This could be confused with Selysiothemis nigra (Black Pennant); in fact, it was, by me.
This one was first found by us at the Parque Natural del Hondo near Alicante, Spain. It’s always a delight finding a new species though the situation here was a little frustrating – in vegetation with sun highlights below our boardwalk – resulting in difficult photographic conditions. We got a few recognizable shots but only of the male. Hondo supports both D. lefebvrii and S. nigra, males of which we saw on the same visit. Until I spotted the latters’ wings and distinctive pterostigmas, I thought I was photographing more Black Perchers.
We encountered a single example again at our final campsite in Botswana, 2022.
Id Notes
- small
- large pterostigmas, pale to brown
- ♂ all black when mature (appendages turn last)
- ♂ glossy black frons, otherwise matt black
- yellow/brown triangular patch on hindwing root.
- white anal appendages, until fully mature
- ♀ black and creamy-yellow
- ♀ light frons
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