Sympetrum depressiusculum

The Spotted Darter used to be a very common species in Italy but over the past 40 years or so its numbers have declined dramatically. It's certainly a species we've never seen close to home, not even at some nearby rice fields. The nearest site we've discovered to date is a small marshy wetland area some 250 km away. Sympetrum depressiusculum is a small dragonfly of Central and Eastern Europe, with a few Western outposts in France and the Benelux. It's most easily recognised by its entirely black legs, by its slightly flattened abdomen, and more importantly, by the black triangular spots dorsally on the male's red (and female's yellow) abdomen.

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