Another red-bodied (♂) Sympetrum. Unusually, I bumped into the fenales and took a while to find the males. The females, particularly, are prone to infestation by mites which look like small, bright red spheres on their wings.
This seems to be a very occasional migrant/vagrant to the UK. One was reported in 2013 at the RSPB’s Arne reserve in Dorset but, as far as I know, it was unverified.
ID Notes
- quite plain side of thorax, dull light tan with only very thin black sutures
- ♂ – orange-red abdomen, with very little (sometimes no) black markings
- ♀ – yellow abdomen
- legs mainly yellow
| male | immature male | |
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| female | ||
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I have a dragonfly pic from southern France. Can I send it to you for ID?
You certainly can, John. I’ll email you.