This was one of my early and initially confusing finds in Sri Lanka. It was confusing because I was convinced that it must be I. decoratus (Common Flangetail), which I was familiar with from Singapore and Cambodia. Clearly I wasn’t familiar enough, however, because I subsequently discovered that the species recordsd in Srri Lanka is this, I. rapax. Visual differences are diagrammed in this comparison chart.
This is one of the few Sri Lankan species that we met at more than one location, though all these pictures come from Anuradhapura. If anything looks as if it means business, the Flangetails do.
Id Notes
- large black and yellow gomphid (eyes separated)
- leaf-like expansion beneath terminal part of abdomen
- wings hyaline
- pterostigmas black
| male | ||
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