Falkenlibelle (Cordulia aenea)
• English name: Downy Emerald
• German name: Falkenlibelle
• French name: Cordulie bronzée
• Dutch name: Smaragdlibel
• Swedish name: Guldtrollslända
• Norwegian name: Smaragdøyenstikker
• Finnish name: Vaskikorento
• Danish name: Grøn smaragdlibel
• Italian name: Smeralda bronzea
• Czech name: lesklice měděná
• Slovenian name: Močvirski lebduh
• Bulgarian name: Мъхеста зеленка
Falkenlibelle
(Cordulia aenea)
Not present
Present before 1990
Present after 1990
Present before and after 1990
Present after 2015
Map data based on J.-P. Boudot & V. J. Kalkman (eds.),
Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies
| General | • a fairly large, dark, stocky-looking species which is fairly common in central and eastern Europe; rare in the British Isles, the far north and the south | |
| Classification | • suborder: Anisoptera (dragonflies); family: Corduliidae | |
| Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern | |
| Scientific name | • Cordulia aenea (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Name genus | • Cordulia: from Grk. κορδύλειος = clubbed; [κορδύλη = cudgel, club] ⇒ for the club-shaped abdomen, especially of the male | |
| Name species | • aenea: from Lat. aeneus, -a, -um = of copper, bronze, bronze-coloured ⇒ for the extensive bronze-coloured reflections | |
| Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
| Habitat | • ponds and lakes | |
| Dimensions | • typical body length: 47-55 mm; hindwing: 29-35 mm | |
| Notes | • flies early in the year | |
| • territorial males inspect the water's edge looking for ovipositing females, alternating swift flight with brief hovering | ||
| • cordulids are 'fliers': they spend a lot of time on the wing and seldom hang up for a rest | ||
| Both sexes | Head | • the eyes are green (brown in immature animals) |
| Thorax | • the thorax is metallic dark green with bronze-brown reflections and covered in long hairs | |
| Abdomen | • the abdomen is metallic dark green with, especially in the male, bronze-brown reflections | |
| Wings | ➤ the wings have orange patches at the base | |
| Male | Abdomen | ➤ the abdomen is clearly club-shaped, being at its widest at S7-S8 |
| Female | Abdomen | • the abdomen is only slightly club-shaped |
| ➤ the underside of S3 bears a large white patch | ||
| ➤ the abdomen does not have a long vulvar scale | ||
| Wings | • immature females may have extensively orange-tinted wings | |
| Photographs | • most of our photos below were made in the Netherlands, Sweden and Greece |
LineDrawing: the male's appendages, the male's abdomen and the female's abdomen in dorsal view.
