Telosticta serapi belongs to a genus described in 2012 comprising 17 species, all endemic to Borneo and Palawan.
This genus was created to bring order to the family Platystictidae, and it must be said that for an amateur, it is not easy to spot the differences in the field between Protosticta, Drepanosticta, and Telosticta (incidentally, this species had been named Drepanosticta ?dupophila by Dow and Reels in 2010).
Dow and Orr, 2012, provide us with comparative photographs of the dorsal surface of the thoraxes, and opposite on the left are those living in the western part of their distribution range (and therefore in Sarawak).
Fourteen Telosticta species are thought to be present in Sarawak; two others exhibit the same type of small antehumeral stripes or spots, but those of Telosticta serapi (labeled H opposite) are the shortest.
It is also distinguished by the fact that its eighth segment and half of its ninth segment are blue on their dorsal surface.
T. dupophila and T. santubong show the same coloration pattern on S9, but for the former, S8 carries no blue, while for the latter, if there is blue on S8, it is restricted to the lateral sides.
Its abdomen measures 30.5 mm (excluding the anal appendages), which gives a total length of approximately 38 mm.
It is found in forests along sloping streams (therefore in mountainous areas); for our part, we encountered it at the foot of a small waterfall at the entrance of Kubah National Park and later along a trail, still in forest habitats, in ditches draining stream water from Mount Matang.
Telosticta serapi is present exclusively in the Matang Range, in the Kuching Division of western Sarawak.
IUCN Red List.
We encountered Telosticta serapi alongside numerous Coeliccia cf. nemoricola, Stenagrion dubium, and Drepanosticta rufostigma.
Étymologie de Telosticta santubong (1)
Telosticta is a feminine noun, composed of the Greek telos, meaning toll, from the name of Jan van Tol, whose surname comes from the Dutch word of the same meaning, in tribute to his contributions to our knowledge of Platystictidae, and the suffix -sticta, a common generic ending in the family [Platystictidae].
Serapi, named after the type locality of the holotype, Gunung Serapi, in the Matang Range.
1- Dow & Orr, 2012 - Telosticta, a new damselfly genus from Borneo and Palawan (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) - The Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 60(2):365-401.
2- Dow, 2021 – AN ANNOTATED CHECKLIST OF THE ODONATA (INSECTA) KNOWN FROM SARAWAK WITH RECORDS TO DISTRICT LEVEL – Sarawak Museum Journal · January 2021