Zyxomma obtusum 2

Anisoptera

Species name: Zyxomma obtusum

Family: Libellulidae  

Mature males of this crepuscular species are entirely covered with white bloom which gives it a ghostly appearence when silently flitting over drains at dusk or early dawn.

 

A male in flight. See another male in flight here

I recently found some larvae living in a cement water tank, no doubt feeding on tadpoles of the four-lined tree frog and other aquatic life in the water.

A final instar nymph.

A nymph that has crawled out of the water and 

ready to emerge.

The newly emerged imago beside its exuvia in the process of drying its wings.

 It is a male (teneral) still lacking its full mature colour. 

Zyxomma petiolatum

Anisoptera

Species Name: Zyxomma petiolatum

Family: Libellulidae

Male

Two species of Zyxomma are quite commonly encountered but are rarely noticed because they are both crepuscular, i.e. they are active only when the sun has set and before sunrise. Z. petiolatum are less often seen or noticed because of its sombre brownish colour, unlike the male Z. obtusum which is covered in a "ghostly" white pruinescence that extents to its wings. 

The two Zyxomma species are very dissimilar, with obtusum being more "libellulid-shaped", while the petiolatum male has a long and very slender abdomen; the female's is somewhat thicker.

Both sexes are active from late afternoon to well into the evening and probably at dawn too as with obtusum, and are attracted to lights; the photos here are of specimens that flew into the house at night.

Female

Said to be widespread in tropical Asia and Australasia.

Gynacantha basiguttata

Anisoptera

Species Name: Gynacantha basiguttata

Family: Aeshnidae

Aeshnids are mainly medium-sized to very large dragonflies with about 30 species found in Borneo, Gynacantha basiguttata being one of the most commonly met with. This family includes the largest and heaviest odonate in the world – Tetracanthagyna plagiata, which is also found in Borneo.

Like most members of this family, G. basiguttata is usually seen hawking for small insects at dawn and at dusk and is sometimes attracted to the lights in houses. During the day both sexes could be found resting in undergrowth in the forest. Members of this genus look very similar but males can usually be identified by the unique shape their anal appendages, females however are very difficult to identify to species.

Usually this species fly rather fast and the only chance of taking their photo is when they fly into buildings at night or if you are lucky enough to find the place where they take their daytime siesta! However I was lucky one evening to see one repeatedly "hovering" for periods long enough for me to focus on it and take a series of flight photos of it!

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 in this family with this habit. The male Zyxomma obtusum is almost entirely white in colour (except for the dark 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, I get maybe one acceptable image out of every 20 shots!

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.