Rhyothemis semihyalina (Desjardins, 1832)

To avoid losing all your limited attention with the pre-amble, I'm going to be starting with the picture henceforth. When I remember.

Photographed in Chongwe, Lusaka, Zambia, in November 2011, using an Olympus E-420 DSLR, with a Zuiko 40-150mm lens and three KOOD magnifiers. It's been shrunk to be uploaded, but is still a BIG image, if you feel like clicking on it to see the facets of a dragonfly's eyes...

This, dear reader, is

Rhyothemis semihyalina

(Desjardins, 1832)

In common with other Rhyothemis, it is a flutterer, and specifically the Phantom Flutterer. Seeing it in flight gives you a good idea of the reasons for its name - as only the bases of its wings are inky black, in flight it appears a much smaller insect, and, as the bases move much more slowly than the wing-tips, looks a weak flier. To assure you that this is not the case, in 2013 I saw an individual of this species hovering over traffic on the main road into Lusaka City, snatching less agile insects from the air after cars had stunned them (I remain uncertain as to whether its agility or resourcefulness impressed me more greatly). 

- Rhyothemistini

- Trameinae           

- Libellulidae            

- Libelluloidea             

- Anisoptera                     

- Epiprocta                            

  - Odonata                                

See also: Pseudagrion hageni and Enallagma cyathigerum

- Holodonata                               

- Odonatoptera                                

- Manopterygota                                 

See also: Sibylla, Stictogryllacris punctata, Cyathosternum prehensile, Pephricus, Anoplocnemis curvipes, Ranatra, Panorpa germanica, Megistocera filipes, Diasemopsis meigenii, Episyrphus balteatus, Helophilus pendulus, Senaspis haemorrhoa, Zebronia phenice, Laelia robusta, Anthocharis cardamines, Acada biseriata, Hagenomyia tristis, Vespula germanica, Synagris proserpina, Astata tropicalis, Melolontha melolontha, Otiorhynchus atroapterus, Malachius bipustulatus, Demetrias atricapillus and Anthia fornasiini.

- Pterygota                                             

- Dicondylia                                              

- Insecta                                                        

- Hexapoda                                                        

- Arthropoda                                                         

See also: Ligia oceanica, Dicranopalpus ramosus, Enoplognatha ovata, Argiope bruennichi and Hyllus argyrotoxus.

- Ecdysozoa                                                             

- Protostomia                                                              

- Nephrozoa                                                                   

See also: Chiromantis xerampelina, Thelotornis capensis, Trachylepis varia, Lygodactylus capensis, Ardea goliath, Chalcophaps indica, Sterna hirundo and Hipposideros vittatus.

- Bilateralia                                                                       

- Eumetazoa                                                                          

- Animalia                                                                                 

- Eukaryota                                                                                     

 

That's all, folks!

Africa Dragonfly is an excellent photographic resource on the diverse African damsel and dragonflies. It includes user-submitted images of three of the six flutterers in Rhyothemis (external links): R. fenestrina, identifiable by almost entirely black wings with clear windows; R. notata, with all four wings black for just over half their length and this species, R. semihyalina, with the basal third, or thereabouts, of the hindwings inky black. The three unpictured species known from Africa are Rhyothemis mariposa, a widespread species which is found in Zambia but seems to be restricted to wetlands, Rhyothemis cognata, a Madagascar endemic, and Rhyothemis splendens, which has only (ever?) been recorded once, although this was from the southern Democratic Republic of Congo, and so it may occur unrecorded in parts of Zambia.