Over the years, I have been compiling Comparison Charts to help distinguish some of the more confusing UK lookalike species. These charts proved quite popular on the UK Dragonflies and Damselflies Facebook group, so I thought I should at least try and make them available on my own website. 🙂
Species Comparisons
Zygoptera (Damselflies)
- Blue-tailed Damselfly colour forms (Ischnura elegans)
- Bluets/Blue-striped damselflies (Enallagma/Coenagrion)
- Demoiselles (Calopteryx)
- Large Red Damselfly: Gender & Maturity (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)
- Red-eyed damseflies/Brighteyes (Erythromma)
- Comparison: Redeyes (Erythromma)
- Large Redeye Maturity Variations (Erythromma najas)
- Spreadwings/Emerald damselflies (Lestes/Chalcolestes)
Anisoptera (Dragonflies)
-
- Darters (Sympetrum)
- Blue/Pruinose dragonflies (Libellula/Orthetrum)
- Hawkers (Aeshna +)
- Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) vs Moorland/Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea)
- Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) vs Southern Migrant hawker (Aeshna affinis)
- Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) gender differences
- Blue/Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) colour forms
- Blue/Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) gender differences
- Flangetails (Ictinogomphus) non-UK
- Skimmers: Orthetrum sabina vs Orthetrum serapia non-UK
- Australian Red Jobs non-UK
- Gender differentiation
- Common Darter: gender determination (Sympetrum striolatum)
- Black-tailed Skimmer: immature Male vs Female (Orthetrum cancellatum)
- Broad-bodied Chaser: immature Male vs Female (Libellula depressa)
- Four-spotted Chaser: Male vs Female (Libellula quadrimaculata)
- Migrant Hawker gender differences (Aeshna mixta)
These Species Comparisons have been joined by a couple of other aids to identification.
Myth Busters
Visual Key
My latest venture is designed to help people home in on a UK suspect by making selections concerning physical features; it is based on a traditional biological key but is visual more than textual.
- A Visual Key to UK species