The Coral-tailed Cloudwing

Regular readers of this blog might remember that the above picture used
to be my header-photo a few months ago. At that time, I hadn't found out
the name of this beautiful dragonfly. That was in May. I saw it in a
shady patch near the mango tree and was bedazzled:)



You can see why. The reddish body and the transparent wings with the
spots of whitish-blue and brown make it a spectacular dragonfly. I got
a few shots but in my excitement, I went too close and it flew away.


I did see the species a few more times but it was flying about and
that's something I haven't quite managed to capture. In flight, the
Coral-tailed Cloudwing/Tholymis tillarga looks striking. That's when
the spots on the hind-wings look more pronounced.








The other day, I was lucky to find it again on a bougainvillea branch.
Although the red looked much paler, the wings were the same. It did not
budge as I took several shots in the hot sun. I've read that it is most
active in the evenings. The Coral-tailed Cloudwing is commonly found in
Asia, Australasia and Africa. Insects living near water is seen in my
yard because of the swampy areas in our locality. It's common to see
clouds of dragonflies in these low-lying boggy plots of land.








This is a male dragonfly. I'm yet to photograph the female of the species.
They have amber bodies and the transparent wings have brown patches on them.












With so many dragonflies in the vicinity, sometimes, I also come across
dead ones. The head was missing so for the photograph I placed it at an
angle where the fact is not obvious. The tattered wings say it, anyway.
The white blooms are of the dwarf Ixora and the ones next to it are the
colours that tell you that (the heat of) Summer still wants to linger on,
at least for some more time.