| Rhyothemis triangularis (Kirby,
1889), the Sapphire Flutterer, is one of the smallest species of Rhyothemis.
This blue dragonfly is found on ponds, lakes and other lotic habitats.
It differs from Rhyothemis resplendens, another blue species on the more
extensive blue marking on the wings of the later species.
Males and females are similar. In
males, the hindwing is 21 to 23 mm long and the total body length ranges
from 23 to 26 mm. The eyes are reddish brown on top and dark brown below.
The thorax and abdomen are dark metallic blue. The wing bases have broad
and distinctive deep purplish blue patches. The coloured patches on the
wings of male are brighter purplish-blue, while those of the female are
darker in colour.
This species inhabits ponds and sluggish
streams. Although it can be a weak and slow flyer, occasionally an individual
can be seen to fly quite high, ascending slowly, until reaching a height
of about 15 to 20 m before flying off horizontally and almost instantly
disappearing from sight. When perching, it often turns its wings to point
directly at the sun. This species falls prey to spiders frequently. It
is common to see individuals trapped in spiders' webs.
Rhyothemis triangularis is widespread
species, distributed from India to south China and south to Java. IUCN
Red List accessed as Least Concern.
References:
http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/dna/organisms/details/766
http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/169123/0
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