Choristhemis flavoterminata (Martin, 1901)

YELLOW-TIPPED TIGERTAIL

Family Synthemistidae

A Yellow-tipped Tigertail, Choristhemis flavoterminata at Middle Creek in the Sherwood Creek Nature Reserve NSW on 14th November 2014.

Photo showing facial markings of a Choristhemis flavoterminata dragonfly at Middle Creek in the Sherwood Creek Nature Reserve NSW on 15th December 2014.

Middle Creek in the Sherwood Creek Nature Reserve NSW is a good place to see Yellow-tipped Tigertail dragonflies in November and December even on partly cloudy but warm days. Both males and females seem to be fairly easy to spot along the creek. On a very hot day in November 2014, I saw a number of them flying in a loose group maybe 3 metres above the creek. Luckily a male landed on some twigs next to the path that wound around above the creek and stayed there long enough to get some good identifying photos.

Single specimens can also be seen flying low over the creek in their current terrritory and occasionally landing on vegetation in or next to the creek where they usually hang vertically. The name Yellow-tipped Tigertail comes from abdominal segments 9 and 10 being mostly yellow or very pale in colour. The length of the male’s superior anal appendages being as long as segments 9 and 10 combined, distinguishes the genus Choristhemis from the genus Eusynthemis in which the superior anal appendages are relatively short.

Anal appendages of male Yellow-tipped Tigertail at Middle Creek on 14th November 2014.

A female was hunting at a height of about 2-3 metres between a cliff and the creek. I was admiring the way her wings reflected pink light as she was flying when a male grabbed her in mid-flight. They landed low down on a twig where they stayed mating for only around 2 minutes. When they separated, the female moved a little way off to another twig and the male disappeared. The female hung there for around 4 minutes before flying off.

A female Yellow-tipped Tigertail at Middle Creek in the Sherwood Creek Nature Reserve NSW on 14th November 2014.

Notice the glistening pink wings on this Yellow-tipped Tigertail at Middle Creek in the Sherwood Creek Nature Reserve NSW on 14th November 2014.

A pair of Yellow-tipped Tigertails mating at Middle Creek NSW on November 14th 2014.

On December 15th 2014 as I was standing on a rock in Middle Creek, a pair of Yellow-tipped Tigertails landed on some rushes right in front of me. They mated there for less than 2 minutes before separating. The female almost immediately started laying eggs in the little pool between us with the male hovering above (non-contact guarding). The female with her abdomen in a vertical position darted downwards tail first. I am not sure if the eggs were just let loose or attached to the rocks there.

A pair of Yellow-tipped Tigertails mating at Middle Creek on December 15th 2014.

A Yellow-tipped Tigertail laying eggs at Middle Creek on December 15th 2014.