Another red-bodied (♂) Sympetrum. Unusually, I bumped into the females 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.
There are as yet no accepted sightings in the UK.
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
- ♀ – brown abdomen, blue underside
- legs mainly yellow
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| immature male | |
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| female | |||
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| immature female |
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| in tandem |
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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.
I saw several mating pairs of dragonflies, which I thought were this species.
The thing that makes me doubt that is that the red bodied (male?) has a mite infestation.
Please may I send you a photo?
The observation site is near Bournezeau 85480, France.
Thanks in advance,
Steve
Yes of course. I’ll email you.