The photo above (by John Wilkinson) can be viewed in OdonataMAP here.
Find this species in the FBIS database (Freshwater Biodiversity Information System) here.
Family Libellulidae
Notiothemis jonesi – EASTERN FORESTWATCHER
Identification
Small size
Length up to 33mm; Wingspan attains 51mm.
The males of this species are unmistakable within the sub-region. The combination of mottled black and blue-green colouration, bright turquoise eyes and pale band on the S7 are diagnostic.
Females are easily confused with those of Tetrathemis polleni. The two species differ in the shape of the discoidal cell (DC) in the fore wings. Notiothemis jonesi has a triangular DC, while Tetrathemis polleni has a four-sided DC.
There is another closely related species, Notiothemis robertsi, found in the tropical forests of East, Central and West Africa.
Amanzimtoti, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo by Christopher Peter Small
Habitat
Frequents shady, slow moving stretches of forested streams and pools. It occurs in coastal, riverine and swamp forests in South Africa.
Behaviour
Perches on twigs or vegetation over the water in dappled light. Very alert and weary, heading into the canopy when disturbed. Females are seldom encountered.
Status and Conservation
Uncommon and very localised in occurence. Listed as of Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Distribution
Notiothemis jonesi is found in the tropical and subtropical parts of Eastern and Southern Africa. It occurs from Kenya to South Africa. It has also been recorded in Swaziland, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda.
Below is a map showing the distribution of records for Eastern Forestwatcher in the OdonataMAP database as at February 2020.
The next map below is an imputed map, produced by an interpolation algorithm, which attempts to generate a full distribution map from the partial information in the map above. This map will be improved by the submission of records to the OdonataMAP section of the Virtual Museum.
Ultimately, we will produce a series of maps for all the odonata species in the region. The current algorithm is a new algorithm. The objective is mainly to produce “smoothed” maps that could go into a field guide for odonata. This basic version of the algorithm (as mapped above) does not make use of “explanatory variables” (e.g. altitude, terrain roughness, presence of freshwater — we will be producing maps that take these variables into account soon). Currently, it only makes use of the OdonataMAP records for the species being mapped, as well as all the other records of all other species. The basic maps are “optimistic” and will generally show ranges to be larger than what they probably are.
These maps use the data in the OdonataMAP section of the Virtual Museum, and also the database assembled by the previous JRS funded project, which was led by Professor Michael Samways and Dr KD Dijkstra.
