I was very happy to see Chlorocypha curta again, which I had encountered in Benin in 2008 when I was taking my very first photos of exotic dragonflies. It was the first Chlorocyphidae I had ever photographed, and I remember my surprise upon discovering its unique face in my photos.
Unfortunately, the terrain where it made two brief appearances made it impossible to get any closer. It was on a small, narrow, and deep stream that widened slightly in a few places. Whenever we got too close to that pile of branches, it simply moved to the other side, but making the detour was quite complicated for us, and the approach just as difficult.
This has nothing to do with dragonflies, but in these photos, you can notice one of Africa's plagues: plastic water bottles abandoned by the millions in nature…
It is impossible to confuse it with any other Chlorocypha in Ghana; the color pattern is unique to this species, with segments 2 to 6 red, then blue up to the tenth.
Hagen (1853), who described it under the name Libellago curta, measured its abdomen at 21 mm, giving a total length of approximately 32 mm.
It is most often found on rivers or streams in open areas or in clearings within forests. Unlike the other 30 Chlorocypha species, it shows a clear preference for bright, sun-exposed locations (Dijkstra & Clausnitzer, 2014).
The intensity and shade of its coloration vary with the environment and temperature (also linked to altitude and emergence conditions in colder waters), a phenomenon known in many other odonates, particularly other Chlorocypha, which has led to severe taxonomic difficulties; a "cold" form, much duller, has been described for this species (see Dijkstra, 2003).
Its distribution range, south of the Sahel, extends from Sierra Leone to Uganda, Kenya, and Sudan, and southwards down to Angola.
IUCN Red List.
The English name for this species is the Blue-tipped Jewel.
Etymology of Chlorocypha curta
Fraser (1928) created the genus Chlorocypha with Agrion dispar Palisot de Beauvois as its type species (the description of which by that author is brief).
Chlorocypha, from the Greek chloro, meaning yellow or green, and cyphos, meaning humpbacked or hump, referring to the color of the species' curious clypeus, undoubtedly in an immature specimen. Fraser wrote: "I have chosen the name Chlorocypha for this genus, based on the specific character mentioned by Palisot de Beauvois for the type species dispar : 'le chaperon [Clypeus] est d'un jaune-verdâtre'. It is certain to me that Palisot de Beauvois never wrote these words in his description, nor did Selys in his Synopsis des Caloptérygines, nor in his Monographie des Caloptérygines. The origin of Fraser's quote remains a mystery to me.
Curta means short or truncated in Latin, and Hagen, who described it under the genus name Libellago, likely found its abdomen stouter and shorter than that of the other Libellago species known to him.
Dijkstra, 2003 - Problems in Chlorocypha classification: four cases from West Africa and a discussion of the taxonomic pitfalls (Odonata: Chlorocyphidae) - International Journal of Odonatology, Volume 6, Issue 2, Pages 109-125, 2003.
Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra & Viola Clausnitzer, 2014 - The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Eastern Africa - Handbook for all Odonata from Sudan to Zimbabwe – Studies in Afrotopical Zoology, vol. 298 – Tervuren : Royal Museum for Central Africa
Fraser, 1928 - "A revision of the Fiers-winged Damselflies (Family Chlorocyphidae) of Africa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Série 10, Vol. 2.
Hagen in Selys, 1853 - Synopsis des Caloptérygines. Bulletins de l’Académie Royale Des Sciences, Des Lettres et Des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, 20 (Annexe), 1--73.
Palisot de Beauvois, 1805 - Insectes recueillis en Afrique et en Amérique, dans les royaumes d'Oware et de Bénin, à Saint-Domingue et dans les États-Unis, pendant les années 1786-1797. Imprimerie de Fain et Compagnie, Paris. Livraison 2, p. 85, pl. VII.