School!

Our school pond has been changed recently into a clearer one with hydrillas in it and other water plants that are generally good for odonata. It was originally muddy and inhabited only by turtles but now it has guppies and even three Prodasineura microcephallum!
Applause please. I'm going to haunt that place often.

Panti Forest

Location:
Panti Forest, Kota Tinggi, Malaysia
Species seen:
Anisoptera--Dragonflies
Gomphidae

Heliogomphus kelantanensis (?)

Macrogomphus parallelogramma (?)

Libellulidae

Lyriothemis biappendiculata

Rhyothemis obsolescens

Zygoptera--Damselflies
Calopterygidae

Vestalis gracilis/amoena/amethystina

Chlorocyphidae

Heliocypha biforata

Libellago stigmatizans

Sundacypha petiolata

Megapodagrionidae

Rhinagrion mima

Euphaeidae

Dysphaea dimidiata

Euphaea impar

Protoneuridae

Prodasineura laidlawii

This few weeks, Professor M. H. visited Singapore. We took the chance to go up to Kota Tinggi in Johor with him and Mr. Tang on Labour Day.
We went into a stream in Panti Forest. The sand banks on this stream made it a good breeding spot for Gomphids, in fact, we spotted a few zooming up and down the river, however, we were unable to identify it as Prof. M.H. was not with us at that time. However, my brother found a teneral Leptogomphus species.

The few odonata species I saw today were all new to me. I also learned to identify a few species.
Prodasineura laidlawii can be differed from the other Prodasineura species as the end of the abdomen is almost totally blue, and the blue marks on the thorax are thin as compared to the other P. species.

There were many Heliocypha biforata flying around the place. There is a obvious pink patch above the light blue thorax, completed by a black abdomen with slight blue markings.

We also observed quite a few Libellago stigmatizans male species flying about. They generally prefer to perch near the water surface, not unlike the Libellago aurantiaca. There were two males engaged in territorial fights, and we also found a dead one in a spider web. A female was ovipositing, with the male flying over it as protection. The white legs of the male were clearly seen to be extended when it was circling.

When we branched off into another side stream, this one with water not as clear and more underwater growth, we found several species of Sundacypha petiolata, including two males engaged in territorial fights and a mating pair.

Drepanosticta quadrata was collected at this stream when Prof M. H., Mr. Tang and my father visited it last week. It is therefore not endemic to only Singapore, as previously thought, but also to Southern Johor.

We visited 陈伯伯果园 to clean up and also visit the dogs and cats :)
There were 3 baby kittens! (opened eyes already haha.)
There were also two young dogs. The puppies from the previous visit have all grown up and none seem to recognize us except for the king, which we've known since it was very young (and far from the king position).

A fruitful trip!

Dairy Farm 2 (stream + Paragomphus spot)

Location:
Dairy Farm stream
Species seen:
Anisoptera--Dragonflies
Aeshnidae

Gynacantha basiguttata / Gynacantha demeter / Gynacantha dohrni

Gomphidae

Paragomphus capricornis

Libellulidae

Agrionoptera sexlineata

Neurothemis flactuans

Orthetrum Chrysis

Tholymis tillarga

Zygoptera--Damselflies
Amphipterygidae

Devadatta argyoides

Coenagrionidae

Pericnemis stictica

Platycnemidae

Copera marginipes

Protoneuridae

Prodasineura notostigma

We went to a sandy-based stream near the possible breeding spot of Paragomphus capricornis we found two posts back. The above list comprises of all that we saw (with the exception of the capricornis which we then saw when we visited the possible breeding spot afterwards).

We first walked downstream. The time was about 9:15am, and there wasn't a lot of Odonata about. However, we saw two red crabs mating. We also spotted a resting Tholymis tillarga, which is a crepuscular species (comes out at dawn and dusk).
Quite a few all black Devadatta argyoides were spotted. Their wings are edged at the tip with a black band.
Later on, on our trek back upstream, we spotted the Pericnemis stictica, which is a very large species of damselfly, in fact, the largest damselfly in Singapore.
We then saw a male Agrionoptera sexlineata. The female can be differentiated from the male by the bands on the tail. The female has yellow bands while the male has red ones.
Dad and my brother later spotted the Gynacantha species flying about, but unfortunately I wasn't fast enough to track it.

We spotted the capricornis again this time, however, it did not stay as long as it did last week.
We also spotted an Gynacantha species, either basiguttata, demeter or dohrni, ovipositing at a muddy bank there. It flew back and forth between 3 spots, laying its eggs systematically. When disturbed by my brother, it flew around the area before returning to its first spot. I was amazed because there was a limited amount of water there. The tiny stream, if it could be called that, was only about 1cm deep and not very clear.

An interesting trip indeed!