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 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.