Beautiful Dragonfly

[boghaunter1]

Hello... Any Ode lovers left out there?... just thought I would wipe a few cobwebs away from this idle forum!

I acquired the following large, colourful dragonfly a couple of yrs. ago & have narrowed down the i.d. to a female Chlorogomphus caloptera H. Karube, 2013 from central Vietnam... can anyone else confirm the i.d. on this beauty? I have been researching this specimen on & off for the past 2 yrs. & have only recently come up with this i.d.. The genus Chlorogomphus is best known for C. papilio from China; this dragonfly is famous for being extraordinarily beautiful & for being the world's largest dragonfly sp. in terms of having the greatest known wing surface area. The beauty of this related sp., shown here, has a wingspan of 135mm (5.25"). The genus Chlorogomphus currently has around 60 spp. & has a wide distribution occurring from India across to China. Many new spp. have been described in the recent 5-10 yrs. Vietnam currently has about a dozen spp. In almost all cases, but a few, only the females are highly patterned & colourful; the majority of males have completely clear, long, narrow wings showing marked sexual dimorphism. These spectacular dragonflies are said to glide about on warm thermal updrafts, expending little energy, in a manner similar to vultures or hawks. Sometimes when they do occasionally circle closer to the ground, above mountainous jungle roads, the colourful dark orangey brown/black markings silhouettes of the wings can be seen projected on the ground! They are, as can be surmised, very difficult to net... females are more commonly collected when they come down to fly low along the surface of small jungle streams to lay their eggs (or along narrow jungle paths/roads mistaking them for streams)..
Would love to see specimens of this genus from other's collections...





John K.

[johnnyboy]

That is beautiful, similar in coloration to the female Cholorogomphus nakamurai I have, also Vietnamese in origin. I saw several specimens of male and female Chlorogomphus papilo in the collection of Alun Davies in Cambridge. Alun had a fantastic dragonfly collection, with thousands of specimens from across the globe, that was donated to Cambridge University when he died some years ago.

Johnny

[dragonflyer]

Hello John,

nice Dragonfly! This is a female of Chlorogomphus aritai Karube, 2013. This species is very similar to C. caloptera, but C. caloptera has less extended colored patches on its wings.

Cheers,

Nic

[boghaunter1]

Hello dragonflyer (Nic)

Welcome to the forum... Please try again to upload a photo of your C. aritai... it is really nice to see some other collectors who are also interested in the Odonata...

John K.

[bugboys3]

I enjoy Odonata as well. It is just too bad that the body and eye colors fade so fast.

[dragonflyer]

Hello,

here are some species of the genus Chlorogomphus.

C. aritai from Vietnam (female above, male below):



C. albomarginatus from Vietnam (female):


C. magnificus from Sumatra (female):


Cheers,

Nic

[boghaunter1]

Hi again Nic,

Thanks for posting pics of your Chlorogomphus specimens... very nice indeed. Your female C. aritai certainly is more darkly marked than my C. caloptera. To the unacquainted/unfamiliar collector it is really hard to believe that your pair of C. aritai actually belong to the same sp.; the sexual dimorphism is incredible. I wonder, in the field, how the males can be accurately identified unless actually found in copulo or interacting directly with the female? I gather, from the internet, that the males have distinctive large yellow markings (as do the females) on the sides of their thoraxes as well as yellow ringed abdomens. A good soak in acetone would help preserve those markings, however, in rural Vietnam & elsewhere, I doubt if the local collectors know or would go to the extra effort to do so. The prices some of these rare dragonflies bring ($24.00 USD for mine & up to $150.00+ USD each for others I saw on the net) would seem to justify special treatment. Your other 2 female spp. are also very beautiful... Anyone else have specimens to share?

To bugboys3.... A good soaking in fresh acetone (after keeping specimens alive in envelopes for 12-24 hrs. to empty their gut) has been a great way to preserve the beautiful colours... however, even after having said that... certain specimens simply do not keep their colour. I've collected a lot of local Aeshna darners (blue, green & yellow) & certain specimens/spp. really keep their color well & some not so much... but still much better than the old days when everything turned a uniform brown! Also make sure Aeshna sp. are kept warm before dispatching & soaking in acetone... some spp. turn dark gray (blue disappears completely) if kept cold or if the weather suddenly cools down. Still no way to keep the eye colour though unfortunately... maybe some other collectors have a magic chemical solution... Best way to preserve colours is to take photos while alive & slip the photo into the envelope with the actual specimen.

If there are any Chinese dealers/worldwide collectors out there with a spare pr. of C. papilio available please contact (pm) me...

John K.

[dragonflyer]

Hello John,

I may not have expressed myself very well. Your specimen is a female of C. aritai too...

[boghaunter1]

Hi Nic,

Seriously??... you are absolutely sure? Wow! After I got my specimen I saw, within the last 2 yrs., about a half dozen similar specimens offered by the same Vietnamese dealer on ebay. Their only apparent difference were the intensity & size of the dark patches (+higher prices!). What is the data on your specimen? Mine is Bato Mtn.,Quang Ngai Prov.,950m, April 2014.

John K.

[boghaunter1]

Nic,

Oooh!...Yes!...finally "got it" - your original i.d. understood!

John K.

[johnnyboy]

Wonderful Chlorogomphus specimens, the most beautiful of all dragonflies. Many thanks for sharing.


Johnny

[bugboys3]

John, I have tried soaking in acetone with varied success. It does help to keep some of the color, but never quite at the brightness as when they are alive.

[joee30]

I've had good success at keeping the colors of damselflies better with acetone.