Prodasineura verticalis

Last Updated on Sunday, 10 September, 2023 11:39:40 PM

Damselflies of Borneo > Family Protoneuridae 原蟌科 > Genus Prodasineura > Prodasineura verticalis

Family Protoneuridae
Prodasineura verticalis
Found in Asia: China, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia

Prodasineura verticalis is found in Asia: China, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia

Prodasineura verticalis humeralis is one of the most widely encountered . Similar marking occurs in the female but is paler . It is found in a wide range of lowland forest but is most common on small to medium-sized streams in mixed dipterocarp forest. It often perches on riverside vegetation, but when on the wing it can be extremely inconspicuous.

Females generally oviposit alone, typically in root masses in the riverbanks .

Damselflies have a pair of inferior appendages and a pair superior appendages, i.e.., totally four appendages. Dragonflies have a pair of superior appendages and a single inferior one, totally three.

In damselflies the male clasp the prothorax of the female. In dragonflies the male clasp the female back of the head. Those appendages will only fit into the same species female.

Prodasineura verticalis
原蟌科

MALE	FEMALE
Prodasineura verticalis ♂ 34mm This male and female in this chart were found in pair.	Prodasineura verticalis ♀ 37mm This female is 3mm longer with the male found in pair
A medium-sized damselfly with brown eyes. Male has black cap with orange line.	Female has black cap with greenish yellow line.
Segment 8,9,10 of the male	Segment 8,9,10 of the female
Segment 2 of the male
Both male and female in this chart were found in pair at this bank of Tawau River.

The hindwings are about 19-20 mm, and the abdomen is about 30 mm. Males of this damselfly are mostly black with red and yellow stripes on their thorax and small yellow spots on their abdomen.

The fringe or wing spots are diamond-shaped and dark brown in color.

The abdomen is black with small basal dorsal yellow spots on segments 3-6. The remaining segments are unmarked. Women are marked just like men.

However, the breast stripe is paler and more yellowish.

They are commonly found along the banks of large ponds and rivers, usually sitting among emergent aquatic plants. Spawning occurs on vegetation or on roots submerged in shallow running water, and pairs form in tandem.

Prodasineura verticalis
♂37mm

Ovipositor of a female damselfly Prodasineura verticalis

♀37mm
2017-05-30 SG. TAWAU RIVER
Ovipositor Structure:
1- Paired Valves with stylus
2- Cutting Basal blade

short Cerci (Anal appendage)

Teneral (newly emerged) FEMALE	Matured FEMALE
A teneral (newly emerged) female Prodasineura verticalis humeralis still in pale color.	A female Prodasineura verticalis humeralis. Widely encountered in Sabah . Prodasineura verticalis humeralis is found in a wide range of lowland forest streams in mixed forest. It often perches on riverside vegetation.
A closer look at a teneral (newly emerged) female Prodasineura verticalis humeralis. When teneral the grayish-black color is completely different with the bright orange-striped color. I thought it was a new species.	But the thorax unchanged pattern, especially a dark spot at the wing base, gave us the identification.

MALE	FEMALE
Male thorex is marked in red/orange and can be easily confused with Prodasineura humeralis.	Female has similar marking with the male but in female is more paler and yellowish.
A male Prodasineura verticalis humeralis. Small and slender build. The abdomen is 1.5 times the length of the hind wing. The pterostigma is diamond-shaped and not long.
	Prodasineura verticalis is superficially like an E. analis. The two species are sometimes found flying together,
Segment 2 a male Prodasineura verticalis humeralis (Selys, 1860).
Male anal appendages are robust and squat as long as the last abdominal segment (segment 10)	Ovipositor (segment 8, 9 and 10) of the above young female Prodasineura verticalis humeralis. Female Prodasineura verticalis humeralis usually oviposit alone in root masses in the riverbanks.