Category: Articles

Orthetrum conundrum

[I am indebted to Tony (Ant) Marriot for his picture of a female Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum) used below … with thanks.] Within the European theatre there are two painfully similar Skimmer (Orthetrum) species, the Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens) and

Posted in Articles

Small Red Females

[This is something of a partner article to Large Red Females in that both Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) and Small Red Damselfly (Ceriagrion tenellum) females are polymorphic, i.e. they come in multiple colour forms, and in the naming of

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Large Red Females

It is generally considered that there are 3 female colour forms of Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula). Or is it? Beginning in 1988, R. R. (Dick) Askew is quite explicit in his seminal volume, The Dragonflies of Europe, which says:

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Sorting the Boys from the Girls

[A 3rd article written originally for the BDS e-publication, Hawker.] Many odonata species exhibit sexual dimorphism. That is to say, the males look markedly different from the females. This, perhaps, reaches something of an extreme in some of our libellulid

Posted in 2022, Articles

Bluets and their Pronota

[Another transcription of an article written for the BDS Hawker e-publication.] Bluet is a succinct term encompassing two genera, Coenagrion and Enallagma. These are the Blue-striped Damselflies which usually follow hot on the heels of the Large Red Damselfly in

Posted in 2022, Articles, UK

Anticipating Large Reds

[This is a transcription of an identification article I wrote for the BDS in March 2022.] It’s the same every year: as spring approaches the odonata fan base holds its collective breath in anticipation of the new season, usually heralded

Posted in 2022, Articles, UK
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