Ischnura graellsii
• English name: Iberian Bluetail
• German name: Spanische Pechlibelle
• French name: Agrion noir
• Dutch name: Iberisch lantaarntje
• Swedish name: N/A
• Norwegian name: N/A
• Finnish name: N/A
• Danish name: N/A
• Italian name: N/A
• Czech name: N/A
• Slovenian name: N/A
• Bulgarian name: N/A
Ischnura graellsii
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 similar to I. elegans, which in Europe occurs only in Iberia (and the French Pyrenees) | |
| Classification | • suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies); family: Coenagrionidae | |
| Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern | |
| Scientific name | • Ischnura graellsii (Rambur, 1842) | |
| Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
| Habitat | • any still or running water | |
| Dimensions | • typical body length: 26-31 mm; hindwing: 13-19 mm | |
| Notes | • belongs to the elegans group, together with I. elegans, I. genei and I. saharensis | |
| • co-occurs with I. elegans 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 does not bear an 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), pale lilac (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 tends to be interrupted by a black mark on either end, and it may even be (virtually) absent | |
| • 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 Extremadura and Andalusia |
