Odo-nutters

Orthetrum conundrum

Posted on 16 July, 2023 by JC — No Comments ↓

[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 the Southern Skimmer (Orthetrum brunneum). The latter does not yet occur in the British Isles and to my knowledge there have not yet been any sightings of vagrants in Britain, so this article is more of interest to those who visit the continent. O. brunneum is, however, on the northern coast of France, though it is less common there than it is further south, but given the changing climate, who knows in the near-ish future?

There are a number of distinguishing features used in identification. Some of these features are gender neutral whilst others are specific to gender and/or maturity. The features are not always as cut and dried as they might be so bear discussion. The images below are linked to larger versions which are easier to decipher.

Gender neutral

Wing venation

Above the Rspl of the forewing there may be a variable number of doubled cells. O. coerulescens has 0 – 5 cells doubled, whereas O. brunneum has a minimum of 4 cells doubled but usually more, often 6 or more. Unfortunately that makes 4 or 5 doubled cells overlap territory and so such a count is inconclusive. Note that the number of doubled cells can vary between left and right forewings, and also in the hindwings. The specimen shown above had 6 doubled cells in the left forewing. R. R. Askew suggests that the number of doubled cells in all four wings can be a useful guide, though doesn’t quantify it.

Pterostigmas

Both species have a variation of yellow pterostigmas. However, those of O. brunneum are darker, said to be more brown than yellow. This can be tricky to assess depending on light and maturity. Size is sometimes a clearer factor in that O. coerulescens has longer pterostigmas than does O. brunneum. Comparative distinctions are always a little difficult in isolation, though.

Mature Males

Pruinosty

The males of both species develop a pale blue pruinose abdomen. Males of O. brunneum develop a pruinose thorax as well, making them blue from end to end, whereas, in the north of its range, the males of O. coerulescens do not generally develop a blue thorax. However, in the south of its range, males of O. coerulescens can develop a blue thorax making it look more like O. brunneum.

Frons

The frons is generally reliable, the frons of O. brunneum males being quite white, making it look clean and fresh whereas the frons of O. coerulescens males has a distinct brown tinge giving it more of a dirty appearance.

2ary genitalia

I mention this just for the sake of completeness, since I have no photograph to illustrate it – this is more of a hand and lens feature, though it could show up on a very detailed photograph. The 2ary genitalia of O. coerulescens is a chunkier affair than that of O. brunneum. A good field guide, such as K-D Dijkstra’s, shows the detail.

Females/Immature Males

Abdominal Markings

Both species have a thin, dark line down the centre of the dorsal side of the abdomen; this is the so-called “keel”. At the posterior of segments 3-7, O. coerulescens has a short black bar crossing the keel. In O. brunneum, this is not a bar but a pair of separate dots. Note that immature males can be more heavily marked with black than females but the feature remains.

A Conundrum

So, given all of the above, what then is this specimen, an immature female that I photographed in Provence, southern France, June 2023?

I first noticed the doubled cells above the Rspl. The right wing clearly has 5 doubled cells but the left wing appears at first sight to have 6 doubled cells. However, looking closely, the centre cell seems to be being bisected by an extra “spurious” vein. This really looks like 5 cells with the centre cell split.

Now look at the abdominal markings. S3 and S4 have a clear cross bar spanning the keel. S6 and S7 clearly have pairs of spots either side of the keel. The marking on S5 looks like a bit of a hybrid. This gives mixed signals.

So, the doubled cells are inconclusive and the abdominal markings are mixed.

Looking at the pterostigmas, they seem to be clear yellow and look quite long so, I’m pretty sure that this is O. coerulescens. A very immature O. brunneum would likely also have quite yellow pterostigmas but they wouldn’t appear that long, I think.

[Back to the abdominal markings, I have been wondering if perhaps the cross bars of O. coerulescens might develop from spots moving down the abdomen with increasing maturity but I have no literature to support that probably fanciful, off the wall idea.]

Posted in Articles

Australia, Dec 2022 [FNQ 2022]

Posted on 15 January, 2023 by JC — No Comments ↓

In late 2019, just before Covid-19 ruined the world, I went on a 3-week intensive dragonfly hunting trip with Phil Benstead centred around Brisbane. The intention had been to go south into some of the State Parks of New South Wales but wild fires had struck forcing most parks to close. We ended up going north from Brisbane touring southern Queensland. Being one of Phil’s recce trips, that had been a tented camping safari. Worrisome at first, I became very fond of my little 1-man tent.

Finally, as the world technically opens up again, I went for a repeat performance with Phil. Phil had planned another trip to Far North Queensland [FNQ] centred around Cairns and it was not to be using tents, not being a recce, but shared accommodation in campsite chalets and motels. I had booked Qantas flights from Heathrow through Singapore to Sydney, with a connecting flight 3½ hours later up to Cairns. With a terminal change at Sydney, even for nervous ol’ me, a 3½ hour gap felt comfortable. It wasn’t. My Airbus A380 flight arrived in Sydney 2 hours late, then the bags took almost an hour to hit the carousel. With the Qantas transfer area being a complete zoo there was no chance of making my onward flight. Happily there was a backup flight 4 hours later which I did get rebooked onto so I arrived at Cairns late but on the correct day.

Our party numbered five in all; a very international mix of an American, a Frenchman and a German [sounds like the start of an old joke], as well as myself and Phil, a Brit who lives in Sweden. Once again, Phil’s research was exceptional. He was expecting 100 or so species. With no tents to set up, the days in the field were even longer than my first trip with him. We started at around 07:30 every day and went on for 10 or 11 hours in Wellington boots, typically. That’s very intense. I am always much more casual in my approach and took some time out when opportunities arose. Much of what we saw – and I expected to see less than my companions – would be new to me, anyway. I’m not much of a lister. With a lot of forested habitat, I found myself using flash more than usual (usual is rarely) and on one auspicious day I managed to fall headlong into a mountain river, completely submerging monopod, camera, lens and flash. I can now attest that Olympus’s claim that the M1X is waterproof is true. My 300 PRO lens misted up internally for three days but eventually dried out in the Queensland heat. The flash still works, too.

In theory this was wet season in FNQ but, from my viewpoint, we were very lucky with the weather suffering hardly any rain at all. I don’t do well with rain. I must say that I missed the privacy of my little tent but with the temperatures not dropping below 30°C accompanied by high humidity, tents with no aircon would have been uncomfortable.

Covering 16 very full days in the field, this is necessarily a long report. Here’s my indexed map with lists. As usual, the species noted are not exhaustive but limited to those that I personally saw. I racked up 79 species, 48 of which were new to me; 37 are endemic.

Cairns Botanic Gardens, 02 Dec [#1]

Botanic gardens are always a good bet, usually being enjoyable habitats as well as productive, and this one was no exception. The exceptional find here was an aggregation of Camacinia othello (Black Knight), at least half a dozen, some of which actually settled and posed for our cameras.

Argiocnemis rubescens (Red-tipped Shadefly)
Ceriagrion aeruginosum (Redtail)
Teinobasis rufithorax (Red-breasted Longtail)
Indolestes tenuissimus (Slender Reedling)
Agrionoptera insignis (Red Swampdragon)
Brachydiplax denticauda (Palemouth)
Brachydiplax duivenbodei (Darkmouth)
Camacinia othello (Black Knight)
Neurothemis stigmatizans (Painted Grasshawk)
Orthetrum serapia (Green Skimmer)
Rhodothemis lieftincki (Red Arrow)
Rhyothemis phyllis (Yellow-striped Flutterer)

Cattana Wetlands @ Smithfield, 02 & 04 Dec [#2]

Anything tagged “wetlands” is also a magnet and rightly so. In an interesting collection, I’d single out Zyxomma elgneri (Short-tailed Duskdarter) here, not only because it was new to me but also because the fact that it’s alphabetically the last genus in the World List.

Indolestes tenuissimus (Slender Reedling)
Ischnura heterosticta (Common Bluetail)
Ischnura pruinescens (Colourful Bluetail)
Teinobasis rufithorax (Red-breasted Longtail)
Agrionoptera insignis allogenes (Red Swampdragon)
Brachydiplax denticauda (Palemouth)
Brachydiplax duivenbodei (Darkmouth)
Ictinogoomphus australis (Australian Tiger)
Nannodiplax rubra (Pygmy Percher)
Nannophlebia eludens (Elusive Archtail)
Neurothemis stigmatizans (Painted Grasshawk)
Rhyothemis graphiptera (Graphic Flutterer)
Rhyothemis princeps (Sapphire Flutterer)
Zyxomma elgneri (Short-tailed Duskdarter)

Crystal Cascades, 03 Dec [#3]

A necessarily cut down list due to my not managing a couple of search areas – boots failed to grip a slope or two. This is an area that you need to be at early in the day to avoid Joe Public swimming in the cascades. 😉

There were a few notables here but one with a decent picture is Oristicta filicicola (Slender Wiretail).

Diphlebia euphoeoides (Tropical Rockmaster)
Lestoidea conjuncta (Common Bluestreak)
Oristicta filicicola (Slender Wiretail)
Agrionoptera longitudinalis biserialis (Striped Swampdragon)
Dromaeschna forcipata (Green-striped Darner)
Eusynthemis nigra (Black Tigertail)
Nannophlebia eludens (Elusive Archtail)
Orthetrum villosovittatum (Fiery Skimmer)

Freshwater Creek, 03 Dec [#4]

The river running beside our campground accommodation. Eventually a Choristhemis flavoterminata (Yellow-tipped Tigertail) settled advantageously.

Nososticta coelestina (Green-blue Threadtail)
Pseudagrion ignifer (Flame-headed Riverdamsel)
Pseudagrion microcephalum (Blue Riverdamsel)
Austrogomphus prasinus (Lemon-tipped Hunter)
Choristhemis flavoterminata (Yellow-tipped Tigertail)
Diphlebia euphoeoides (Tropical Rockmaster)

Hunter Creek Park, 04 & 09 Dec [#5]

Two visits here separated by a few days where we got a good view of a male Gompid with forked upper appendages, Austrogomphus prasinus (Lemon-tipped Hunter).

Diphlebia euphoeoides (Tropical Rockmaster)
Ischnura pruinescens (Colourful Bluetail)
Nososticta solitaria (Fivespot Threadtail)
Austrogomphus prasinus (Lemon-tipped Hunter)
Choristhemis flavoterminata (Yellow-tipped Tigertail)
Orthetrum villosovittatum (Fiery Skimmer)

Rifle Creek Restarea, 04 Dec [#6]

A place where you can bump into some interesting folk as well as some interesting dragons.

Macromia tillyardi (Australian Cruiser) was flying tirelessly over the river but I’m darned if I could snag it. Tetrathemis irregularis cladophila (Rainforest Elf) was much more cooperative.

Nososticta coelestina (Green-blue Threadtail)
Macromia tillyardi (Australian Cruiser)
Nannodiplax rubra (Pygmy Percher)
Rhyothemis princeps (Sapphire Flutterer)
Tetrathemis irregularis cladophila (Rainforest Elf)

Barron River, 04 Dec [#7]

This rather unassuming location proved to be one of my personal favourites. The diminutive damselfly Agriocnemis argentea (Silver Wisp) was an absolute delight.

Agriocnemis argentea (Silver Wisp)
Diphlebia euphoeoides (Tropical Rockmaster)
Nososticta solida (Orange Threadtail)
Pseudagrion ignifer (Flame-headed Riverdamsel)
Austrogomphus prasinus (Lemon-tipped Hunter)
Choristhemis flavoterminata (Yellow-tipped Tigertail)
Hemicordulia intermedia (Yellow-spotted Emerald)
Orthetrum caledonicum (Blue Skimmer)

Emerald Creek Falls, 05 Dec [#8]

This was a wonderfully rich location, initially because we’d arrived in the middle of a mass emergence of cicadas which were utterly deafening. The star dragonfly here, though, was a male Petalura ingentissima (Giant Petaltail), arguably the world’s largest species, which flew in and posed quite considerately for us. What a magnificent creature.

Diphlebia euphoeoides (Tropical Rockmaster)
Indolestes tenuissimus (Slender Reedling)
Austroepigomphus turneri (Flame-tipped Hunter)
Austrogomphus divaricatus (Fork Hunter)
Austrogomphus prasinus (Lemon-tipped Hunter)
Diplacodes haematodes (Scarlet Percher)
Dromaeschna forcipata (Green-striped Darner)
Eusynthemis nigra (Black Tigertail)
Hemicordulia australiae (Australian Emerald)
Nannophlebia eludens (Elusive Archtail)
Neurothemis stigmatizans (Painted Grasshawk)
Petalura ingentissima (Giant Petaltail)
Rhyothemis graphiptera (Graphic Flutterer)
Tonyosynthemis claviculata (Clavicle Tigertail)

Mareeba Bicentennial Lakes, 05 Dec [#9]

A visit towards the end of the day, so I was flagging a little. It’s a somewhat urban environment but the urbanization is at some distance so the dragons don’t mind. Rhyothemis graphiptera (Graphic Flutterer) posed quite well here.

Austroagrion watsoni (Eastern Billabongfly)
Austrocnemis splendida (Splendid Longlegs)
Pseudagrion microcephalum (Blue Riverdamsel)
Crocothemis nigrifrons (Black-headed Skimmer)
Ictinogomphus australis (Australian Tiger)
Orthetrum caledonicum (Blue Skimmer)
Rhodothemis lieftincki (Red Arrow)
Rhyothemis graphiptera (Graphic Flutterer)

Jackaroo Motel Car Park, 06 Dec [#10]

One star dragonfly, Austrogynacantha heterogena (Australian Duskhawker), was found roosting in the car park cement blocks. outside our rooms. It’s a crepuscular species and something of a wanderer so totally unpredictable and this location will be useless for anyone following but it’s here for the sake of completeness.

Austrogynacantha heterogena (Australian Duskhawker)

Mount Lewis NP, 06 Dec [#11]

Not the greatest of days for me [understatement ].

This was a drive up a mountain road looking for streams that crossed it. The streams were rocky and, of course, my companions spent all their time walking up and down in the water. I managed to trip on a submerged rock and fall in, complete with monopod, camera, 300 lens and flash unit. Miraculously all survived but the lens misted up with changing temperatures (aircon – outside heat) for a few days thereafter. I was nervous and chickened out of much of the subsequent action. I did manage a decent Austroargiolestes aureus (Tropical Flatwing) and very attractive they are, too.

Austroargiolestes aureus (Tropical Flatwing)
Diphlebia hybridoides (Giant Rockmaster)
Synlestes tropicus (Tropical Needle)
Eusynthemis nigra (Black Tigertail)

Big Mitchell Creek, 06 & 09 Dec [#12]

Big Mitchell Creek itself is actually inaccessible to Joe Public (without prior arrangement). This really relates to the areas just outside between the fence and the road. A high-key Diplacodes nebulosa (Charcoal-tipped Percher) hit the spot.

Ischnura heterosticta (Common Bluetail)
Ischnura pruinescens (Colourful Bluetail)
Lestes concinnus (Dusky Spreadwing)
Brachydiplax denticauda (Palemouth)
Diplacodes nebulosa (Charcoal-tipped Percher)
Orthetrum sabina (Slender Skimmer)

Mulligan Highway, nr Lakeland Quarry, 07 Dec [#13]

My lens was suffering from steaming up after being dunked in a river but I manage to snag Austroepigomphus turneri (Flame-tipped Hunter) with its impressive red abdomen tip.

Austroepigomphus turneri (Flame-tipped Hunter)
Crocothemis nigrifrons (Black-headed Skimmer)
Rhodothemis lieftincki (Red Arrow)

Mulligan Highway, MoN, 07 Dec [#14]

If only I could remember why I called this “MoN”. 😀 Here’s the Australian Neurothemis – N. fluctuans (Painted Grasshawk).

Pseudagrion microcephalum (Blue Riverdamsel)
Diplacodes trivialis (Chalky Percher)
Neurothemis stigmatizans (Painted Grasshawk)
Orthetrum caledonicum (Blue Skimmer)
Rhodothemis lieftincki (Red Arrow)

Mulligan Highway, Billabong, 07 Dec [#15]

Aethriamanta circumsignata (Square-spot Basker)
Ictinogomphus australis (Australian Tiger)
Tramea loewii (Common Glider)

Mulligan Highway, Desailly, 07 Dec [#18]

A stop by the road that resulted in my only sighting of this tricky crepuscular species. Nigh on impossible to photograph flying in low light, here’s a very poor attempt.

Tholymis tillarga (Twister)

Davies Creek, 08 Dec [#17]

This a quite wide-ranging area where we worked two locations which I have combined into one. The first was at the actual falls which added just 2 species to the list. Another crepuscular celebrity made the day here, Telephlebia tillyardi (Tropical Evening Darner).

Austroargiolestes icteromelas (Common Flatwing)
Diphlebia euphoeoides (Tropical Rockmaster)
Neosticta fraseri (Tropical Pinfly)
Synlestes Tropicus (Tropical Needle)
Austrophya mystica (Rainforest mystic)
Austroaeschna speciosa (Tropical Unicorn Darner)
Nannophlebia eludens (Elusive Archtail)
Telephlebia tillyardi (Tropical Evening Darner)
Tonyosynthemis claviculata (Clavicle Tigertail)

Davies Creek Road, 08 & 09 Dec [#18]

I’ve kept this separate because it was one of the sites where we saw Petalura ingentissima (Giant Petaltail), though I didn’t get a photo of it from here.

Austroargiolestes icteromelas (Common Flatwing)
Indolestes tenuissimus (Slender Reedling)
Synlestes Tropicus (Tropical Needle)
Orthetrum villosovittatum (Fiery Skimmer)
Petalura ingentissima (Giant Petaltail)

The Millstream, Ravenshoe, 10 Dec [#19]

Close to our Airbnb rental property in Ravenshoe, where at least I had my own room but no aircon. There was a ceiling fan, though.

Diphlebia euphoeoides (Tropical Rockmaster)
Nososticta solitaria (Fivespot Threadtail)
Austrogomphus prasinus (Lemon-tipped Hunter)
Austrogomphus divaricatus (Fork Hunter)
Eusynthemis nigra (Black Tigertail)
Hemigomphus comitatus (Zebra Vicetail)
Nannodiplax rubra (Pygmy Percher)

Millaa Millaa Waterfall, 10 Dec [#20]

The waterfall itself is a leisure spot with Joe Public swimming; you have to follow the stream out to find odos. The rather oddly named Chorismagrion risi (Pretty Relict) was of interest here.

Chorismagrion risi (Pretty Relict)
Eusynthemis nigra (Black Tigertail)

Tully Gorge Lookout Track, 10 Dec [#21]

Just one of any interest, here, but a challenging in-flight shot in shadowy lighting conditions.

Dromaeschna forcipata (Green-striped Darner)

Archer Creek, 11 Dec [#22]

Here we bumped into a new species, even a new genus, that I’d never even heard of, Pentathemis membranulata (Metallic Tigerhawk). Not the greatest photos but a bit of a lucky grab.

Nososticta solida (Orange Threadtail)
Austrogomphus amphiclitus (Pale Hunter)
Hemicordilia intermedia (Yellow-spotted Emerald
Pentathemis membranulata (Metallic Tigerhawk)

Old Herbert River Crossing, 11 Dec [#23]

This was a very productive site and really delivered the goods with a perched Cruiser, Macromia tillyardi (Australian Cruiser). In Europe a perched Macromia (different species) is a holy grail.

Nososticta solida (Orange Threadtail)
Austrogomphus amphiclitus (Pale Hunter)
Brachydiplax denticauda (Palemouth)
Diplacodes haematodes (Scarlet Percher)
Macromia tillyardi (Australian Cruiser)
Nannophlebia risi (Common Archtail)
Orthetrum caledonicum (Blue Skimmer)
Rhyothemis braganza (Iridescent Flutterer)

Innot Hot Springs, 11 Dec [#24]

Panic not, the dragonflies are not in the actual hot springs, there are ponds in that general area. This was my only meeting with Aciagrion fragile (Blue Slim) and thanks to my companions for the id.

Aciagrion fragile (Blue Slim)
Hydrobasileus brevistylus (Water Prince)
Potamarcha congener (Swampwatcher)
Tramea loewii (Common Glider)
Urothemis aliena (Red Baron)

South Johnstone Campground Road, 12 Dec [#25]

We made a number of stops up another campground road leading to a crossing over the South Johnstone River. There were a couple of interesting finds here not the least of which was Pseudocordulia circularis (Circle-tipped Mistfly).

Diphlebia euphoides (Tropical Rockmaster)
Indolestes tropicus (Tropical Needle)
Lestoidea sp (a Bluestreak male)
Synlestes tropicus (Tropical Needle)
Dromaeschna forcipata (Green-striped Darner)
Hemigomphus theischingeri (Rainforest Vicetail)
Pseudocordulia circularis (Circle-tipped Mistfly)

Henriette Creek, 12 Dec [#26]

Austroargiolestes aureus (Tropical Flatwing)

Murray Falls, 13 Dec [#27]

We met Orthetrum serapia (Green Skimmer) a number of times on this trip, making an interestinf comparison to a very similar looking old friend, Orthetrum sabina (Slender Skimmer).

Austrogomphus prasinus (Lemon-tipped Hunter)
Diplacodes haematodes (Scarlet Percher)
Orthetrum caledonicum (Blue Skimmer)
Orthetrum serapia (Green Skimmer)
Orthetrum villosovittatum (Fiery Skimmer)

TYTO Wetlands, Ingham 14 & 15 Dec [#28]

An interesting stop for a few reasons. First, our accommodation was in the Tropixx Motel and we couldn’t help but wonder about the double-x in the name. Secondly, Ingham is home to the original “pub with no beer”, though it is now not the original building, it having burnt down, and it now has beer. Lastly, the wetland is named after the genus of true Barn Owls.

I had a very cooperative Rhyothemis princeps (Sapphire Flutterer) here, posing in plan view below a bridge.

Brachydiplax denticaude (Palemouth)
Diplacodes haematodes (Scarlet Percher)
Neurothemis stigmatizans (Painted Grasshawk)
Orthetrum sabina (Slender Skimmer)
Rhodothemis lieftincki (Red Arrow)
Rhyothemis graphiptera (Graphic Flutterer)
Rhyothemis princeps (Sapphire Flutterer)
Urothemis aliena (Red Baron)

Alligators Nest Swimming Hole, 16 Dec [#29]

First of all, there are no alligators in Australia and secondly, if there were, I doubt you’d want to go swimming with them. It was wonderful to see a female Petalura ingentissima (Giant Petaltail), though, the female being the larger of the two sexes.

Petalura ingentissima (Giant Petaltail)

Josephine Falls Track, 17 Dec [#30]

Another walk up a forest track to another waterfall examining streams along the way. I sat out at first but eventually joined in to get a reasonable Oristicta filicicola (Slender Wiretail).

Chorismagarion risi (Pretty Relict)
Oristicta filicicola (Slender Wiretail)

Robert Road Park, 17Dec [#31]

This was parkland surrounded by housing estates with a rather scruffy stream that seemed more of a rubbish dump used by the local inhabitants. It was home to a very appealing Argiocnemis rubescens (Red-tipped Shadefly), though.

Argiocnemis rubescens (Red-tipped Shadefly)
Oristicta filicicola (Slender Wiretail)
Nannophlebia eludens (Elusive Archtail)

Posted in 2022, Australia, Trip reports

France, Sep 2022

Posted on 30 September, 2022 by JC — No Comments ↓

We have not returned to France for the last four years, in some ways because of our house in Spain, but largely also because of Covid-19 more recently. September 2022 provided our opportunity to cross the Channel again and renew friendships at our favourite campsite in Fanjeaux. Being late in the season, this was more about returning to France than hunting dragonflies.

Our plan, which in hindsight turned out to be a bit of a mistake, was originally to spend about three weeks of a 4-week trip at Fanjeaux. About half way down France is Rosnay in La Brenne, with its very pleasant but unassuming camping municipal, complete with lake and dragonflies. We’d stay there for a few nights to recuperate before completing the journey south.

As it turned out, we both began to get itchy feet at Fanjeaux and cut our stay down to two weeks. It was undoubtedly good to have renewed our friendship with the dairy sheep farm campsite owners but we grew to need a change. We decided to head off to an area between Marseillan and Meze, with which we’re familiar, but to a campsite new to us.

To be honest, it’s been an unscintillating year for dragonflies and a bad year for many other insects. This trip followed that pattern though it has to be said I didn’t put myself out.

Rosnay, Camping Municipal, 1st-4th Sept [#1]

This is a classic, unassuming camping municipal; no frills just a pleasant rural simple campsite. It is well positioned in La Brenne which, in a higher point of the season, is a hotbed of dragonfly activity. As well as having a lake itself, there are many locations with plenty of reason for study nearby. This was really just a few days stopover for a rest from the first part of the journey to prepare ourselves for the second leg to Fanjeaux.

I was very pleased to see Southern Darters here which were new to me at this location. Curiously, though I saw at least a dozen on reeds around the lake, they all proved to be females with not a male in sight – mine anyway.

Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
Platycnemis pennipes (Blue Featherleg)
Sympetrum meridionale (Southern Darter)

Fanjeaux, Camping Les Brugues, 5th-20th Sept [#2]

A site I’ve been monitoring for many years that was relatively recently wrecked by being used to farm Koi Carp. The fish farmer has now been gone for 6 or 7 years, though. I was keen to see how it might be recovering, or otherwise, in the four years since we were last here.

Sadly, I suspect the answer is that it isn’t really recovering, certainly not to its former glory when it comes to dragonfly habitat. There are still huge carp in the lake, not Koi but I presumed the Grass Carp that destroyed all the floating vegetation and which is still utterly absent. I did see several species but only in low numbers. Most entertaining was the delightful Violet Dropwing (Trithemis annulata). New to this site for me was the Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta). I have a sneaking suspicion that there was an Emerald, probably a Yellow-spotted Emerald (Somatochlora flavomaculata), flying around but it’s unconfirmed.

Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
Chalcolestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
Erythromma lindenii (Blue-eye)
Platycnemis pennipes (Blue Featherleg)
Aeshna cyanea (Southern Hawker)
Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
Anax imperator (Blue Emperor)
Orthetrum cancellatum (Black-tailed Skimmer)
Crocothemis erythraea (Broad Scarlet)
Sympetrum striolatum (Common Darter)
Trithemis annulata (Violet Dropwing)

Lac de Lenclas , 9th Sept [#3]

One of my favourite sites, normally, relatively close to Fanjeaux. On this occasion we chase a poor day to visit and the weather was not in our favour; it began raining soon after we arrived. We saw just two species and the camera didn’t come out.

Platycnemis pennipes (Blue Featherleg)
Trithemis annulata (Violet Dropwing)

Gruissan, Canal de la Robine, 19th Sept [#4] This is on our usual route back to the autoroute from Gruissan. It’s never exactly heaving and now it certainly wasn’t though I did finally find my first male Southern Darter (Sympetrum meridionale) of the trip.

Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
Sympetrum meridionale (Southern Darter)

Marseillan, Camping Villemarin, 21st-26th Sept [#5]

This really was just opportunistic. The main track in the modest campsite, an aire naturelle of 25 pitches, was named avenue des libellules. There were indeed a few libellules zooming about but only two species that I could determine.

Chalcolestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
Sympetrum meridionale (Southern Darter)

Posted in 2022, France, Trip reports

Small Red Females

Posted on 18 August, 2022 by JC — No Comments ↓

[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 the colour forms of both species some confusion exists in our publications.]

The UK’s two most favoured field guides [at the time of writing, 2022] are Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland by Brooks/Cham/Lewington, which is an illustrative guide, and Britain’s Dragonflies by Smallshire/Swash, which is a photographic guide. Some people prefer illustrations whilst others prefer photographs. Personally, I think they make excellent complementary companion volumes.

Both volumes show examples of three colour forms which, I think, matches most people’s current expectations. They do not agree on terminology, however.

Smallshire/Swash specifically states three colour forms and names them:

typica (the “normal” form);
melanogastrum (a dark abdomen occurring “quite frequently”);
erythrogastrum (an “uncommon” red form, like the male – androchrome).

However, Brooks/Cham/Lewington doesn’t specifically state a number of female forms but illustrates and describes three:

erythrogastrum (entirely red);
melanogastrum (entirely bronze-black);
intermedia (black but marked red “on the basal segments”).

The illustration of intermedia in Brooks/Cham/Lewington matches that of typica in Smallshire/Swash. Thus, intermedia and typica in these two volumes appear to be one and the same thing – synonyms of each other.

So what is this then? It’s not all black [melanotum]; it’s not all red [erythrogastrum]. This looks like typica, or, at least it did to me until I realized that the central black area did not extend over the whole of S4. Concentrating on taking a photograph rather than detail, I frequently suffer from “viewfinder blindness”. In this specimen, S4 is mainly red.

Returning to 1988 when R. R. (Dick) Askew published the first European Field Guide, The Dragonflies of Europe, we see a slightly different picture. His volume is quite detailed and specific in its description:

Females of C. tenellum are polymorphic, four colour forms being recognizable:

typica

S1-3 are dorsally red except for a black spot at the base of S1 and black apex to S3, S4-8 are dorsally mainly black and S9, 10 are mainly reddish

erythrogastrum

The homeochrome form, in which the abdomen is as red as in the male.

intermedium

The abdomen is dorsally red but S6-8 sometimes also S3-5 are apically black.

melanogastrum

The dorsal surface of the abdomen, except to intersegmental incisures, is almost entirely bronzed black…

Here, typica and intermedium/intermedia are distinct and clearly not synonyms of each other. His descriptions of typica, erythrogastrum and melanogastrum do match the three illustrations offered by Smallshire/Swash and Brooks/Cham/Lewington, it’s just that Brooks/Cham/Lewington uses the term intermedia instead of typica.

Those who tend to use FIeld Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe by K-D Dijkstra/Lewington may not be surprised. Descriptions in editions of this volume (2006 & 2020) match those of Askew:

Four colour forms of female are recognized … the forms differ by the extent of black on the abdomen and face:

typica

abdomen black with most of S1-3 and S9-10 red, extent of black my vary slightly

erythrogastrum

abdomen and face all red as in the male

melanogastrum

entire upper side of abdomen and most of face black

intermedium

includes all largely red but black-marked varieties between the first two forms.

For some reason, the 2020 edition of Dijkstra/Lewington modifies three of the names, presumably for language gender matching reasons, to melanogastra, erythrogastra, and intermedia.

So, in both Askew and Dijkstra, intermedium/intermedia is a fitting description of my specimen above that doesn’t fit any of those limiting their descriptions to three forms.

If this classification dates from 1988 [actually it dates from Sélys in the 19th century], what happened to the fourth form in our two most frequently used volumes? My suspicion regarding the Brooks/Cham/Lewington publication is that they smashed together intermedia and typica – the latter could be regarded as a specific format of intermedia – intermedia thus becoming everything between the all-black melanogastrum and the all-red erythrogastrum.

I’m going with the four colour form classifications in Askew and Dijkstra.

Posted in Articles

The Netherlands, Aug 2022

Posted on 15 August, 2022 by JC — No Comments ↓

My normal pathological avoidance of the school holidays throughout late July and August, coupled with the fact that we’ve tended to visit the southwest of France as opposed to the northeast, have reduced my chances of seeing the Moustached Darter/Vagrant Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum). Consequently, to the surprise of some friends in European, where it can be quite prevalent, it was a species missing from my catalogue.

For a couple of years now, I have been e-friends with Antoine van der Heijden in the Netherlands, who is active both on the worldwide odonata Facebook group and in our own UK Facebook odonata group. With (hopefully) the worst of Covid-19 having passed, in the middle of 2022 our stars aligned and Antoine kindly offered to guide me around some of his favoured Netherlands hotspots during a mutually convenient week in August. Sympetrum vulgatum was my main target but Antoine had mentioned a few other species that it would also be great to see.

I found what turned out to be an excellent adults only [that should fix my rugrats issue] self catering apartment at Jelly’s Hoeve, Havelte. Where possible, I prefer self-catering options. Jelly’s Hoeve proved to be perfect. [Hoeve is Dutch for farm.]

We travelled on Stena Line from Harwich to the Hook of Holland overnight on Sunday 7th August and returned overnight on Friday 12th. I’d arranged to meet Antoine on Tuesday 9th, once we had settled in. I have never been so lucky with the weather; our trip coincided with a week of unbroken clear skies and high temperatures; perfect weather for chasing dragonflies.

Antoine was a wonderful, congenial host and spared no effort fixing as many gaps as he could in my catalogue. Happily, with a shared interest and some shared outlooks on life, we enjoyed each others company.

Below is my map of the locations visited with species and basic notes. Among the 26 species we saw, Antoine found me 5 “lifers” (shown in bold type). The first 4 locations were Antoine’s tour; the 5th location was our opportunist visit to old friends en route home.

There are good reasons to return to the Netherlands earlier in the season for some additional species. 😉

Weerribben-Wieden NP, 9th Aug [#1]

The Weerribben-Wieden National Park is said to be the largest wetland in north-western Europe. It was created by the digging of peat and the cutting of reeds. Much of the area is not accessible on foot and without Antoine’s knowledge, I just wouldn’t have known where to start. The point on the map marks the parking area in the northern section of the park. From which we followed paths essentially north.

We had very soon hit my main target, the Moustached Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum). Most amazing, I think, were the clouds of Spotted Darters (Sympetrum depressiusculum) rising from the reeds. These I had seen before in southern France but not in such numbers. In fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any dragonfly in such numbers and I was very happy to see them again. Happy turned to excitement when “Hawk-eyes” van der Heijden found me a Siberian Winter Damselfly (Sympecma paedisca) lurking quietly low down in vegetation at the side of our path.

We spent the whole day here and totalled an astonishing 21 species.

Chalcolestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
Enallagma cyathigerum (Common Bluet)
Erythromma najas (Large Redeye)
Lestes sponsa (Common Spreadwing)
Sympecma fusca (Common Winter Damsel)
Sympecma paedisca (Siberian Winter Damsel)
Aeshna cyanea (Blue Hawker)
Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
Aeshna grandis (Brown Hawker)
Aeshna viridis (Green Hawker)
Anax imperator (Blue Emperor)
Orhetrum cancellatum (Black-tailed Skimmer)
Crocothemis erythraea (Broad Scarlet)
Libellula quadrimaculata (Four-spotted Chaser)
Somatochlora flavomaculata (Yellow-spotted Emerald)
Sympetrum danae (Black Darter)
Sympetrum depressiusculum (Spotted Darter)
Sympetrum sanguineum (Ruddy Darter)
Sympetrum striolatum (Common Darter)
Sympetrum vulgatum (Moustached Darter)

Ruiner Aa, 10th Aug [#2]

In stark contrast to the imposing National Park of Weerribben-Wieden, this was a superficially unassuming strip of land between two waterways, one no more than a stream, surrounded by agricultural fields. We parked beside a bridge over the main waterway and spent about 4 hours walking along two sections bounded by further bridges. The main attraction here was one of my stretch goals, the utterly delightful Banded Darter (Sympetrum pedemontanum), which we saw in good numbers.

To my surprise in such a restricted area, we notched up 14 species here.

Calopteryx splendens (Banded Demoiselle)
Enallagma cyathigerum (Common Bluet)
Erythromma viridulum (Small Redeye)
Lestes sponsa (Common Spreadwing)
Chalcolestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
Platycnemis pennipes (Blue Featherleg)
Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
Aeshna grandis (Brown Hawker)
Anax imperator (Blue Emperor)
Crocothemis erythraea (Broad Scarlet)
Sympetrum depressiuscullum (Spotted Darter)
Sympetrum pedemontanum (Banded Darter)
Sympetrum sanguineum (Ruddy Darter)
Sympetrum vulgatum (Moustached Darter)

Fochteloërveen, 10th Aug [#3]

To quote the literature, “Fochteloërveen is a famous Dutch peat bog area on the border of the provinces Drenthe and Friesland”. Antoine took us here for the second half of the afternoon on 10th, once I dragged myself away from the Banded Darters.

There were a couple of attractions here not the least of which was the possibility of the unattractively named Bog Hawker (Aeshna subarctica), which I had never been anywhere near seeing. We did find it but it did not pose favourably. There were also Small Spreadwings (Lestes virens), which I had seen before but was more than happy to see again.

During our 2-hour visit, Antoine was rewarded for his efforts by seeing a dark form female Small Red Damsel (Ceriagrion tenellum) for only the 2nd time.

Enallagma cyathigerum (Common Bluet)
Lestes sponsa (Common Spreadwing)
Lestes virens vestalis (Small Spreadwing)
Chalcolestes viridis (Western Willow Spreadwing)
Ceriagrion tenellum (Small Red Damsel)
Aeshna cyanea (Blue Hawker)
Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
Aeshna subarctica (Bog Hawker)
Libellula quadrimaculata (Four-spotted Chaser)
Orthetrum cancellatum (Black-tailed Skimmer)
Sympetrum danae (Black Darter)

Kiersche Wijde, 11th Aug [#4]

This was another, more southern section of the Weerribben-Wieden NP. On our first day we had seen the Green Hawkers (Aeshna viridis) but they had flown tirelessly and fast so I failed to get a decent picture. Antoine thought we might get another chance here where there were the necessary waterways containing Water Soldier plants.

It is worth noting that in the UK the Green-eyed hawker (Aeshna isoceles) is associated with Water Soldier whereas in Holland it is the Green Hawker that is tightly bound to Water Soldier.

Regrettably, on this day we saw neither. I did, however, have fun with an obliging Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) head-on.

Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
Erythromma viridulum (Small Redeye)
Lestes sponsa (Common Spreadwing)
Sympecma paedisca (Siberian Winter Damsel)
Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker)
Aeshna grandis (Brown Hawker)
Orthetrum cancellatum (Black-tailed Skimmer)
Sympetrum depressiusculum (Spotted Darter)
Sympetrum vulgatum (Moustached Darter)

Fahrenheitlaan, Hilversum, 12th Aug [#5]

Our route back to the Hook of Holland and our overnight ferry took us past Hilversum where some friends, a former colleague of Carol, live. Visiting them was a relaxing way to use up a day otherwise set aside for travel. However, I did once again get to see my Moustached Darter (Sympetrum vulgatum), a female, in their garden.

- Ischnura elegans (Common Bluetail)
- Enallagma cyathigerum (Common Bluet)
- Sympetrum vulgatum (Moustached Darrter)

Posted in 2022, Holland, Netherlands, Trip reports

Botswana & Zambia, July 2022

Posted on 19 July, 2022 by JC — No Comments ↓

For the first two weeks of July, with travel supposedly opening up after two years of Covid-19 lockdowns, we lashed out on a tented camping safari to Botswana, including a side trip into Zambia to visit the stunning Victoria Falls. Little did we know that the airports were completely unready for the sudden influx of tourists that had been hamstrung for two years. After an 11-hour Virgin flight, initially short of one pilot and five cabin crew, we made it to Jo’burg in South Africa but an hour late; Virgin had been waiting for a replacement pilot. That left us with just one hour to make our flight connection to Maun, Botswana, and with Jo’burg airport being a zoo … Anyway, we made it by the skin of our teeth. 75 minutes later, we arrived in Maun, Botswana, but our luggage did not. Neither did the luggage of three other travelling companions. Come to that, a further three travelling companions got stuck in Jo’burg and didn’t make it either. Our three missing tourists and assorted luggage did catch up with us late the following day at our first touring stop of the holiday on a houseboat.

I had low expectations for finding much in the way of odonata, given the inability to go wandering around the African bush mixing with similarly wandering lions, leopards, wild dogs and hippos, but hope springs eternal. Our first stop on the houseboat beside the Okavango Delta might prove helpful and we’d have a hotel stay in Livingstone, Zambia, which might give me a chance, too. I had no idea what to expect of Livingstone but perhaps walking about might be possible? That idea was scotched when, driving into Livingstone, a group of elephants wandered across the road in front of our truck – urban elephants instead of urban foxes. 😀

This was quite early in Botswana’s winter so I had little idea of what to expect. Daytime temperatures drifted up to the mid-20s Centigrade – winters like this I can cope with – but overnight temperatures fell to single figures. It’s also their dry season [oh to have a dry season] which may have had an impact.

As it turned out, I managed to find odonata in four locations, by far the best being a modest but well stocked pond beside our chalet at the Victoria Falls Waterfront hotel, on the Zambezi River shortly before it plunges over Victoria Falls.

In the following lists, the 12 species (only 11 with photographic evidence) shown in bold type are new to us. Quite a decent haul considering the restrictions.

If I can remember how to do it after a 2-year lay-off, here’s my usual map.

Cubango River @ Shakawe, 3rd – 5th July [#1]

Having had a night at the hotel in Maun [4#], we hit the road and had a long drive northwest to the edge of the Okavango Delta where we were to spend a few days on a houseboat, with river trips largely for birds. Happily, we were moored for a night where some damselflies graced us with their presence in the riverside vegetation.

One of these was an old acquaintance from Namibia but the other two were new and, given the apparent scarcity of one, quite exciting: the Dark Sprite (Pseudagrion deningi).

Pseudagrion deningi (Dark Sprite)
Pseudagrion massaicum (Massai Sprite)
Pseudagrion sublacteum (Cherry-eye Sprite)

Waterfront Hotel @ Livingstone, 6th & 7th July [#2]

Livingstone could’ve gone either way. I wondered if wandering about looking for water might’ve been a possibility but then we saw elephants crossing roads in town. We really lucked out, though; we were given a chalet that had a fresh water pool that was dammed behind it. I tripped up one section of the dam and spoiled my knee but a minor injury was a small price to pay for a lovely collection of odonata including many new species.

I think perhaps the most stunning, certainly where its vivid blue eyes were concerned, was the Black-splashed Elf (Tetrathemis polleni). Our example was a somewhat scarce example NOT splashed with black on the wings, them being hyaline instead. I also at last got to see the delightful Red-veined Dropwing (Trithemis arteriosa).

Ceriagrion glabrum (Common Citril/Orange)
Phaon iridipennis (Glistening Demoiselle)
Pseudagrion hamoni (Swarthy/Hamon’s Sprite)
Pseudagrion sudanicum (Blue-sided Sprite)
Brachythemis lacustris (Red Groundling)
Crocothemis erythraea (Broad Scarlet)
Orthetrum chrysostigma (Epaulet Skimmer)
Orthetrum stemmale (Bold/Tough Skimmer)
Palpopleura lucia (Black-winged Widow)
Palpopleura portia (Shadow-bridge Widow)
Tetrathemis polleni (Black-splashed Elf)
Trithemis aconita (Halfshade/Monk’s Hood Dropwing)
Trithemis arteriosa (Red-veined Dropwing

HATAB Campsite MGR8 @ Moremi Game Reserve, 13th & 14th July [#3]

Our final campsite in the Botswana game reserves was sandwiched between a hippo pool [arghh!] and a small pool. Here we could wander a short way, keeping an eye on the hippos, and we found a couple of old friends. One is ubiquitous in Africa and southern Europe but the other, the Black Percher (Diplacodes lefebvrii), we have seen less frequently so that was a treat.

Crocothemis erythraea (Broad Scarlet)
Diplacodes lefebvrii (Black Percher)

Thamalakane River @ Maun, 15th July [#4]

This is where we spent our first night after arriving in Botswana but the gate to access the nearby river was locked. Happily, when we returned for a second stay after our safari, the gate was open and we found a couple of well known suspects, though nothing new.

Ischnura senegalensis (Tropical Bluetail)
Sympetrum fonscolombii (Red-veined Darter)

Posted in 2022, Botswana, Trip reports, Zambia

Large Red Females

Posted on 26 May, 2022 by JC — No Comments ↓

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:

There are three distinct female colour forms. The most abundant is the homeochrome typical form, coloured rather like the male but with a median black line on S2-6 which expands posteriorly into a spot on each of these segments. The intersegmental incisures [sutures] are yellow. Form fulvipes is very male-like with the mid-dorsal black line on the abdomen fine, and the apical black spots on S2-6 much reduced. The heterochrome form melanotum is very different from these homeochrome forms; the antehumeral stripes remain yellow throughout life and the abdomen is mainly bronze-black with the apex rust-coloured.

Askew does not assign a name, here, to “typical” though based on subsequent writings we might infer typica. [Regressing even further, this account matches that of Cynthia Longfield in The Dragonflies of the British Isles (1939).]

Thus, in increasing amounts of abdominal black we are given:

fulvipes
typical (typica)
melanotum

However, this ostensibly simple picture gets clouded by more recent publications.

Our first cloud comes with the use of varying terminology. Though both volumes stick with 3 colour forms, Smallshire/Swash in Britain’s Dragonflies refer to typica whereas Brooks/Cham/Lewington, in Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland instead refer to intermedia. So now typica and intermedia are looking like one and the same thing and we may now have:

fulvipes
typica or intermedia
melanotum

Our second cloud comes courtesy of K-D Dijkstra in the 1st edition of his modern European classic, illustrated by the great Richard Lewington, Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe (2006), in which he says:

Various [?] female forms have been named but probably a wide range of intermediates exist.

Dijkstra continues:

The three main forms are (1) f. typica (f. intermedia is included here) … (2) f. fulvipes … (3) f. melanotum …

Wait a minute, that was 4 colour form names mentioned. Since, both within Dijkstra and Brooks/Cham/Lewington, melanotum is subdivided into two versions, one with some red and another with no red on the abdomen, we are actually here looking at 5 colour forms.

The nomenclature cloud doesn’t clear any when you notice that the relevant illustration in Dijkstra is labelled “f. typica” despite the text saying, “ f. intermedia is included here”. If anything the cloud thickens when you also note that the exact same Lewington illustrations used by Dijkstra in his European volume are also used in the Brooks/Cham/Lewington British Isles volume where the form labelled as “f. typica” by Dijkstra is labelled “f. intermedia” by Brooks/Cham/Lewington. In the latter there is no mention of “f. typica” whatsoever. Neither, in the British Isles volume, are the illustrations of its forms supported by any textual description.

Having introduced both typica and intermedia as co-existing, Dijkstra is completely silent, as far as I can see, on any distinction between them BUT this is the only publication where I can see 4 red colour form names used together though still with only 3 red-form diagrams.

However, I have received a description concerning intermedia versus typica, from Antoine van der Heijden in the Netherlands which, he thinks, may have come from the man himself, K-D Dijkstra:

intermedia should be anything “not perfectly typica and not perfectly fulvipes” as far as I understand and is thus quite common: a variation where S6 is NOT mostly black on top (like fulvipes) but where there IS a fat blob of black at the back of S2-6 (like typica) seems very common here [in the Netherlands].

So, let’s try and make sense of this form nomenclature confusion in pictures.

I’ll begin with typica, it being a useful base line from which to gauge variations. “Perfectly typica” is characterized by having S6-S9 black, dorsally. It is S6 that becomes most significant in what follows. S2-S5 have sizeable black blobs at their posteriors. (This specimen is a particularly dark red individual, despite being not fully mature – yellow antehumerals – perhaps because it was taken at some altitude in the Pyrenees.)

Now to address fulvipes. “Perfectly fulvipes“ is characterized by having S6 mainly red dorsally and by S2, S3 and S4 having greatly reduced black markings on their posteriors. Note that S5 retains its sizeable black blob. The reduced black markings of S2-S4 in fulvipes resemble pickaxe heads, to my eye.

So what, pray tell, might intermedia be? Well, intermedia would show some characteristics of fulvipes and some characteristics of typica: we’d see a fulvipes S6, mainly red dorsally, but with either no reduced black at the sutures of S2-S4 or with fewer than all three sutures showing reduced black; i.e. 0, 1 or 2 pickaxe heads but not 3 pickaxe heads (which would be “perfect fulvipes“).

I would suggest that this description of intermedia, red form females with varying strengths of black spots at the sutures, matches the great majority of those that I see locally but have previously been thinking of as fulvipes because of that red-topped S6.

My examples here seem to accord with Dijkstra’s suggestion that there is some sort of continuum existing in the largely red female forms, in which case assigning hard and fast names to varying amounts of black/red may be something of a moot point. There are extremes, which are those that tend to have been diagrammed in our familiar publications.

Turning away from the largely red female forms, there is still, of course, melanotum, undisputedly all black along the abdomen dorsally, either with or without a hint of red. This form is not entirely undisputed, though. I have found at least one published opinion that the “no red” version of melanotum may simply not be fully mature. [I have never personally seen it.]

For a final [?] twist of nomenclature, in his 2nd edition (2020) Dijkstra switches from melanotum to melanota for the largely black forms. I have a feeling that this may be for a linguistic binomial “gender agreement” reason.

It is Vol 26 of the Journal of the British Dragonfly Society (2010), in an article by Peter J. Mill then of Leeds University, that we see the doubt concerning the two sub-forms of melanotum:

There are three colour forms of female, all of which have narrow yellow rings at the anterior end of abdominal segments 2-7. The most common one, f. fulvipes, is similar in colouration to the male but also has black bands at the posterior end of abdominal segments 5 and 6 and the black on segments 7 and 8 is more extensive than in the male … In f. intermedia (f. typica) the black band on abdominal segment 6 extends the length of the segment and there are black bands at the posterior end of the first five abdominal segments … In f. melanotum the ante-humeral stripes are yellow and most of the dorsal surface of the abdomen is black; also the eyes are a duller red. In some specimens of this form the red on the abdomen is replaced by yellow …, although such individuals may not have achieved their final colouration.

Recognizing that this publication is 10 years old [at the time of writing], it is interesting for a number of reasons:

it clearly regarded intermedia and typica as one and the same;
it implied that the black atop S6 is key in distinguishing fulvipes from intermedia / typica;
it suggested that fulvipes is the more common form and not intermedia / typica (as suggested by Askew);
it questioned the 2nd no-red version of f. melanotum as a fully fledged adult form.

I now think, given a sensible-sounding description of differences between typica, fulvipes and a suggested form intermedia, and given my examples above, in increasing amounts of black, I can go with these female forms:

fulvipes
intermedia
typica
melanotum / melanota (avoiding “no red” issues)

Posted in Articles

Sorting the Boys from the Girls

Posted on 1 May, 2022 by JC — No Comments ↓

[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 dragonflies, notably the Chasers and Skimmers, many of whose males become covered in a powder blue waxy deposit referred to as pruinosity, and Darters, whose males turn various shades of fetching red or black. Thus, determining gender can look like a simple matter.

There are clues in my words, though: “become” and “turn”. The colours referred to are mature colours which develop as the dragonfly ages. So, it is really sorting the gents from the ladies that appears to be simple.

In particular at the beginning of a flight season there is a higher proportion of recently emerged immature specimens. These are yet to develop their textbook mature colours and at this stage the males tend to look much like the females. For these immature boys and girls, distinguishing their gender requires a much closer look.

Black-tailed Skimmers (Orthetrum cancellatum) may epitomize the difficulty of determining gender when immature; a recently emerged male and a female looking superficially all but identical.

The key to distinguishing gender here is to look closely at the anal appendages. Those of the female are widely spaced and relatively short while those of the male are mounted closer together on the abdomen and tend to be longer. The male appendages of libellulids remind me of a pen nib but then I am given to flights of fancy.

This appendage shape pattern holds true for the other suspects, including the Darters. We see shorter, more widely spaced female appendages and longer, close-set male appendages.

Don’t take the presence of pruinosity as a guarantee of masculinity, though. It should be noted that some “over mature” females may also develop a degree of pruinosty, though rarely as much as a mature male in his prime. I’ve seen a few pictures of female Broad-bodied Chasers (Libellula depressa) looking touched with blue.

Likewise, note that very mature female Darters can develop a red, male-like flush. Eleven years ago, whilst wearing L-plates and identifying on a provisional license, I was fooled by one such myself. Happily a mentor put me straight and I was grateful for the valuable lesson.

Here she is, a very red-looking female Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum). She makes an interesting contrast to the immature male pictured beneath. Considering colour alone, the genders of these specimens could readily be confused. This pair also provides a good side aspect for some gender determining features. Note also the different shapes of the abdomens.

First glance suspicions can be misleading and it’s always a good idea to check the format of the appendages. After a while it becomes second nature.

Posted in 2022, Articles

Bluets and their Pronota

Posted on 4 April, 2022 by JC — No Comments ↓

[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 mid April.

The UK is home to seven Bluet species, six Coenagrions and one Enallagma, but four of the Coenagrions have very restricted ranges, so much so that they are red listed. These four tend to be the targets of specific searches. Thus most of us need concern ourselves with just three Bluets, the two remaining Coenagrions, the Azure (C. puella) and Variable (C. pulchellum) Damselflies, and the Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum). The Variable is quite widespread in England geographically but has very patchy distribution. It has a strong hold on Ireland.

There are two clear gender- and colour-neutral features which distinguish Common Blue Damselfly, there being two colours of female. The antehumeral stripes are very wide, at least as wide as and usually wider than the black humeral stripe beneath. Also, below the black humeral stripe the thorax side is plain, not carrying the black so-called Coenagrion spur. (See subsequent images.)

The Azure and Variable Damselflies make us work harder, particularly the females. Both species double the stakes by presenting us with two female colour forms, a dark form and a blue form. The blue:black ratio can help with the blue forms but the dark forms look essentially identical.

Enter: the pronotum. The pronotum (pl. pronota) is the plate covering the prothorax just behind the head. Much is made of it in field guides so the term is likely to be familiar. The pronotum is what the male latches onto during mating. The rear edge shape of the pronotum differs between species; it is key to the male and now becomes key to us.

In both colour forms, the pronotum of Azure females has a smooth, gentle curve to its rear edge. By contrast the pronotum of Variable females is trilobed with deep notches between the central and side lobes. This is fine detail so clear photographs from a suitable angle are needed for certainty. Well, we like a challenge.

We are less accustomed to considering the pronotum of males because textbook males present little problem, Variables famously showing broken antehumeral stripes. Variables also have a wine glass design on S2 with a stem joining to the suture. Azures, by contrast, have complete antehumeral stripes and a U-mark on S2 separated from the suture. On S9, Variables show a bat mark whereas Azures sport a bow-tie. Most Azures have no interocular bar but this is not a reliable feature for identification.

However, here we see that not all individuals go by the book. My exclamation marks show deviations from expectation. This Variable could easily be mistaken for an Azure at first glance with complete antehumerals and apparently no stem on S2, though beware that wing veins can obscure very fine stems. Such Variables have been tagged Coenagrion pulchellum puellaformis (i.e. looks like C. puella).The S9 marks are more reliable but do exhibit some natural variation.

So enter once again: the pronotum. That of the Azure, as in the female, has a smoothly curved rear edge with a noticeable light rear border. By contrast, that of the Variable has a plain black rear edge which, though tricky to see being black against black, has a pronounced central lobe with no light rear border.

Posted in 2022, Articles, UK

Anticipating Large Reds

Posted on 1 March, 2022 by JC — 2 Comments ↓

[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 by the Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula).

The county of Cornwall, in the far southwest England, frequently kicks off in late March, closely followed by other south coast counties and gradually spreading north, though there are exceptions. My local patch, a pocket handkerchief reserve in Bedfordshire, tends to make me wait until late April or early May.

The Large Red Damselfly is an interesting species with its norm of a 2-year life cycle. Many larvae spend their 2^nd winter in diapause, a phenomenon which supports a synchronized emergence in early spring as conditions improve.

It is a widespread species throughout the British Isles and has one of the longer flight seasons lasting through September – a period bettering six months. Since the adult lifespan of a damselfly is rarely more than a couple of weeks, clearly other individuals miss the synchronization and continue to emerge throughout the summer.

Females of the species add to its interest with three recognized colour forms based upon the extent of dorsal black on the abdomen. However, authors confuse the issue slightly by seeming to disagree on the name of one of these colour forms. Form fulvipes sports least black, followed by f. typica/intermedia, and the rarer f. melanotum with an entirely black abdomen, dorsally. In truth there are four forms since there are said to be two forms of melanotum, one with some lateral red on the abdomen and another with no red at all.

The mix of female colour forms is said to vary markedly by population. Females at my own local patch seem to be almost entirely form fulvipes. In 2021, I stumbled across a small colony on the north coast of Cornwall having what seemed like a majority of form melanotum females, though it must be said that total numbers were not large. I was delighted since this was my first encounter with melanotum. Comparing different colonies colour variations could make for an interesting study.

With the exception of f. melanotum, both sexes emerge with yellow antehumeral stripes which turn red with maturity.

Whilst the Large Red Damselfly may not be one of the trickier species to identify, there are a couple of useful identification features that can be used regardless of gender and all these colour variations. There is a diagnostic vertical black tag – the shape varies – beneath the lowest suture (the metapleural suture) on the thorax side and the eyes show a characteristic double stripe, more or less horizontally.

Posted in 2022, Articles, UK

Orthetrum conundrum

Gender neutral

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Mature Males

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A Conundrum

Australia, Dec 2022 [FNQ 2022]

France, Sep 2022

Small Red Females

The Netherlands, Aug 2022

Botswana & Zambia, July 2022

Large Red Females

Sorting the Boys from the Girls

Bluets and their Pronota

Anticipating Large Reds

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