About Indolestes gracilis (Hagen, 1862)
Indolestes gracilis is a medium-sized damselfly. Males of this species have blue eyes. Their thorax is black on the dorsal surface, with a narrow blue mid-dorsal stripe and broad blue ante-humeral stripes. The lower edge of the black thoracic area has a saw-tooth shape, and the base of the thorax's lateral sides is colored azure blue. The wings are transparent, and have black or dark reddish-brown pterostigma. The abdomen is azure blue along its sides, and broadly black on the dorsal surface from the base up to the basal half of abdominal segment 9. The apical half of segment 9 and the entire segment 10 are azure blue, with a small black spot present on each side of segment 10. The anal appendages are blue, and turn black in older males. Females are similar in appearance to males, and only differ in eye color and the coloration of the final abdominal segments; in females, segment 9 is black. Three subspecies have recorded habitats: Indolestes gracilis gracilis occurs in hill tracts up to 6,000 feet in Sri Lanka. Indolestes gracilis davenporti occurs south of the Palakkad Gap, at altitudes between 4,000 and 6,000 feet in the Western Ghats. Indolestes gracilis expressior occurs in evergreen forest at altitudes between 1600 and 4500 feet in eastern Cambodia.
