Chlorogomphus auratus Martin, 1910

These shots were taken at Mount Ba Vi in May 2013 and 2014, along a well-shaded stream at 900m a.s.l, through dense forest. 

Male resting near a stream

Some "in hand" shots of the male to show close-up details of the thorax, the head and the anal appendages:

Caudal appendages black, superior one moderately bifurcate, the inferior widely opened with bifid apices. Cerci almost same lenght as epiproct, both curved in lateral view.

Dorsal view

Ventral view

Lateral view

Note the strong claw developed at the end of the tergite of the last segment

I also vouchered (along the same stream) the female oviposited in the shallow, slow-flowing margins.

Wings entirely smoked with apices darkened

An accumulated clump of eggs on the abdominal tip

 Another female caught in May 2014

Wings not smoked and tips much less darkened - young individual ?

Female found on a rock along a stream near Hoa Binh, half-eaten by an unknown predator. At least a new site for this scarce species.

Chlorogomphus auratus is only known from a handful of localities in northern Vietnam, central Laos and southern China. Apart Mount Ba Vi, recent other records from Vietnam are from Tam Dao (ca 900m asl), Cuc Phuong (ca 200m asl) and Mâu Son (900m).

For many years this species was known only from a single female; in 1995 Karube described both sexes from a series of 14 specimens taken on Tam Dao. Yokoi and Kano (2002) recorded a female, reared from the larva, from central Laos. It is likely to be under-collected and may be moderately common in some areas of Indochina. 

C. auratus is listed as Near Threatened with the hope that it can be downlisted to Least Concern as soon as viable populations are known.