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Found in Asia: Bangladesh, China, Guangxi, Hong Kong, Hainan, Indonesia, India, Japan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Malaysia, Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Viet Nam

References :
Orr, A. G., 2005. Dragonflies of Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore. Natural History Publications (Borneo), Kota Kinabalu. Page 38

Pseudagrion microcephalum 瘦面細蟌

Both male and female are same size
♂ Male
body length = 34mm
hind wing length = 18mm

♀Female
body length = 34mm
hind wing length = 18mm

Pseudagrion microcephalum are seen near flowing water. Males are sky blue in colour with black patches on the dorsal surface of the abdomen and the tip. Males are more in number than females .They start mating very early in the morning and complete before the bright light comes. Females are with light blue colour, not bright as males.

Blue head, Blue face and eyes are Blue too.
A few species of damselflies in Sabah are blue and look similar. One can easily mistaken Pseudagrion microcephalum as Ischnura senegalensis.
We can tell it is a Pseudagrion microcephalum by its Blue eyes and bright Blue face.

A male Pseudagrion microcephalum

The male damselfly is brightly blue in color with black pattern on abdomen and blue thorax with black marks. Its long and slender abdomen is black in color with blue rings. There is the blue tip at the end of abdomen.
The female are look the same except pale blue to grayish-green in color. When Blue Sprite Damselflies are at rest, they held their wings closely folded up vertically over their thorax.
Then the female will return to the water and lay her eggs, usually with the male still in tandem position.
Damselflies lay their eggs in the plants under the surface of water. Female damselflies have their blade-like ovipositor for making an opening in the plant for her eggs.
Some other damselflies female lays eggs alone with no male around.

Matured Pseudagrion microcephalum become active in sunny afternoon, spending long time in tandem.
The female often oviposits underwater, while still in tandem with a male. Most cases the male may have the lower part of his abdomen submerged as well. Sometimes the male may have to fully submerged into water too if the female go deeper down to the plants under the water.
Photos above is a pair totally submerged.
The female places eggs in the tissue of underwater plants, as do most damselflies.
SG IMAM 2016-03-02 15:39

Ovipositor of a female damselfly Pseudagrion microcephalum
♀34mm
hind wing length = 18mm

2016-10-19 SRI INDAH
1- A paired Valves with stylus
2- A cutting Basal blade
A pair of Cerci (Anal appendage)
Cerci (appendage)

Pseudagrion microcephalum is a very common in ponds, lakes and drains. The male bright blue with black bands.
It can be confused with many other common coenagrionids, including Archibasis species and Argiocnemis rubescens, all of which fall into the same size range and have a similar pattern of blue on black.

It is difficult to separate from other blue Pseudagrion species, but Pseudagrion microcephalum is by far the commonest and most widespread member of its genus and the only one known from disturbed habitats.

Male Pseudagrion microcephalum skimm just few inches above water surface (above photo).

The female is light brown with obscure greenish markings. Mating start at midday throughout the afternoon.
After insemination the pair may remain in tandem for well over an hour, skimming the water surface and resting frequently on lily pads. Females often submerge completely to lay their eggs in the stems of water plants.

Pseudagrion microcephalum is widespread and was featured by National Geographic few years ago.

The male using his genital claspers located at the tip of his abdomen to grab hold of her by the pro-thorex. The two will form a circle while the female aligns her genitilia with the secondary genitilia of the male located at section two (S2) of abdomen. The male then deposit his sperm into the female.
After copulation, the male will continue to hold onto the female's neck to prevent other males from mating with her. The male will fly around with the female while she lays her eggs, often guiding her to the most ideal spot for the eggs. Once a location has been selected, the female will insert her ovipositor, a knife-like egg-laying organ, into stems of growing plants.
Females always lay copious amounts of eggs in order to ensure that at least some will hatch and fully mature into adult dragonflies.

An immature and matured female Pseudagrion microcephalum (Rambur, 1842) are so different in color that it often mistaken as another species.
An matured female's greenish blue color is similar to few other species and again often wrongly identified as the same species.
One can tell it is a female Pseudagrion microcephalum (Rambur, 1842) by the 3 unique black spots on each side of the thorax.

Pseudagrion microcephalum Blue Sprite Damselflies are one of the most common damselflies found in Sabah. They can easily be found near running water or still water. They usually rest on the plants in the middle of ponds or at the water edges.
In warm sunny days, you can see them flying over the water completing for a good perching position with other damselflies.
This slender blue damselfly flies gracefully above pond and stream. The most abundant of all damselfly species, this beautiful blue damselfly can easily be spotted in grass. The males are beautifully blue, while the females are dull light green.

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

Damselfly head include :
1- compound eyes,
2- ocelli,
3- antennae,
4- mouth structures

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

GO FURTHER

FLORA

Fig trees of Sabah

Borneo has 150 species of wild fig trees. Most of them are found in forests of Sabah.

FISHERIES

Tiger Prawn Farms in Tawau

Prawn farming is a main commercial activities in Tawau. Spawners from Tawau are graded the best in Malaysia. For decades, Tawau has been exporting high-grade tiger prawns to several countries such as Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Singapore, Egypt and Australia.