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Urothemis edwardsii
Urothemis edwardsii is a species of dragonfly in family Libellulidae. It is found in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi. Its natural habitats are freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes.
Spotted on Feb 5, 2013
Submitted on Feb 5, 2013
3 Comments
The yellow dragonfly is definitely female. I suggest you move the darker dragons to a new post and leave this spotting "as is" otherwise. The new post could be generic if you prefer, but I'm fairly certain two of your photos show males.
Thank you Geodialist for your comment which is very informative. I think that the safer route to take is to delete "Female" in the heading which I am sure you will agree
Nice photos! I think the individual shown in Photos 2 & 6 is a male. Notice the secondary genitalia under abdominal segment two, shown clearly in Photo 2. Also notice the terminal appendages in both photos -- the darker dragonfly appears to be missing a subgenital plate (look for an upside-down "shark fin" underneath segment 8 in the other photos, especially Photo 1), a structure used by some species of dragonflies for laying eggs. Disclaimer: I know nothing about African dragonflies!