A species that is spreading north from Africa into Spain and colonising relatively rapidly. The distribution maps in Dijkstra/Lewington, published 2006, do not show it in Spain but it is now [2016] at least as far up as Valencia.
I was keen to find these on my September 2015 Spanish trip and had targeted a reserve just above Valencia called the Marjal dels Moros. As it turned out, I found my first male on my local river in Jalón. I was then lucky enough to find a female at the Marjal de Gandia.
Id Notes
- ♂ pretty unmistakable with a bright red abdomen and extensive amber wing patches
- bluish underside to eye
- ♀ two rows of black dashes on S6 – S9
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