Tyriobapta torrida Kirby, 1889
Tree-hugging Dragonfly
Found in Asia: China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peninsular Malaysia, Thailand
Sub-Order: ANISOPTERA Super-Family: LIBELLULOIDEA Family: LIBELLULIDAE

This pair of Tyriobapta torrida were caught in tandem on 22 August 2007 in National Park of Tawau.

Tyriobapta torrida is normally spotted on tree trunk in shady environment.

For some reason, Tyriobapta torrida  likes hugging tree trunks. Even when disturbed, it will hover away only briefly and return just as promptly. The male (displaying a large black patch at the base of both hind-wings) are always found to be gregarious.

Female Tyriobapta torrida

Male Tyriobapta torrida

A female Tyriobapta torrida.

This is a medium size dragonfly measuring :
Hind wing span = 64mm
Whole body length = 36mm

View from top of a female Tyriobapta torrida. The pair of eyes are pale grayish-green with pigmented brown facets (ommatidia) on the top part..

Thorax marking of a matured female. White pruinescence (white powder like) developed over the black thorax marking. This make a matured female look dull in color appearance.

A female Tyriobapta torrida with eggs. This female was captured in pair while they were copulating. It was amazing to see segment 9 full of eggs sticking together. Just how many eggs this female could possible have? A female spend about 10 minutes in ovipositing by depositing an egg each time the abdomen tip touch the water at a speed of 3 deposit per 2 seconds. So it is about 300 eggs during each 10 minutes session and a female could have several sessions of ovipositng during her life span. That calculated to more that 1,000 eggs a female Tyriobapta torrida could possible produce during her short life.

The same female as above. With a segment full of eggs ready to be fertilized before ovipositing, this female already has done a previous batch of ovipositing. This is indicated on her abdominal tip. From the photo, segment 9 and 10 have half of the abdominal fur (tinny hair) being worn off leaving bare smooth dark skin visible. The smooth part of the abdomen is the tip of the abdomen this female dragonfly used to touch the water surface while dropping the eggs. Repeating hitting the water to completed dropping the few hundred eggs caused this poor mother to worn out her body.
Disclaimer: The Dragonflies of Sabah is an educational resource written largely by and for SMK (secondary school) students in Malaysia. TDS doesn't cover all species in Sabah, nor does it include all the latest scientific information. Though we edit our pages for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in these pages. While we provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control.

INDEX : Dragonfly     September 05, 2007 11:39:17 AM