Helmet Azure Maiden
| Helmet Azure Maiden | ||||||||||||
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Helmet Azure Maiden ( Coenagrion mercuriale ) |
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| Coenagrion mercuriale | ||||||||||||
| ( Charpentier , 1840) |
The Helmet-Azure Damselfly ( Coenagrion mercuriale ) is a type of dragonfly from the family of the slender dragonflies (Coenagrionidae).
features
The Helmet Azurjungfer reaches a wingspan of three to four centimeters. The males have black-and-blue markings on the thorax and abdomen segments, which means that there is a risk of confusion with other azure virgins, especially the avian azure virgin ( C. ornatum ). But it is built more slender than the latter.
distribution and habitat
The Helmet Azurjungfer is common in south-west and central Europe and reaches in the north of England. Messages of the kind from Eastern Europe, e.g. B. from the Balkans, refer to confusion with the Vogel-Azurjungfer . It lives on overgrown streams and meadow ditches on the plain up to approx. 800 m above sea level. NN, which are characterized by relatively clean and calcareous , slowly flowing water. Dense, evergreen underwater vegetation, mainly of berle ( Berula erecta ), water mint ( Mentha aquatica ) and watercress ( Nasturtium officinale ), is essential for the occurrence of the species in these small rivers . In addition, especially in the foothills of the Alps, gullies and rivulets are often settled in limestone spring moors .
Way of life
The flight time of the Helmet Azure Maiden falls from May to August. The species is extremely true to its location and only rarely moves further than a few 100 m from the water. Accordingly, their ability to colonize new habitats is very low when the original one is lost, which makes them extremely vulnerable to construction and maintenance work on their waters. The eggs are pricked by the female primarily into submerged parts of the plant, preferably into the leaves of the berle . Both partners are connected in tandem and the female submerges to lay eggs, although the male usually only submerges the abdomen.
The larvae hide in the aquatic vegetation. Their development time is one or two years, depending on the temperature of the water.
Hazard and protection
In Germany and the federal states where the species occurs, it is listed in the Red Lists as "critically endangered" due to the disappearing habitats .
The Helmet Azurjungfer is one of the dragonfly species with the highest protection status in Europe. It is listed in Appendix II of the Bern Convention as a “strictly protected species” and in Appendix II of the EU Fauna-Flora-Habitat Directive (“special protected areas are to be designated”).
The IUCN currently classifies the species as "low endangered".
literature
- H. Bellmann: Observe dragonflies - determine , Naturbuch Verlag Augsburg 1993, ISBN 3-894-40522-8
- G. Jurzitza: The Kosmos Dragonfly Guide , Franckh-Kosmos Verlags GmbH & Co., Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08402-7
Web links
- Helmazurjungfer on Flickr
- Boudot, J.-P. 2006. Coenagrion mercuriale In: IUCN 2010. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on June 06, 2010.
- Coenagrion mercuriale at Fauna Europaea