Orange-Winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi)
• Scientific name: Trithemis kirbyi (Selys, 1891)
• English name: Orange-Winged Dropwing
• German name: Feuerroter Sonnenzeiger
• French name: N/A
• Dutch name: Oranje zonnewijzer
• Swedish name: N/A
• Norwegian name: N/A
• Finnish name: N/A
• Danish name: N/A
• Italian name: Obelisco purpureo
• Czech name: N/A
• Slovenian name: N/A
• Bulgarian name: N/A
• Typical length: 30-34 mm
• Hindwing: 23-29 mm
The Orange-Winged Dropwing (Trithemis kirbyi) is an African species which we first saw in 2009 during a visit to the Tunisian desert. Now, having seen the species reproducing and flying in good numbers on at least three rivers in Southern Spain, we have decided to add it to our European species list. Trithemis kirbyi is relatively small (similar in size to its commoner sister species T. annulata), but what it lacks in size it makes up for in speed and feistiness. The males are virtually all red, except for the odd black line here and there, the black pterostigma, the blue-grey lower half of the eye, and the very large orange wing patches. The female too sports such a wing patch (but its size is more variable than in males) and her base colour is yellow, as it is in immature males. The adult male's favourite perch seems to be a sun-exposed rock in a sluggish river (or failing that, right on the river's edge) from which he overlooks his territory, defends it against intruders, and waits for females to visit the water. If a male manages to grab a visiting female (in mid-air), he will provide the necessary in-flight service and after barely five seconds the copula will break up again. She will then lay her eggs, in typical Trithemis fashion, by dipping her abdomen repeatedly into the water and releasing a number of eggs at each dip while the male will stay in close attendance, flying very fast and furiously around her to fend off any competing males.
