236: Burmargiolestes melanothorax (Selys, 1891)

            Number: 236 / Family: Rhipidolestidae / Genus: Burmargiolestes

Species: Burmargiolestes melanothorax / Orange-faced Burmese Damselfly*

Province(s) sighted: Chiang Mai

Habitat: Uplands Shaded Streams/Ponds

In flight: August / Sightings (by me): Locally Common

Species easily confused with: N/A

*As there is no common name, I have based in on the Thai name, with the fact that it has an orange face and was first described from Burma. Can you think of better?

Almost 15 years past from my first visit to Chiang Mai searching for dragonflies when I found 40 new species for my records... I was over the moon. But in all the times I had been since, I never ever saw one I was desperate to see: Burmargiolestes melanothorax, which am now giving the common name, the Orange-faced Burmese Damselfly for now at least. Anyway, it took another trip, along with Noppadon Makbun and a lot of searching and then, in an instant, I saw a female... and then a male... and then more. In fact, there were lots of them in the gloom. Hard to photograph, but there, all thanks to Noppadon! I was so happy to finally put it to bed and got decent shots of the male and the female.

The Male

I can't show you this species without showing his face first. Is there anything better? Rather a plain-looking species but that orange face changes everything. It was worth the 15-years wait!

And a more traditional shot of him...

The Female

The female is very much like the male minus the orange face but is much more robust. She does have nice orange legs, though.

113: Unknown species

Number: 113

Family: Incertae sedis (not placed)

Genus: Unknown (poss. Burmargiolestes or Agrimorpha)

Species: Poss. Burmargiolestes sp. (similar to B. melanothorax) or Agrimorpha fusca
Common name(s): N/A
Thai name(s): Unknown
Habitat: Extremely dark, heavily forested area amongst bamboo (almost impossible to see).

Province(s) sighted: Nang Kruan waterfall, Lamklong Ngu NP (Kanchanaburi province)
Sightings (by me): Rare
In flight (that I have seen): March (longer, I'm sure)

I recently saw an extremely skittish teneral damselfly about 70 metres away from the water's edge in a darkened area, amongst bamboo. It was really difficult to spot and was only given away by the white dorsal patch on the abdomen. Again, having no idea of the species, I sent it to Noppadon Makbun and he said; "It's surely in genus Burmargiolestes.  There's only one species recorded in Thailand: B. melanothorax. It's similar to this species except pale marking on apical abdominal segment." He also said that he has never seen a teneral specimen of this species, so it is difficult to confirm. 

Recently, Noppadon has informed me that this is possibly not only a new species for Thailand, but also a new genus ... Agrimorpha fusca. If it is, that would be fantastic news. Unfortunately, as it is only a teneral specimen and you can't see the colours of the face clearly, it is difficult to tell. Hopefully, I will get the chance to return there this year and spot an adult ... who knows, it could well be a new genus for the country! Once again, many, many thanks to Noppadon for his input and invaluable information ...  if it were left to me, this post would simply say "unknown brown damselfly" :)