Gemeine Heidelibelle (Sympetrum vulgatum)
• English name: Moustached Darter
• German name: Gemeine Heidelibelle
• French name: Sympétrum vulgaire
• Dutch name: Steenrode heidelibel
• Swedish name: Tegelröd ängstrollslända
• Norwegian name: Sørlig høstlibelle
• Finnish name: Punasyyskorento
• Danish name: Almindelig hedelibel
• Italian name: Cardinale boreale
• Czech name: vážka obecná
• Slovenian name: Navadni kamenjak
• Bulgarian name: Есенно червениче
Gemeine Heidelibelle
(Sympetrum vulgatum)
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, common in central and eastern Europe; rare in the far north and the south | |
| Classification | • suborder: Anisoptera (dragonflies); family: Libellulidae | |
| Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern | |
| Scientific name | • Sympetrum vulgatum (Linnaeus, 1758) | |
| Name genus | • Sympetrum: from Grk. συμπιέζω = to squeeze together +; ἦτρον = abdomen ⇒ Newman described Sympetrum species as having the 'abdomen laterally compressed' (as distinct from Orthetrum species, which have the 'abdomen laterally parallel') | |
| Name species | • vulgatum: from Lat. vulgatus, -a, -um = common, widespread, familiar | |
| Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
| Habitat | • ponds and lakes | |
| Dimensions | • typical body length: 35-40 mm; hindwing: 24-29 mm | |
| Notes | • libellulids are 'sitters': males spend a lot of time perched at the water's edge, waiting for females | |
| • all European Sympetrum species oviposit in tandem | ||
| Both sexes | Head | ➤ there is a black 'teardrop' along the edge of the eye (cf. S. striolatum) |
| Legs | • the legs are black with a (reddish) yellow stripe on the tibia and femur | |
| Male | Thorax | ➤ the thorax is brown with, on the side, black lines but no bright yellow bands |
| Abdomen | • the abdomen is red (yellow in immature males) with black spots dorsally on S8-S9 and a thin black line along the bottom edge | |
| • the abdomen is not club-shaped | ||
| Female | Thorax | • the thorax is yellow-brown with black lines on the side |
| Abdomen | • the abdomen bears two rows of small black spots laterally, with further black spots dorsally on S8-S9 and a thin black line along the bottom edge | |
| ➤ the large vulvar scale sits perpendicular to the abdomen (cf. S. striolatum) | ||
| Photographs | • nearly all of our photos below were made in Finland and Bavaria |
LineDrawing: the male in lateral view, the male's head and thorax in lateral view, and the male's abdomen in dorsal view.
