Rød vandnymfe (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

• English name: Large Red Damsel
• German name: Frühe Adonislibelle
• French name: Petite nymphe au corps de feu
• Dutch name: Vuurjuffer
• Swedish name: Röd flickslända
• Norwegian name: Rød vannymfe
• Finnish name: Punatytönkorento
• Danish name: Rød vandnymfe
• Italian name: Scintilla zampenere
• Czech name: šidélko ruměnné
• Slovenian name: Rani plamenec
• Bulgarian name: Чернокрако огнивче

Rød vandnymfe (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

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 large species with red eyes and a red-and-black body which is most common in central and northern Europe
Classification		• suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies); family: Coenagrionidae
Conservation status		• IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern
Scientific name		• Pyrrhosoma nymphula (Sulzer, 1776)
Distribution		• click or tap the Map button above
Habitat		• in Central and Northern Europe mainly at standing waters; in the South and East mainly at running waters
Dimensions		• typical body length: 33-36 mm; hindwing: 19-24 mm
Notes		• the amount of red on the eyes, thorax and abdomen may be very limited or even absent (as it is in the form melanotum)
Both sexes	Head	• the eyes are red or brown and traversed by two dark horizontal lines
	Thorax	• the antehumeral stripe is wide
	Wings	• the pterostigma is uniformly dark
	Legs	• the legs are black
Male	Abdomen	➤ compared to P. elisabethae the lower appendages are shorter and the ventral hook is longer; click or tap here for a schematic and a photographic overview of these differences
Female	Thorax	➤ unlike in P. elisabethae there are no deep folds in the pronotum; click or tap here for a schematic and a photographic overview
Photographs		• most of our photos below were made in Tuscany and the Netherlands

Pyrrhosoma nymphula (left) and P. elisabethae (right); male appendages
Note in P. elisabethae the longer lower appendages (red arrow) and shorter ventral hook (blue arrow).
Drawings © V. Kalkman. Reproduced here with the author's permission.

Pyrrhosoma nymphula (left) and P. elisabethae (right); male appendages
Note in P. elisabethae the longer lower appendages (red arrow) and shorter ventral hook (blue arrow).

Pyrrhosoma nymphula (left) and P. elisabethae (right); female pronotum
Note in P. elisabethae the deep folds in the pronotum (green arrow).
Drawings © V. Kalkman. Reproduced here with the author's permission.

Pyrrhosoma nymphula (left) and P. elisabethae (right); female pronotum
Note in P. elisabethae the deep folds in the pronotum (green arrow).