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bigger than my hand (approx. : ) - wingspan 20cm, lenght 18cm
in my garden, close to water and plants
seems huge! Biggest one i've seen so far.
Thanks for the useful pointer, Johan! "ellamei," you can post photos of unknown specimens to the Web site Johan recommended. Quoting the following Web page, "If you do not know the GENUS or SPECIES, leave these fields to their default values. The moderators will try to identify the subject of your photo." http://www.africa-dragonfly.net/help/how...
Hopefully this can help: Moths and dragonflies is a problem. I'm continuously battling with it:
http://www.africa-dragonfly.net/index.ph...
Hi Johan! I see you are from South Africa, like "ellamei" -- can you ID the dragonfly in her spotting?
Yes you are true its abdomen and tail part is actual look like darner but rest of it color and other thing look like Black ground skimmer so i thought may be it Skimmer but your points are very true....... may be if we get size then can be identify..............
I stand by my comment that this dragonfly appears to be some type of Darner -- its thorax and abdomen are shaped like many darners in the U.S. and the terminal appendages at the end of its abdomen are virtually identical to several U.S. species.
it is BLACK GROUND SKIMMER ..... may be ..
information:
BLACK GROUND SKIMMER(DIPLACODES LEFEBVREI)
Size: Male: Abdomen: 17-25mm, Hind wing: 21-29mm. Female: Abdomen:
14-18mm, Hind wing: 18-23mm.
Description: A small black dragonfly with smoky brown wing tips. Male:
Face: Black, forehead is dark iridescent violet. Eyes: Coffee brown above
and violaceous below. Thorax: Black. Legs: Black. Wings: Transparent and
clouded with black brown towards the tip. Base of hind wings have
blackish brown markings. Wing spot: Brown above, white beneath.
Abdomen: Black. Female: Adult females are similar to males, but with
some pale markings on the face. Sub adults are coloured with yellow and
black markings on thorax and abdomen. The wings of females are more
palely coloured and the black area of hind wings in males is replaced by
rich amber yellow. Habits and Habitat: Found in marshes, and weedy
ponds. Breeding: Breeds in marshes and other similar habitats. Flight
season: Not known.
Distribution: Distributed in Western and southern India, and Eastern Africa.
Ok, from only a little research so far, it "might" look like a Donaldsons Dropwing
- see this link - http://www.warwicktarboton.co.za/Dragonf... - not sure?
But it doesn't look like a skimmer..? From what it seems skimmers are smaller?
This dragonfly appears to be some type of Darner, although my expertise is limited to the dragonflies and damselflies of the mid-Atlantic USA. That being said, I am 100% certain this individual is not a Great Blue Skimmer.
Spotted on Mar 7, 2012
Submitted on Sep 6, 2012
+3
