Epallage fatime

When we first saw the Odalisque (Epallage fatime), it reminded us in many ways of the Australian Rockmaster species: big, thickset, bold, dragonfly-like, and with a tendency to spread its wings when resting on rocks or stream-side vegetation. At emergence the males are a steely dark blue but that colour soon gets overlaid with a powdery whitish pruinescence. Old females too become pruinescent but the more common, earlier colour form combines yellow with bold, black stripes. Other distinctive features which the sexes share are the black eyes, short and stubby legs, long pterostigma and dark wing tips. Epallage fatime is the only species of its genus in Europe, where its range is limited to the Eastern Mediterranean, i.e. Cyprus, the Greek mainland, the Peloponnese, and some Greek islands (notably Lesbos).

For an overview of the Odalisque's distribution in Europe, hover your mouse pointer over the map symbol .
With the authors' permission we have based this map on data published in Kalkman et al. (2010).

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