Friday, April 10, 2020

Macromiidae

Family Macromiidae

Macromia flavocolorata 
Fraser 1922
Elevation 70-800m
Abdomen Length 44-47mm
Location Phewa Taal

I saw this one by accident as I was leaving the small forested area across Phewa Taal. A Robber Fly had attacked a newly emerged Macromia sp. and the fly was zigzagging through the air as it tried to carry the larger Macromia - hard to see in the photo below. When the Robber Fly and Macromia landed in some leaf litter I picked up the dead Macromia. This was at the end of May 2017. It seems to be widely distributed regionally from the Western Ghats, across the Himalayan foothills to Laos and Thailand. The location was a heavily forested area with a small stream on the south side of Phewa Taal.

Macromia moorei 
Selys 1874
Elevation 700 to 1900m
Abdomen Length 48-52mm
Location Godavari, Shiva Puri, Ilam

As is true of most Macromia sp, the noticeable features are the emerald green eyes and on closer inspection the laterally flattened appearance of the body. They are patrollers moving up and down streams or if luckily found perching pendant-like from tree branches. Found from June through September. Distribution is along the NE Himalayas in Nepal and India.
Nepal has four species of Macromia, one is an endemic called Macromia sombui described by Graham Vick from Chitwan in the Terai.

Male
Female

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