The small damselfly above, Palaiargia ernstmayri, is my most special dragonfly observation so far. I photographed this specimen in 2016 near Syobri in Mokwam, in the Arfak mountains of New Guinea.
The species Palaiargia ernstmayri had first been described by Lieftinck in 1972, based on materials collected in 1928 and 1957. It was not reported again until 2011, when a male and female specimen were photographed by Sandra Lamberts (see Orr et al., International Journal of Odonatology 16:4 (2013), 309-325).
In 2016, I photographed this male near the place of Lamberts' 2011 sighting. It was the second report of live specimens since this species was first described. I have published this sighting in Notulae Odonatologicae 9:1 (2018), 1-5.
I am a member of the Dutch Association for the study of Dragonflies (NVL). Dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) are fascinating insects, that belong to one of the oldest extant insect families. I regularly hunt for them with my camera and macro lens, in the Netherlands as well as abroad.
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