Erythromma lindenii

• English name: Blue-Eye
• German name: Saphirauge
• French name: Agrion de Vander Linden
• Dutch name: Kanaaljuffer
• Swedish name: Pokalflickslända
• Norwegian name: N/A
• Finnish name: N/A
• Danish name: Blåøjet vandnymfe
• Italian name: Occhirossi dubbia
• Czech name: šidélko Lindenovo
• Slovenian name: Prodni paškratec
• Bulgarian name: Синьо стреличе

Erythromma lindenii

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 small species with strikingly blue eyes which occurs mainly in central and southern Europe
Classification		• suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies); family: Coenagrionidae
Conservation status		• IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern
Scientific name		• Erythromma lindenii (Selys, 1840)
Name genus		• Erythromma: from Grk. ἐρυθρός = red +; ὄμμα = eye
Name species		• lindenii: after Pierre Léonard Vander Linden (1797-1831), Belgian entomologist
Distribution		• click or tap the Map button above
Habitat		• well-vegetated lakes, reservoirs and canals
Dimensions		• typical body length: 30-36 mm; hindwing: 19-21 mm
Notes		• males tend to fly low and fast over open water and settle on emergent vegetation
		• used to be known as Cercion lindenii
Both sexes	Head	• the postocular spots are very narrow and may be absent altogether
	Thorax	• the antehumeral stripe is very wide
		➤ there is a long black line on the metapleural suture (cf. Enallagma cyathigerum )
	Wings	• the pterostigma is uniformly pale
Male	Head	• the eyes are bright blue
	Abdomen	• the black marks on S3-S5 are elongated and spear-headed
		➤ S8 is black, S9 and S10 are blue, and the upper appendages are very long and curved inwards
Female	Head	• the eyes are brown/green
	Abdomen	➤ there is no vulvar spine underneath S8 (cf. Enallagma cyathigerum )
Photographs		• nearly all of our photos below were made in Tuscany

Erythromma lindenii; thorax, male
Note: Such wide antehumeral stripes also occur in Enallagma cyathigerum but that species lacks the black line on the metapleural suture.

Enallagma cyathigerum (left) and Erythromma lindenii (right); S8-S10 and appendages, male
Note: in Enallagma cyathigerum S8 and S9 are blue, S10 is black and the appendages are short. In Erythromma lindenii S8 is black, S9 and S10 are blue and the appendages are long.