Austroargiolestes icteromelas is endemic to Australia and is a bit of a mouthful to say – 12 syllables indeed. It is widespread in Victoria, New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Queensland. I’ve seen these on each of my trips to Australia, now.
This is one of those damselflies that gives the lie to the idea that “damselflies sit with their wings along their body”, when distinguishing them from dragonflies.
Australia has quite a few Flatwings, three of which are in Victoria. I found identification tricky to start with, even armed with Theischinger/Hawking, and relied on guidance from Reiner Richter, whom I thank very much. Our 2017 trip was very ad hoc but my Phil Benstead 2019 trip around southeast Queensland was much more intense and I found quite a few more.
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