Lille blåpil (Orthetrum coerulescens)
• English name: Keeled Skimmer
• German name: Kleiner Blaupfeil
• French name: Orthétrum bleuissant
• Dutch name: Beekoeverlibel
• Swedish name: Mindre sjötrollslända
• Norwegian name: Liten blålibelle
• Finnish name: Hoikkasinikorento
• Danish name: Lille blåpil
• Italian name: Frecciazzurra minore
• Czech name: vážka žlutoskvrnná
• Slovenian name: Mali modrač
• Bulgarian name: Бледо синилниче
Lille blåpil (Orthetrum coerulescens)
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 small species of central and especially southern Europe; absent from the far north | |
Classification | • suborder: Anisoptera (dragonflies); family: Libellulidae | |
Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern | |
Scientific name | • Orthetrum coerulescens (Fabricius, 1798) | |
Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
Habitat | • small running waters but also lakes | |
Dimensions | • typical body length: 36-45 mm; hindwing: 28-33 mm | |
Notes | • libellulids are 'sitters': males spend a lot of time perched at the water's edge, waiting for females | |
➤ noticeably smaller than O. brunneum, with which it often co-occurs in the South | ||
• seldom sits on the ground | ||
• immature animals are orange-brown | ||
Both sexes | Wings | • for wing venation details click or tap here |
Male | Head | ➤ the face is beige-brown |
Thorax | ➤ the thorax is unmarked brown (but may be pruinescent in the subspecies O. c. anceps) | |
Abdomen | • the abdomen is entirely pruinescent light blue | |
Female | Thorax | • the thorax is yellow-brown with pale antehumeral stripes |
Abdomen | • the abdomen is yellow-brown with a black mid-dorsal line | |
Photographs | • most of our photos below were made in Tuscany and the south of Italy |
LineDrawing: the male's wings and the female's abdomen in dorsal view.