The large red damselfly (''Pyrrhosoma nymphula'') is a species of damselflies belonging to the family

Coenagrionidae The insect family Coenagrionidae is placed in the order Odonata and the suborder Zygoptera. The Zygoptera are the damselflies, which although less known than the dragonflies, are no less common. More than 1,300 species are in this family, making i ...

. It is native to the western

Palearctic The Palearctic or Palaearctic is the largest of the eight biogeographic realms of the Earth. It stretches across all of Eurasia north of the foothills of the Himalayas, and North Africa. The realm consists of several bioregions: the Euro-Sibe ...

Distribution

This species is a mainly

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

damselfly Damselflies are flying insects of the suborder Zygoptera in the order Odonata. They are similar to dragonflies, which constitute the other odonatan suborder, Anisoptera, but are smaller and have slimmer bodies. Most species fold the wings along ...

, with some populations in Northern Africa and Western Asia.Fauna europaea
/ref>

Habitat

These damselflies inhabit small ponds, lakes and dikes, and occasionally slow-moving rivers. They tend to avoid fast flowing water.

Description

''Pyrrhosoma nymphula'' can reach a body length of .BDS – British Dragonfly Society
/ref> These large and robust damselflies show black legs and wing spots in both sexes. Mature males have red eyes and a black thorax with red shoulder stripes in mature specimen, but yellow stripes in immature. In fact ante-humeral stripes change to red with age. Abdomen is red with black small rings and bronze-black bands towards the apex (segments 7-9).Odonata.org
/ref> Wings are hyaline, with a blackish pterostigma. Mature females occur in three colour forms (''typical'', ''fulvipes'' and ''melanotum''), from mostly black to mostly red, but all have yellow bands around the abdominal segments. Some intermediate forms also exist. The form ''typica'' has more black on its abdominal segments than the form ''fulvipes'', particularly on segment 6. Immatures have lighter eyes and have yellow stripes on the thorax, not red. In the form ''melanotum'' females show the upper surface of the abdomen almost entirely black.
/ref> These damselflies can easily be confused with small red damselflies, but the latter has orange legs, while the large red damselfly has black legs. In Greece and Albania a closely related species occurs, the Greek red damsel (''Pyrrhosoma elisabethae''). They look very much the same, the females only having a slightly different pronotum with deep folds in the hind margin. The males differ in their lower appendages, which are longer than the upper ones, while the black hook on the lower appendages is half as long as in the large red damselfly. The appendages of the large red damselfly can be seen in the gallery below.

Biology and behaviour

The great red damselfly is often the first damselfly to emerge, usually in April or May. Adults can be found until September, according to locality. Immature adults mature in about two weeks. Mating occurs in vegetation. The female during the laying of eggs is accompanied by the male, she immerses into the water only the abdomen. Eggs hatch in two-three weeks. Development of larvae takes two years. Larvae feed on aquatic insect larvae, protozoa, rotifers or small crustaceans.

Gallery

Pyrrhososma nymphula Luc Viatour.jpg, Mating Pyrrhosoma nymphula - 2014-05-21.webm, Video of oviposition Coenagrionidae - Pyrrhosoma nymphula.JPG, Male, dorsal view Coenagrionidae - Pyrrhosoma nymphula (female).JPG, Female, side view Large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) male eating insect.jpg, Male eating insect
Dry Sandford Pit,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

Coenagrionidae - Pyrrhosoma nymphula (male).JPG, Male. Thorax close-up 2012-05-24 15-00-34-Pyrrhosoma nymphula.jpg, Eyes close-up Pyrrhosomanymphulamale.jpg, Male appendages

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q511266 Coenagrionidae Odonata of Africa Odonata of Asia Damselflies of Europe Insects described in 1776 Taxa named by Johann Heinrich Sulzer Articles containing video clips