Mountain Malachite (Chlorolestes fasciatus)

Mountain Malachite, Chlorolestes fasciatus, Bergmalagiet

Short description:

Mountain Malachite, Chlorolestes fasciatus, Bergmalagiet is fairly large to large sized metallic green damselfly with pale yellow markings, usually with strongly marked, black and white banded wings.

Family Synlestidae Tillyard, 1917

This species may in the near future be combined with Forrest Malachite, Chlorolestes tesselatus

More images:

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Female

100 333 Chlorolestes fasciatus Mountain Malachite Female Moncs Cowl KZN RSA Jan 2020r 2

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Key identification features:

Male:

Length 340- 46-50 mm ♂; 39-43-49 mm ♀;wingspan 49-55-94 mm ♂;Pterostigmas 1.6-1.9-2.2 mm ♂
Young individuals bright metallic green, darkening to dull metallic green with age then becomes bright shiny copper colour at very old age
Face bright metallic green with strong central yellow band.
Eyes greyish above, light greenish grey below, darkening with age.
Mid dorsal carina black, dorsal stripe dark metallic green to copper green. Antihumeral stripe narrow yellow broadening to continuing into neck but not to the wing base. Humeral stripe metallic green with broad yellow stripe bellow. Lower thorax blue/grey. Thoraxes of young individuals bright metallic green, outlined bright yellow from above; sides with bright yellow stripes; dull dark green in northern populations
Wings strongly black and white banded, occasional individuals with clear wings even when fully mature. May become smoky in clear-winged individuals occurring in shaded habitats.
Pterostigmas cream to light brown outside, blackish inside. (Bi-coloured)
Abdomen metallic green (like thorax), can become duller green with age, eventually becoming copper. Fine yellow rings at start of each segment. The hind margin of segment 8 and all of s 9 -10 whitish pruinescent. Individuals living in shady habitats may have only a light dusting of pruinescence.

Female:

Similar to male, always with clear wings
Pruinescence on segments 8–10 not as dense as on male.

Habitat

Mostly clear, shallow, rocky streams with riffles and glides and with an abundance of long grass, herbs and indigenous overhanging bushes (used as oviposition sites). Open landscapes, open areas in forest or shaded by gallery forest.
From 0 to 2400 m above sea level, but mostly between 1100 and 2100.

Behaviour:

Mostly at rest with outstretched wings on vegetation overhanging water.

Compared with other species:

Chlorolestes apricans is the smallest of all Chlorolestes species
he only other Chlorolestes species in Amatola-Winterberg region of South Africa are C. fasciatus (Mountain malachite) and C. tessellatus (Forrest Malachite), both of which also have banded wings in the ECP, but both species are much larger (more than 50 mm long).
C. apricans and C. fasciatus can be in the same habitat (open, sunny, grassy streams), C. tessellatus, (in forest), but are separated on shape of hind margin of s 10 and on appendages.
The only other small Chlorolestes species is C. umbratus (White Malachite), of the southern Cape coastal area, which has a very pruinescent synthorax and, in side view, hooked superior appendages. Labrum is metallic green, in both male and female C. apricans, but black in male and female C. umbratus.

Distribution:

South Africa:

A common species between 1 200 and 1 800 m elevation throughout all montane areas of South Africa, except the western regions of the Western Cape. In the southern Drakensberg, it can be found at 2 400 m elevation and some areas it can occur almost down to sea level.There is an isolated population icental Karoo

Africa:

Lesotho; Republic of South Africa; Swaziland