David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
____________________________________________Dragonflies
and Damselflies 18 – Southern Skimmer Dragonflies
SOUTHERN
SKIMMER DRAGONFLY Orthetrum brunneum (m)
SOUTHERN
SKIMMER DRAGONFLY Orthetrum brunneum (m)
SOUTHERN
SKIMMER DRAGONFLY Orthetrum brunneum (m)
SOUTHERN
SKIMMER DRAGONFLY Orthetrum
brunneum (m)
·
Some
degree of caution is required when identifying adult male Southern Skimmer
Dragonflies Orthetrum brunneum,
as some Southern European Keeled Skimmer Dragonflies O. coerulerscens may be extremely similar in appearance,
having developed a powdery blue pruinescence all over
their bodies. In Northern European examples, only the abdomen normally turns
pale blue. The key differences that may need to be examined in detail are the
colour of the face (pale blue in O. brunneum,
brownish in O. coerulescens) and the wing venation, in which a row of cells
(normally complete in O coerulescens) is divided - see relevant reference works
to confirm details. The divided cells are visible in three of these photographs.
The relatively short lengths of the pterostigmata when compared to the width of
the abdomen (slightly, but not conspicuously broader in O. brunneum) is another useful field characteristic. For
the aforementioned reasons, taking good quality
reference photographs will facilitate identification. A knowledge of the
geographic ranges of similar looking species can be useful too, particularly if
they don’t overlap!
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