The small red-eyed damselfly (''Erythromma viridulum'') is a member of the

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 ...

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 ...

. It is very similar to the

red-eyed damselfly ''Erythromma najas'', the red-eyed damselfly, is a member of the Coenagrionidae family of damselfly, damselflies. Appearance The species is a small damselfly, long, predominantly black with iridescent blue markings. The male resembles blue-tai ...

Appearance

The species is a small damselfly, about long, predominantly black with iridescent blue markings. Its large, spaced eyes are a deep red. Like the red-eyed damselfly, both sexes lack pale spots behind the eyes and have pale brown pterostigmata. The male has a bronze-black top and blue sides. The sides of the female's thorax are yellow, green or blue. The rear edge of the pronotum is rounded. Viewed from the side, the second and eighth segment of the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

of the male are mostly blue, which distinguishes it from the red-eyed damselfly where these are mostly black.

Breeding

This damselfly breeds in ponds, lakes and ditches and, in continental Europe, sluggish rivers. It seems to be well able to tolerate brackish water. It seems to be associated with floating vegetation such as Hornwort and Water Milfoil (''Myriophyllum''). Eggs are laid while in tandem, into the stems and leaves of floating plants. The larvae live amongst pondweed and probably emerge after a year.

Behaviour

Mating occurs either on floating plants or at the margins. When perched on floating plants, the male holds its abdomen slightly upcurved (the red-eyed damselfly holds it straight).

Colonisation of Britain

The populations of this species in

northwest Europe Northwestern Europe, or Northwest Europe, is a loosely defined subregion of Europe, overlapping Northern and Western Europe. The region can be defined both geographically and ethnographically. Geographic definitions Geographically, Northw ...

increased in the latter part of the 20th century, and in 1999 the species was recorded in Britain for the first time. It has since increased its

range Range may refer to: Geography * Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra) ** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands * Range, a term used to i ...

considerably and become an established breeding resident. The first British record was in

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

on 17 July 1999 and is documented in Dewick and Gerussi (2000). Breeding was finally proven in 2002.

References

* Dewick, Stephen and Richard Gerussi (2000) "Small Red-eyed Damselfly ''Erythromma viridulum'' (Charpentier) Found Breeding in Essex - The First British Records" ''

Atropos Atropos (; grc, Ἄτροπος "without turn") or Aisa, in Greek mythology, was one of the three Moirai, goddesses of fate and destiny. Her Roman equivalent was Morta. Atropos was the oldest of the Three Fates, and was known as "the Infle ...

'' No. 9 pp. 3–4 * *

External links

Finding Erythromma viridulum in the Southern Urals (Russia)
Coenagrionidae Damselflies of Europe Insects described in 1840 {{Coenagrionidae-stub