Last Updated on Monday, 28 March, 2022 08:11:56 AM

INDEX  >  Damselflies of Borneo  >  Family Calopterygidae

Family Calopterygidae
色蟌科

The Family Calopterygidae of damselflies, with over 160 species worldwide, is a widespread family best represented in the tropics. In Borneo there are nine species in three genera. One genus, Matronoides, and seven species are endemic. The family is best represented in north Borneo owing to extensive speciation there in the Vestalis amoena group.

All calopterygids are slender and fairly large (hw 30-40 mm) with long thin legs. In both sexes the head and body are mainly metallic- green. There is no pterostigma in any Bornean species (although it occurs in the south-east Asian genus Echo). The wings are densely reticulated with 22-70+ antenodal cross veins. Fore- and hind wings are nearly equal in length, broad and rounded, without a definite stalk.
Calopterygids typically occur in pristine habitats, especially small- to medium-sized clear forest streams, up to 1700 m. A few Vestalis species are common in swamp forest. The sexual behavior of many calopterygid species from temperate regions has been well studied, but Bornean species are less understood. However some form of courtship and mate guarding is common. Larvae are elongate with spidery legs and long narrow caudal lamellae, the middle one being shorter than the outer pair. They usually live in leaf packs or among stones on forest streams with clear fast flowing water.

Vestalis amoena occurs throughout lowland Borneo, up to about 500 m, and elsewhere in Sundaland. It is common on larger forest streams and is the most wide-spread of six very similar species, all with a metallic-green head, thorax and abdomen, and clear wings reflecting purplish or greenish iridescence from certain angles. As far as we know, in all species mating is preceded by courtship in which the male dances around the female displaying the sparkling colors of his wings. Females oviposit in dead leaves around the margins of streams, either guarded by the male or alone. The larvae of amoena are found among leaves and pebbles at the edge of fast flowing water. The other five species are distinguished from amoena and each other mainly by the form of the male appendages. They differ also in distribution and ecology.

* endemic species that naturally occurs in only Borneo Island

* endemic species that naturally occurs in only Borneo Island

* endemic species that naturally occurs in only Borneo Island

Vestalis gracilis	Vestalis amoena Vestalis amethystina

Vestalis amoena	Vestalis amethystina

Vestalis amabilis is found in lowland northern Sarawak and Brunei, on clear forest streams bordered by Pinanga and Dipteris lobbiana and also in swamp forest with Pandanus. Both males and females are sometimes abundant along forest paths in low country where they perch on leaves, often rising to capture small insects. Vestalis amnicola is confined to small swift forest streams to about 800 m in north Borneo. It is very local but not rare where present.

Out of the global 10 families of damselflies, the following 6 families of damselflies are found in Borneo Island :

RELATED  TOPICS

Dragonflies of Borneo
"With 275 named species so far recorded in Borneo, the island has one of the richest and most exciting dragonfly faunas in the world. More than 40% of species occur nowhere else, making it the most distinctive sub-region of Sundaland." A Guide to the Dragonflies of Borneo by Albert G. Orr
 

Damselflies of Borneo