Bat Azure Maiden
| Bat Azure Maiden | ||||||||||||
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Bat-Azure Damselfly ( Coenagrion pulchellum ), male |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Coenagrion pulchellum | ||||||||||||
| ( Vander Linden , 1825) |
The bat damsel ( Coenagrion pulchellum ) is a species of dragonfly from the family of the slender dragonflies (Coenagrionidae).
features
The bat azure maid reaches wingspan of 40 to 50 millimeters and, like most azure maid, is very slim. The males have black-and-blue markings on the thorax and abdomen segments, which can be somewhat variable in their expression, but always have the typical black markings on the second abdomen segment, reminiscent of a bat. The females have black and white markings on the head and thorax and are usually also marked in light blue and black on the abdominal segments (see left picture). Your drawing is less characteristic in the forms and can vary to almost completely black (see picture on the right) or, in rarer cases, be green-black (hence the name Variable Damselfly ).
Risk of confusion with the commons Blue Damselfly ( Enallagma cyathigerum ) and the average somewhat smaller, also in the same habitat living Azure Damselfly ( Coenagrion puella ). In this case, however, the black coloring of the abdominal segments of the males is usually narrower, so that from above they appear more light blue overall. The German eponymous drawing on the second abdominal segment is similar to a square U (opening on the head side) - very distant: horseshoe-shaped. The females of C. puella , on the other hand, always appear almost black from above, as they never show flat, but only very fine light blue drawings on the upper side.
Way of life
The flight time of these dragonflies falls from May to July, when they can be found in the area of deeper, stagnant water with floating vegetation. The animals sunbathe in the morning hours with slightly spread wings, but otherwise stay mostly in the bank vegetation. Mating takes place in flight or on leaves and other parts of plants.
To lay eggs, the female pierces the eggs with her ovipositor into submerged aquatic plant parts, whereby she can also submerge herself. The larvae stay in the vegetation and overwinter once.
photos
male
Females, normal coloring
Females, slightly darker color variant
Females, dark color variant
Females slightly reddish blue color variant
Mating wheel
Mating bike plus third male who wants to participate.
literature
- Heiko Bellmann : Dragonflies. Observe, determine . Neumann-Neudamm, Melsungen 1998, ISBN 3-7888-0522-6 .
- Gerhard Jurzitza: The Kosmos dragonfly guide . The species of Central and Southern Europe . Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2000, ISBN 3-440-08402-7 .
- Wilfried Stichmann: The great cosmos nature guide animals and plants . Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09454-5 .
