Indaeschna grubaueri (Förster, 1904)

Found in Asia: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand

Indaeschna grubaueri
Indaeschna grubaueri male and female has a body length difference of 1cm because of the male extra length of 1cm of the appentage. Male body length measured to around 96mm (with appentage) while the female is about 86mm
Both male and female have same wingspan of 140mm

Male has exactly similar pattern as female but the abdomen is longer and thinner.
The males and aging female hang vertically with wings spread on nearby vegetation of the breeding sites.

MALE ♂	FEMALE ♀
Male Body Length + Appentage = 96mm Male front wing span = 140mm	Female Body Length = 85mm Female front wing span = 140mm


Indaeschna grubaueri Male Segment 8,9,10	Indaeschna grubaueri Female Segment 8,9,10
Wings of a male Indaeschna grubaueri	Wings of a female Indaeschna grubaueri

The Largest and Smallest species of Dragonflies in Borneo
Indaeschna grubaueri
Nannophya pygmaea

The Largest Species
♂ Indaeschna grubaueri

body length = 96mm
wingspan = 137mm

------------------------

The Smallest Species
♂ Nannophya pygmaea

body length = 17.5mm
wingspan = 29mm

Indaeschna grubaueri ♂96mm
Body Length = 96mm
Forewing = 66mm
Forewing Span= 137mm
Hindwing = 63mm

This dragonfly photographed in 2023 is the largest measured male Indaeschna grubaueri at 96mm body length. Also the largest dragonfly in our image collection.

The only Borneo species in this genus
♂95mm 2017-07-01 SAT 12:24 HILL ZONE

Body Length = 95mm
Forewing = 64mm
Forewing Span= 134mm
HW-Hindwing =

Borneo, Indonesia, Peninsular Malaysia,Philippines, Thailand
Ref: Page 104 of DRAGONFLIES OF BORNEO by A.G. Orr

Indaeschna grubaueri

A spectacular and common dragonflies to be found inside the rainforest of Malaysia is Indaeschna grubaueri . It is another very large species (Male hw, 63-65 mm) quite the equal of any Tetracanthagyna except plagiata. In both the male and female the head and thorax are brightly marked with green and the abdomen has broad lime green bands at the distal end of segments 2-6 or 7.

The wings are hyaline, sometimes smudged with brown in older specimens. By virtue of its striking colours and size it is unmistakable and is easily identified on the wing. It is most commonly seen in the day inside the forest where males hang in the shade beside suitable breeding sites—shallow bottomed leafy pools, small rocky pools formed in depressions in dry stream beds and even large rot holes and buttress pans (pools formed when tree buttresses grow to form a cavity which fills with water).

Larvae are large and may live at very high density in close confinement. They appear to have lost the cannibalistic instincts found in other aeshnid larvae. Later instars feed voraciously on the tadpoles of many species of frog. Development in smaller bodies of water may take two to three years. The adults are semi-crepuscular, emerging into the open to feed in the late afternoon, sometimes coming to light. They occur from sea level up to about 800 m, mostly in hilly country in mixed dipterocarp forest.

The 3 families of dragonflies found in Borneo Island:

1 Family of Aeshnidae

Insects are diverse and dominant inhabitants of the tropical rainforests in Borneo Island. New species are discovered too often. Entomologists are still struggling to cope with the documentation of tropical insect diversity.

Most of the common dragonflies in Sabah are red coloured, especially from the family Libellulidae. Some red pecies are even confused as same species, for example the three species of Genus Neurothemis.

Dragonflies and damselflies have large compound eyes that can see in all directions. When the compound eye is magnified several hundred times, each individual facet (ommatidium) is shown to be hexagonal in shape.

Female dragonflies have either one of the two method of depositing eggs from the abdomen:
1- using Ovipositor Structure
2- using Vulvar Lamina

Male do not have an ovipositor. Instead male dragonfly and damselfly have appendages.

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.

Genus Indaeschna	Genus Oligoaeschna
Indaeschna grubaueri 95mm	Oligoaeschna foliacea 59+4=63mm