Arthropods Daily – Issue No. 353

The Sympetrum species of dragonflies can be difficult to distinguish. Females and teneral individuals have a light yellow thorax and abdomen, while males turn red when mature. Females darken with age and sometimes develop a blue coloration at the bottom of the abdomen. They can be found in a variety of habitats and are ambush predators, waiting on perches until prey flies by. They are not territorial away from breeding waters and can gather in large numbers. The species populations do not show signs of decline and there is a taxon called the highland darter, found in Ireland, Scotland, and Norway, that may be a subspecies of the Sympetrum striolatum.