Monday, January 05, 2009

Damselfly (3) - Coeliccia Octogesima

Family : Platycnemidae
Common Name : Telephone Sylvan
Status : Common forest species
Location : Venus Drive, Upper pierce, Rifle Range Nature Trail

The Coeliccia octogesima is a common forest species. Unlike most damselflies that I've seen, it has a thin body and held its wings apart instead of holding them together vertically. This male species is easily identified by the two telephone shape from the dorsal view of its thorax. The female is similar to the male but the telephone shape is less well defined.

(Venus Drive, 4 Feb 2009)

I first spotted it on 26 Dec 2008 perching very lowly on small patch of grass making it difficult to photograph the side view. I found a mating pair in Feb 09 but it soon separated and perched on a thin branch in small dark stream but it was high enough this time to have a classic side view shot.

(Venus Drive, 4 Feb 2009)

This is one of the most cooperative species that I have seen and I have no problem getting a dorsal close-up view.

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