Aristocypha fenestrella, Heliocypha biforata and Heliocypha perforata
In Peninsular Malaysia, three damselfly species,
Aristocypha fenestrella,
Heliocypha biforata and
Heliocypha perforata, are very close to each other in morphology. Most of the time, laymen just could not tell them apart. If one pays enough attention, however, these three damselfly species are quite distinctive (see photos below).
The colour patches of the wings for these three species are different.
Aristocypha fenestrella and
Heliocypha perforata have wings with more extensive colour patches, but not so in
Heliocypha biforata. The colour markings on abdomen and thorax among them are also quite different.
Aristocypha fenestrella has dark abdomen and yellow marking on thorax;
Heliocypha biforata has dark abdomen and blue-pink marking on thorax; and
Heliocypha perforata has blue spots on abdomen and blue marking (very limited pink, not as much as that of
Heliocypha biforata) on thorax. Can you spot these differences on the photos shown below?
Aristocypha fenestrella
Heliocypha biforata
Heliocypha perforata
There are two stamps (from stamp booklet issued in 2000) showing damselflies related to the above species (see below stamps). However, the drawings and species labelling do not seem to be quite right. Let me explain one by one.....
The below stamp is imprinted with species name
Aristocypha fenestrella. Well, at first glance the drawing of the damselfly looks very close to
Aristocypha fenestrella. The wing marking of this damselfly is truly of that of
Aristocypha fenestrella. However, the colour markings on the thorax and the abdomen of this damselfly are not quite right. For
Aristocypha fenestrella, the thorax should have yellow marking and the abdomen should be dark (no blue spots). So, the damselfly drawing on this stamp has characters between
Aristocypha fenestrella and
Heliocypha perforata - the wing belongs to
Aristocypha fenestrella but the abdomen-thorax belongs to
Heliocypha perforata.
Aanother different stamp from the booklet (see below stamp) is also imprinted with species name
Aristocypha fenestrella. If one looks carefully, the damselfly drawing on the stamp has blue-pink thorax, dark abdomen and less extensive colour on wings. These characteristics are of that
Heliocypha biforata. So, the damselfly species on the damselfly should be
Heliocypha biforata, not
Aristocypha fenestrella as imprinted on the stamp.
Well, the these stamps were issued on the topic/theme of
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Malaysia. So, it is incomplete if we do not take into consideration of those species from Sarawak and Sabah. After all, Sarawak and Sabah are also parts of Malaysia.... unless, the topic/theme of the stamp set were
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Peninsular Malaysia. Now, one may ask what other species from Sarawak and Sabah look close to those damselfly images in the above two stamps. Actually, there are four species from Sarawak and Sabah (not found in Peninsular Malaysia) look close to the damselfly images in the above stamps -
Heliocypha biseriata,
Rhinocypha aurofulgens,
Rhinocypha cucullata and
Rhinocypha humeralis (see the four photos below). However, the wing colour pattern and the markings on abdomen and thorax of these four species from Sarawak and Sabah are not of those exactly as the damselfly images of the above stamps.
Heliocypha biseriata
Rhinocypha aurofulgens
Rhinocypha cucullata
Rhinocypha humeralis
Having said that, these two stamps are "error" stamps. You agree, don't you? :)
