution range of this species is China, India and most of Southeast Asia.

Macrogomphus quadratus

Anisoptera
Species Name: Macrogomphus quadratus
Family: Gomphidae

As its genus name implies this is a large dragonfly with a wingspan of 100-110mm. Although said to be widespread in Borneo frequenting shallow streams in dense forest, I have only seen it once... in fact literally almost bumping into it before I saw it! Fortunately for me it did not fly away until after I was able to take some photographs of it. The similarly coloured female is said to lay her eggs in the mud on the weedy edge of shallow water without the benefit of a male guard.

The range of M. quadratus is recorded as China, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Indonesia.

Devadatta podolestoides

Zygoptera
Species Name: Devadatta podolestoides
Family: Amphipterygidae


Devadatta podolestoides is the only representative of this so-called primitive family of damselfly in Borneo. Their bodies are darb brown to bluish in colour with yellowish bands on the abdomen. They are found mainly in rocky forest stream in the thick undergrowth. I have found them in Poring, Ranau and at the Kiansom Waterfalls.

The distribution range of species is China, Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo. other parts of Indonesia and the Philippines.

Libellago lineata

Zygoptera
Species Name: Libellago semiopaca
Family: Chlorocyphidae

I have not seen this species in Borneo yet but as I have just taken some photos of this pretty damselfly in Kelantan (Peninsular Malaysia) I decide to feature it in this post. Photos - Top : Male

Bottom: Female

This species is described as common in lowlands streams and rivers and widespread throughout Asia - from China, Taiwan, India, and throughout Southeast Asia.

The male is beautifully marked with yellow-orange and black with white-stockinged legs which it displays during its courtship dance. The female is of a paler and more greenish colour.

I found them in a fast flowing stream in a young oil palm plantation near Gua Musang in Kelantan.

Anax guttatus

Anisoptera
Species name: Anax guttatus
Family: Aeshnidae
Anax guttatus is heavy-bodied and an unmistakable common dragonfly of open habitats that is often seen in drains, ponds and swamps. The eyes, thorax and the base of the abdomen are mainly green in colour while the 2nd and 3rd abdominal sections are bright blue and the rest of the abdomen being dark brown with lighter spots. Both sexes are similarly marked. The males are often seen "patrolling" back and fro ceaselessly along big drains and over ponds almost the whole day long and well into the early evening. The female can sometimes be seen ovipositing while clinging to floating vegetation or twigs (this one in my photo was sitting on waterlily pads) and is quite fearless when doing so, which could be quite dangerous at times as she can be quite vulnerable to predators. In fact I had seen one being attacked by a green paddy frog.

This species commonly called the Lesser Green Emperor has a very wide distribution range - from Japan, China, all of Southeast Asia to Micronesia. It is also found in Africa.

Ictinogomphus decoratus

Anisoptera
Species Name: Ictinogomphus decoratus
Family: Gomphidae


This large dragonfly is perhaps the most commonly seen member of the family Gomphidae in its range which spreads from China, Indochina, Thailand and Peninsular Malaysia, to Indonesia, Borneo and the Philippines.

It breeds in open standing water like ponds and dams, the males are often seen perched on emergent water plants or on the water edge. Females are sometimes seen depositing their eggs in the pond, I have seen one doing so by simply dropping her eggs into the water seemingly at random and barely wetting her abdomen, with the male guarding her from a distance.

Gomphids are commonly called Clubtail Dragonflies, so this species with its yellow stripes would probably be called a Tiger Clubtail!