| The
Stamps
To acquaint people with dragonflies,
Chunghwa Post issued a series of postage stamps on the topic in 2000 and
2003 separately, and now it is following up with another set of four stamps
and a souvenir sheet on paddy dragonflies. The designs of the stamps follow:
(1) Crocothemis servilia servilia:
Males have red bodies and obvious amber basal spots in their hindwings.
Females have brown-to-dark-brown bodies with a white stripe on the back
sides of their thoraxes between the wings. They can be found near rice
paddies and ponds in the plains and other low-altitude areas throughout
the island.
(2) Orthetrum pruinosum neglectum:
Males have olive color compound eyes, steel blue thoraxes, red abdomens
and obvious dark brown basal spots in their hindwings. Juvenile males have
yellowish-brown basal spots. Females have brown bodies without any markings,
and as they mature, the coloration of their thoraxes darkens. They can
be found near rice paddies and ponds in the plains and other low-altitude
areas throughout the island.
(3) Diplacodes trivialis: Males have
light blue compound eyes, steel blue thoraxes with some black stripes,
steel blue abdomens which turn black near their light yellow anal appendages.
Females have light yellow bodies. They can be found in rice paddies and
ponds in the plains and other low-altitude areas, sometimes even in dry
riverbeds and near streams, throughout the island.
(4) Orthetrum sabina sabina: Males
have olive color compound eyes, yellow green thoracic frontal plates and
black lateral thoracic stripes. Their abdomens are black with white markings
and their anal appendages are white. There is no difference in the appearance
between the two sexes. They can be found in rice paddies from the plains
to mid-altitude areas throughout the island. Adults can often be seen in
grassy areas farther from water. |