Diphlebia lestoides (Selys, 1853)

WHITEWATER ROCKMASTER

Family Diphlebiidae

Whitewater Rockmaster at Deer Vale on 13th December 2007

Whitewater Rockmaster at Deer Vale on 8th December 2014

A young male Diphlebia lestoides at the Bielsdown River adjacent to the Dorrigo township on October 14th 2014.

This stunningly blue damselfly kick-started my interest in dragonflies. It was years before I found another. I was worried that the trout that had been released in our creek had caused their demise. However, over the previous summer, I saw number of males hunting along the creek.

This first Whitewater Rockmaster did not have the white bars or darkened wing tips that are seen in some specimens.

The Whitewater Rockmaster is unmistakeable as it is the only Diphlebia species that has superior anal appendages which look like they have been enamelled in blue.

A female Whitewater Rockmaster at the Bielsdown River adjacent to the Dorrigo township. November 20th 2013.

A female Whitewater Rockmaster at the Bielsdown River adjacent to the Dorrigo township. November 20th 2013.

The female Whitewater Rockmaster is not as strikingly blue as the male but not as drab either, as the females of the other two Diphlebia species found in NE NSW. Segments 8 and 9 are black with distinctive pale markings.

A male Whitewater Rockmaster at Deer Vale on 11th November 2014

Eye cleaning must be very important for a visual hunter.