Neo Teo

Location:
Neo Teo
Species seen:
Anisoptera--Dragonflies
Libellulidae

Diplacodes trivialis

Brachythemis contaminata

Trithemis pallipinervis

Macrodiplax cora

Tramea transmarina

This morning we went along Neo Teo, around Sungei Buloh, originally for cycling, but in the end the bike rental shop wasn't open, so we walked instead.
Well, here's a picture of what the pond looked like:


Trithemis pallipinervis is different from the other, more commonly seen, Trithemis species in a rather obvious way when you see it perched. T. aurora is also known as Dawn Dropwing, T. festiva as Indigo Dropwing, the name coming from the fact that their wings droop when they are at rest. However, T. pallipinervis rests with wings raised above, as if as a mirror image of the other two T. sp. more commonly seen in Singapore.
Tramea transmarina is also a migratory dragonfly, like Pantala flavescens.
Macrodiplax cora has very sparse wing venations, with a long black stripe down its abdomen.

Apart from the various dragonflies, we also saw some birds, including the Slaty Breasted Rail. I also heard the Purple Swamp Hen, while my dad and brother saw it fly (how lucky xD)

In the afternoon we also went to Sentosa, so on an entirely unrelated note, here's a photo of a Nudibranch (possibly) that we saw:

Dairy Farm

Location:
Dairy Farm
Species seen:
Anisoptera--Dragonflies
Gomphidae

Paragomphus capricornis

Whoa, long time since I last posted... But this one is a beauty(:
Paragomphus capricornis is a rather rare species in Singapore since we don't really have many sandy banks which the larvae need to emerge.
But we seem to have found a breeding spot, because we spotted both the female and the male today:

The first picture is of the female and the second of the male. The difference is the tip of the abdomen, because the male has a hook downwards while the female doesn't. You can also see the sexual organs of the male if you look at it sideways, it is approximately where the thorax ends and the abdomen begins. (:

Also spotted some other species today, and we will probably go for a trip up to Kota Tinggi for more odonata next week ^^

陈伯伯果园

Location:
陈伯伯果园
Species seen:
Anisoptera--Dragonflies
Libellulidae

Aethriamantis gracillis

Brachythemis contaminata

Orthetrum sabina

Potomarcha congener

Trithemis aurora

Trithemis festiva

Gomphidae

Ictinogomphus decoratus

Zygoptera--Damselflies
Coenagrionidae

Pseudagrion microcephallum

Chlorocyphidae

Rhinocypha biforata

Its the holidays again, and this June, my parents decided to bring us on a small trip to Malaysia for two days. There is a fruit farm in Kota Tinggi belonging to several Singaporean uncles whom we know, and we used to visit regularly. Since we haven't been there in a long while, we decided to go look up the uncles. There are dogs, cats and chickens in the farm (which live peacefully together).
There is a pond where the uncle, 陈伯伯, tried to plant water lilies once but failed. It is a rather muddy pond with shrimps and fishes. There are also several odonata around.
We also went to Panti Forest opposite the farm, and there are some freshwater streams there, where we saw the Rhinocypha biforata, both the female and the male. Rhinocypha biforata is also from the family that is from the same family as the Libellago species are from. We also met some people from Singapore, observing moths.

Back at the farm, there was also a dead bat... and baby cats! For pictures: odonut-yj.blogspot.com, one of the previous posts. (:
It was a really relaxing trip in all!

Green Carpet

Location:
Green Carpet
Species seen:
Anisoptera--Dragonflies
Libellulidae

Neurothemis fluctuans

Orthetrum chrysis

Brachydiplex chalibea

Crocothemis sevilla

Rhyothemis phyllis phyllis

Tyriobapta torrida

Rhodothemis rufa

Orchithemis pulcherima

Nanophya pygmea
Corduliidae

Epophtalmia vittigera

Gomphidae

Macrogomphus quadratus

Zygoptera--Damselflies
Coenagrionidae

Ceriagrion cerinorubellum

Pseudagrion microcephellum

Protoneuridae

Prodasineura collaris

Chlorocyphidae

Libellago hyalina

Calopterygidae

Vestalis amoena/amethystine

Euphaeidae

Euphaea impar

Platystictidae

Drepanosticta quadrata

Yesterday morning, Dad brough my brother and I to "Green Carpet". Green Carpet is a primary forest, with several freshwater streams and ponds, and some muddy patches.
It was around 9 o'clock in the morning and it was a sunny day, so we had almost perfect condition for watching odonata.

We saw a red Orchithemis pulcherima near the last pond. Orchithemis pulcherima has several different forms, other than the red form. There is one form which makes it hard to be differentiated from the Orchithemis pruinans, a black-white-black plumage.

The dark purple mature Libellago hyalina might be a rare species, but it sure is abundant around the muddy patches after the third stream. We spotted about 5 perching on twigs, and my brother and I had a fun time trying to catch them with our hands, in fact, my brother succeeded in getting one to perch on his nose. (: The immature hyalina is a bright yellow with a purple tinge at the end of its abdomen. Yesterday, however, we only saw the purple ones with some yellow markings. We also observed one with a silvery-blue tinge.

Drepanosticta quadrata is a species of damselfly thought to be endemic to Singapore till recent years when it was discovered in southern Johor, the tip of Malaysia nearest to Singapore. It had black and white stripes along its abodomen and thorax, and although it is endemic to this small area, it is quite commonly found in Singapore forests.

Nanophya pygmea is one of the smallest dragonflies on Earth. It is a delicate and fast little red (for male, yellow for female) demon whose habits include occasional territory flights. It is indeed a sight to see the small creatures with their perfectly made body parts. We were rewarded yesterday by seeing two males fight for a piece of the pond near the third stream.

The best part of the day was when we saw the 2 Macrogomphus quadratus-es. The first was perching on a twig, and after we walked on for a bit, we saw a second one (or maybe it was the same one) flying about.

We also found a species we could not identify but we believe to be Idionyx yolanea. It was a brown dragonfly with yellow hind legs and some yellow stripes on the sides of its thorax. We estimated the hind wing to be from 25 to 30 mm.

We also saw a Common Tree Nymph flying around below the canopies. It is a rather large black and white butterfly, moving about in a graceful, kinda floppy flight. We also observed some huge scarab beetles around some flowering plants.

It was a good day, with a good catch!

Venus' Mirror

Location:
Venus' Mirror

Species seen:
Anisoptera--Dragonflies
Libellulidae

Neurothemis flactuans (Male and Female)

Zyxomma petiolatum (Male and Female)

Brachydiplax chalybea (Male)

Zygoptera--Damselflies
Coenagrionidae

Agriocnemis femina

Onychargia rufusens

Megapodagrionidae

Podolestes orientalis

Yesterday evening, I went to Venus' Mirror with my dad, my brother, the two Mr. Tang-s, and Robin from N Parks. It was around 6:30pm, and we were there to try and catch the rare Aeshnidae that Mr. Tang Junior had seen there before.
We arrived there just as the light was getting dim. Walking in to the pond, Mr. Tang told us that it was maintained by an elderly man who sold the aquatic plants he grew there to aquariums. That was why there were planks across the surface of the pond.
When we reached the pond, many Zyxomma petiolatum were zooming across the water surface. There were some mating, but most were just catching other insects. Zyxomma petiolatum are extremely thin black dragonflies.
There were several Neurothemis flactuans also, and a solitary Brachydiplax chalybea.
Nearing dusk, we saw several huge dragonflies flying around very fast, but were unable to identify them.
We also saw an Onychargia rufusens (I'm not sure about the spelling, and I'm not sure if it was rufusens, but that's what Mr. Tang said it was). It was black with a purplish tinge across the thorax and head.
We were rewarded with a beautiful firefly with a blue light, which was the grand finale of the night before we went home. Venus' Mirror is very pretty, and its definitely worth another visit.
-actually the name (venus' mirror) is a very obvious clue-

Pots Bazaar

Location:
Pots Bazaar

Species seen:
Anisoptera--Dragonflies
Libellulidae

Agrionoptera sexlineata

Brachydiplax chalybea

Camacinia gigantea (uncomfirmed)

Neurothemis flactuans

Orthetrum chrysis

Orthetrum sabina

Trithemis aurora

Gomphidae

Ictinogomphus decoratus

Zygoptera--Damselflies
Coenagrionidae

Archibasis Viola

Pseudagrion microcephalum

Platystictidae

Drepanostica quadrata

Calopterygidae

Vestalis amoena/Vestalis amethystina

Chlorocyphidae

Libellago aurantiaca (uncomfirmed)

Well, we actually went out yesterday since there was sunny weather. Pots Bazaar has a forest habitat, as you might have guessed. Other than the above Odonata, we also saw some leaf beetles, stick insects, assasin bugs, tree hoppers, and others.

We saw both the female and the male of Agrionoptera sexlineata, which is a lifer for me. The female has a orange stripe in place of the brilliant red/blue stripe the male has. We saw both at the same spot, on a twig.

We also observed some red Libellulids flying circling over a branch in the water. Because it was very far from where we stood, we could not determine if it was the Neurothemis flactuans or the Camacinia gigantea. The latter has a straight cut on the coloring of its hind wings while the first has a curved cut. However, the individuals were about the same size as an Orthetrum chrysis perching nearby.
We also saw the red Libellulids chasing away several Orthetrum chrysis.

While we were walking, we met several cyclists, although cycling is not allowed in the Nature Reserves. This will damage the habitats, as we saw when the cyclists bashed through one of the streams, disturbing the fishes and swirling up the sediments of the stream bed.

Since there are exams lately, I will not post a lot as I need to spend my weekends studying!
So that's all for now, bye(: