Ischnura elegans ebneri Schmidt, 1938 ♂♀ ♥
Common names: Blue-tailed Damselfly, Common Bluetail [En], Agrion elegant [Fr], Lantaarntje [Nl], Mavi Kuyruklu Kızböceği [Tu]

Gecitkoy, Girne/Kyrenia ● Cyprus

Description: The male is up and the female below. This is a widespread and common damselfly. The length is up to 31mm.
Mature males always have a blue spot at the "tail" (S8), blue ant-humeral stripes on the thorax and blue eyes.
Males from southern Italy, Turkey, Crete and Cyprus islands, and the Middle East, with crossed inner branches of the upper appendages, are known as ssp. ebneri.
Females vary with at least 5 different colour forms. The thoracic markings and the tail spot are violet in the immature form “violacea”, but salmon pink thorax and blue spot in the form “rufescens”. When mature the female may be blue (like the male) in the form “typical”, olive green thorax and brown spot in the form “infuscans” or pale brown thorax and brown spot in the form “infuscans-obsoleta”. It is the case here. Male and female both have bi-coloured pterostigma on the front wings.

Habitat: It can be found in a very wide range of lowland habitats. It prefers lakes and ponds, being less common on flowing water and in exposed and upland sites. It can also tolerate some salinity, or brackish or polluted water where it may be the only species present.
It flies from May to early September.

Distribution: whole Europe (except Iceland), South and Middle Anatolia, Middle East

References:
Dragonflies of Ireland
British Dragonflies Society

Created on

Saturday 26 June 2010

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Cyprus , Love

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