Iberian Bluetail (Ischnura graellsii)

• English name: Iberian Bluetail
• German name: Spanische Pechlibelle
• French name: Agrion noir
• Dutch name: Iberisch lantaarntje
• Swedish name: N/A
• Norwegian name: N/A
• Finnish name: N/A
• Danish name: N/A
• Italian name: N/A
• Czech name: N/A
• Slovenian name: N/A
• Bulgarian name: N/A

Iberian Bluetail
(Ischnura graellsii)

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 small species, very similar to I. elegans, which in Europe occurs only in Iberia (and the French Pyrenees)
Classification		• suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies); family: Coenagrionidae
Conservation status		• IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern
Scientific name		• Ischnura graellsii (Rambur, 1842)
Name genus		• Ischnura: from Grk. ἰσχνός = thin, slender +; οὐρά = tail ⇒ for the slender abdomen (compared to e.g. Calopteryx species)
Name species		• graellsii: after Mariano de la Paz Graells y de la Agüera (1809-1898), the Spanish entomologist who discovered the species
Distribution		• click or tap the Map button above
Habitat		• any still or running water
Dimensions		• typical body length: 26-31 mm; hindwing: 13-19 mm
Notes		• belongs to the elegans group, together with I. elegans, I. genei and I. saharensis
		• co-occurs with I. elegans in Spain
		• violacea and rufescens are immature female colour forms, which with age develop into one of the three mature forms: violacea (with its antehumeral stripe) into either typica or infuscans; rufescens (without an antehumeral stripe) into infuscans-obsoleta; see below for details
Both sexes	Wings	• the pterostigma in the forewing is the same size as that in the hindwing
Male	Thorax	• the lower side of the thorax and the antehumeral stripe (which may be narrow or even absent) are green/blue
		➤ the pronotum does not bear a dark upright projection
	Abdomen	• the abdomen is black on top, but S8 is sky blue
	Wings	• the pterostigma in the forewing is bicoloured: black on the inside, white on the outside; the pterostigma in the hindwing is uniformly beige/brown
Female	Thorax	• the side of the thorax is either green/blue (in the form typica), pale lilac (in the form violacea), orange/pink (in the form rufescens), or green-orange-brown (in the forms infuscans and infuscans-obsoleta)
		• the antehumeral stripe is of the same colour as the side of the thorax (see above) but is absent in the forms rufescens and infuscans-obsoleta
	Abdomen	➤ the abdomen is black on top, but S8 is sky blue in the forms typica, violacea and rufescens or brown in the forms infuscans and infuscans-obsoleta; this tail-light tends to be interrupted by a black mark on either end, and it may even be (virtually) absent
		• the abdomen has a vulvar spine underneath S8
	Wings	• the pterostigma is uniformly beige/brown in both wings
Photographs		• nearly all of our photos below were made in Extremadura and Andalusia

Males in the elegans group; pronotum
I. elegans (1), I. genei (2), I. graellsii (3), I. saharensis (4)
Note the dark upright projection in I. elegans. It is absent in the other species.