Ischnura elegans
• English name: Common Bluetail
• German name: Grosse Pechlibelle
• French name: Agrion élégant
• Dutch name: Lantaarntje
• Swedish name: Större kustflickslända
• Norwegian name: Kystvannymfe
• Finnish name: Hoikkatytönkorento
• Danish name: Stor farvevandnymfe
• Italian name: Codazzurra comune
• Czech name: šidélko větší
• Slovenian name: Modri kresničar
• Bulgarian name: Синевърхо бръсниче
Ischnura elegans
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, very common and widespread throughout Europe except Iberia, some Mediterranean islands and northern Scandinavia | |
| Classification | • suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies); family: Coenagrionidae | |
| Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern | |
| Scientific name | • Ischnura elegans (Vander Linden, 1820) | |
| Name genus | • Ischnura: from Grk. ἰσχνός = thin, slender +; οὐρά = tail ⇒ for the slender abdomen (compared to e.g. Calopteryx species) | |
| Name species | • elegans: from Lat. elegans = elegant | |
| Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
| Habitat | • any still or slow-flowing water with a rich vegetation and low acidity levels | |
| Dimensions | • typical body length: 30-34 mm; hindwing: 14-21 mm | |
| Notes | • belongs to the elegans group, together with I. genei, I. graellsii and I. saharensis | |
| • co-occurs locally with I. genei (e.g. on the Tuscan islands of Elba and Giglio) and with I. graellsii (e.g. in Spain) | ||
| • violacea and rufescens are immature female colour forms, which with age develop into one of the three mature forms: violacea (with its antehumeral stripe) into either typica or infuscans; rufescens (without an antehumeral stripe) into infuscans-obsoleta; see below for details | ||
| Both sexes | Wings | • the pterostigma in the forewing is the same size as that in the hindwing |
| Male | Thorax | • the lower side of the thorax and the antehumeral stripe (which may be narrow or even absent) are green/blue |
| ➤ the pronotum bears a dark upright projection | ||
| Abdomen | ➤ the abdomen is black on top, but S8 is sky blue | |
| Wings | • the pterostigma in the forewing is bicoloured: black on the inside, white on the outside; the pterostigma in the hindwing is uniformly beige/brown | |
| Female | Thorax | • the side of the thorax is either green/blue (in the form typica), purple (in the form violacea), orange/pink (in the form rufescens), or green-orange-brown (in the forms infuscans and infuscans-obsoleta) |
| • the antehumeral stripe is of the same colour as the side of the thorax (see above) but is absent in the forms rufescens and infuscans-obsoleta | ||
| Abdomen | ➤ the abdomen is black on top, but S8 is sky blue in the forms typica, violacea and rufescens or brown in the forms infuscans and infuscans-obsoleta; this tail-light is usually uninterrupted | |
| • the abdomen has a vulvar spine underneath S8 | ||
| Wings | • the pterostigma is uniformly beige/brown in both wings | |
| Photographs | • nearly all of our photos below were made in Tuscany |
