|
| Species of the Month - July 2013 Emerald Damselfly Lestes Sponsa This is a small flimsy damselfly with a weak fluttering flight. It can be found by well-vegetated lochs and pools, and is often out in dull weather when other damselflies are not to be seen.
The female is more or less uniform green
when seen from above, and pale brown from below, but the male,
when mature, has pale blue on the rear and underside of the thorax, and on
the first and last 2 abdominal segments. The male is slimmer than
the female for most of its length but has the final few segments
swollen. This photo by Jan Hamilton shows a pair in tandem.
Emerald damselflies can remain joined like this after mating until the
female has finished laying her eggs.
Females sometimes have the green replaced by a bronzy
brown on parts of the abdomen, as here on the final two segments.
Females have brown eyes, mature males have blue ones and immature males
have green ones.
This is a mature male, showing the pale blue areas.
The male's green abdomen is typically brighter and more metallic than that
of the
female.
Emerald Damselflies normally rest with their wings half-open, which at once distinguishes them from any other damselfly or dragonfly in our area. But when settled in one place for a while they often close the wings, as in the second picture above. These two are females.
Please send in your Emerald Damselfly sightings using the form below,
or email sightings@lnhg.org.uk
with the details if you prefer. If you are
not sure of the identity of your damselfly, please send a photo to sightings@lnhg.org.uk,
or put one on the
LORN forum and let me know it is there. By filling in this form you agree that the information contained in this form may be collated and disseminated manually or electronically for environmental decision-making, education, research and other public benefit uses in accordance with the LNHG data access policy. Your email address will not form part of the record and will not be passed on to anyone.
Carl Farmer
15 Jul - One female seen in dull weather near the
Lily Loch, Inverawe
21 Jul - Male and female seen by pool in burn,
Inverawe
5 Aug - Cynthia spotted a couple on Rannoch Moor
Note you can still send in
records for past species of the month. Here is the list of species
we've had so far:
Jun 2013 - Globe Flower
Next month's page
|
