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List Of Odonata Species Of Ireland
The following is a list of Odonata species recorded in Ireland. Common names are those given in the standard literature; where a different name has been given in ''The Natural History of Ireland's Dragonflies'', this is given in brackets. Most of these species are resident, others are vagrants and some have not been recorded since the nineteenth century. Suborder Zygoptera (damselflies) Family Calopterygidae (demoiselles) *Banded demoiselle (banded jewelwing) ''Calopteryx splendens'' *Beautiful demoiselle ''Calopteryx virgo'' Family Lestidae (emerald damselflies) * Scarce emerald damselfly (turlough spreadwing) ''Lestes dryas'' *Emerald damselfly (common spreadwing) ''Lestes sponsa'' Family Coenagrionidae (blue, blue-tailed, and red damselflies) * Irish damselfly (Irish bluet) ''Coenagrion lunulatum.'' The common name comes from the fact that it is found in Ireland but not in Britain. * Azure damselfly (azure bluet) ''Coenagrion puella'' * Variable damselfly (var ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Azure Damselfly
The azure damselfly (''Coenagrion puella'') is a species of damselfly found in most of Europe. It is notable for its distinctive black and blue colouring. They are commonly found around ponds and lakesides during the summer. Morphology Adults Males Adult male azure damselflies have a head and thorax patterned with blue and black. They have an azure blue abdomen patterned with black markings. The marking on the second segment of the abdomen is U-shaped, separated from the segment's narrow terminal black band. (This distinguishes it from the variable damselfly where the U-shape is joined to the terminal band with a black line.) Segments three to five are blue with broader black terminal bands, lacking the forward-pointing projection the upper surface which adult male common blue damselfly has. Segment six has a similar pattern but with more restricted blue and a broader area of black, and segment seven is mostly black, with just a narrow blue area at the base. Segment eight ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Hawker
The common hawker, moorland hawker or sedge darner (''Aeshna juncea'') is one of the larger species of hawker dragonflies. It is native to Palearctic (from Ireland to Japan) and northern North America. The flight period is from June to early October. It is long with a brown body. The male has a black abdomen with paired blue and yellow spots on each abdominal segment, and narrow stripes along the dorsal surface of the thorax. In the female, the abdomen is brown with yellow or sometimes green or blue spots. The wings of both sexes display a yellow costa (the major vein running along the leading edge of the wings). This species lacks the green thorax stripes of the southern hawker. Female common hawkers will sometimes dive out of the sky and feign death Apparent death, colloquially known as playing dead, feigning death, or playing possum, is a behavior in which animals take on the appearance of being dead. It is an immobile state most often triggered by a predatory attack ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brown Hawker
The brown hawker (''Aeshna grandis'') is a large dragonfly about long. It is a distinctive species and is easily recognised, even in flight, by its brown body and bronze wings. At rest, blue spots on the second and third segments of the male's abdomen can be noticed; these are absent in female. The flight time is mainly July to September. The nymph has stripes on the side of the thorax and distinct banding on the legs. Distribution ''Aeshna grandis'' is common in central and eastern Europe. In Europe, it can be found everywhere from Ireland to the Urals, with some exceptions like Scotland, northernmost Scandinavia and the Iberian and Apennine peninsulas. There is a population in the Balkans. It is widespread in England but commonest in the south-east; local in Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Brita ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Hawker
The southern hawker or blue hawker (''Aeshna cyanea'') is a species of hawker dragonfly. Distribution The species is one of the most common and most widespread dragonflies in Europe. The total range is West Palearctic and covers a large part of Europe (to Scotland and southern Scandinavia in the North to Italy (without the Southwest) and the northern Balkans to the South); the Eastern boundary is formed by the Ural and the West by Ireland. It is also found in Northwest Africa (Algeria). In Central Europe the species is very common. Habitat These dragonflies mainly inhabit well-vegetated, small ponds and garden ponds, but they wander widely, and they are often seen in gardens and open woodland. Description ''Aeshna cyanea'' can reach a body length of about , with a wingspan up to .Richard Robinson Askew, The Dragonflies of Europe, Harley Books, 2004, p. 109. It is a large, brightly coloured dragonfly, with a long body. The thorax is brown, with two ante-humeral wide green long ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron Pratense)
''Brachytron'' is a monotypic genus of European dragonfly of the family Aeshnidae containing the hairy dragonfly (''Brachytron pratense''), also known as the hairy hawker or spring hawker. Description The hairy dragonfly is named for its hairy thorax, distinguishing it from other hawkers. It has a long, narrow pterostigma (the coloured, sclerotized patch on the outer region of each wing). The antehumeral stripes are usually thin and green. The hairy dragonfly has coupled, oval-shaped markings on its abdomen, blue on males and yellow on females. It is smaller than other species in the genus Aeshna ''Aeshna'', or the mosaic darners, is a genus of dragonflies from the family Aeshnidae. Species within this genus are generally known as "hawkers" (Old World) or "darners" (New World). Description These are relatively large dragonflies. T .... It is the United Kingdom's smallest hawker.. Habitat The hairy dragonfly lives in ponds, lakes, fens, ditches, and canals rich in veg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aeshnidae
The Aeshnidae, also called aeshnids, hawkers, or darners, is a family of dragonflies. The family includes the largest dragonflies found in North America and Europe and among the largest dragonflies on the planet. Description Common worldwide or nearly worldwide genera are '' Aeshna'' and '' Anax''. The African ''Anax tristis'' has a wingspan over 125 mm, making it one of the world's largest known dragonflies. There are 41 North American species in 11 genera in this family. Most European species belong to ''Aeshna''. Their American name "darner" stems from the female abdomens looking like a sewing needle, as they cut into plant stem when they lay their eggs through the ovipositor. The dragonflies mate in flight. The eggs are deposited in water or close by. The larvae (nymphs or naiads) are generally slender compared to those of other families, with a long and flat extensible lower lip (labium). The larvae are aquatic predators, feeding on other insects and even small fish. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gomphus Vulgatissimus
''Gomphus vulgatissimus'', the common clubtail, is a medium-sized (wingspan 6 –7 cm.) species of dragonfly in the family Gomphidae. It is found in most of Europe, and is present now in the south of France. Its natural habitats are clean, slow moving streaming rivers and creeks with sandy soil. It can be seen from mid-April in the south to August. Once they hatched out of water, they live shortly. As the common name suggests, this medium-sized species has a distinctive club-shaped abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the tors .... The males are black with extensive yellow markings on the thorax and abdomen which turn green as the insect ages. The females are black with extensive yellow markings. In the British Isles the adult flight period extends from mid May to ea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gomphidae
The Gomphidae are a family of dragonflies commonly referred to as clubtails or club-tailed dragonflies. The family contains about 90 genera and 900 species found across North and South America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. The name refers to the club-like widening of the end of the abdomen (abdominal segments 7 through 9). However, this club is usually less pronounced in females and is entirely absent in some species. Etymology The name may be derived from Latin ''gomphus'' or ''gond'' meaning "hinge". Characteristics Clubtails have small, widely separated compound eyes, a trait they share with the Petaluridae and with damselflies. The eyes are blue, turquoise, or green. The thorax in most species is pale with dark stripes, and the pattern of the stripes is often diagnostic. They lack the bright metallic colors of many dragonfly groups and are mostly cryptically colored to avoid detection and little difference between the sexes is seen. Adults are usually from in length; ther ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of true dragonfly are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threatens dragonfly populations around the world. Adult dragonflies are characterized by a pair of large, multifaceted compound eyes, two pairs of strong, transparent wings, sometimes with coloured patches, and an elongated body. Many dragonflies have brilliant iridescent or metallic colours produced by structural colouration, making them conspicuous in flight. An adult dragonfly's compound eyes have nearly 24,000 ommatidia each. Dragonflies can be mistaken for the closely related damselflies, which make up the other odonatan infraorder ( Zygoptera) and are similar in body plan though usually lighter in build; however, the wings of most dragonflies are held flat and away from the body, while damselflies hold their wings folded at rest, along or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Large Red Damselfly
The large red damselfly (''Pyrrhosoma nymphula'') is a species of damselflies belonging to the family Coenagrionidae. It is native to the western Palearctic. Distribution This species is a mainly European damselfly Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings alo ..., with some populations in Northern Africa and Western Asia. Habitat These damselflies inhabit small ponds, lakes and dikes, and occasionally slow-moving rivers. They tend to avoid fast flowing water. Description ''Pyrrhosoma nymphula'' can reach a body length of . These large and robust damselflies show black legs and wing spots in both sexes. Mature males have red eyes and a black thorax with red shoulder stripes in mature specimen, but yellow stripes in immature. In fact ante-humeral stripes change to red with age. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly
The scarce blue-tailed damselfly or small bluetail (''Ischnura pumilio'') is a member of the damselfly family Coenagrionidae. The species occurs throughout Europe except in the north. To the east it occurs from Asia Minor to SiberiaTo the south the range extends to Morocco, the Azores and Madeira' The typical male has a black abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the tors ... with a bright blue spot on tail ( segments 8 and 9). It is very similar to the blue-tailed damselfly, '' Ischnura elegans'' but on that species the blue spot is mostly on segment 8. Females undergo a change of colour as they mature. The immature female is bright orange, the ''aurantiaca'' phase, but matures to a greenish-brown. References Ischnura Damselflies of Europe Articles containin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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_male_on_finger.jpg "Click for more on -> Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron Pratense)")
.JPG "Click for more on -> Aeshnidae")
