Common Citril, Ceriagrion glabrum, Gewone Aljander

Short description:

Common Citril, Ceriagrion glabrum, Gewone Aljander is medium sized, primarily orange in colour, with two, minute projections on S10

Family Coenagrionidae     (Kirby, 1890)

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Key identification features:

Male:

• Face and head dull orange.
• Eyes are greenish, with dark grey cap above Creamy green below.
• Thorax is orange, darker above, lighter below with a greenish tinge, particularly below. 
• Wings are clear. Pterostigmas are dark rusty brown with fine pale yellow borders.
• Abdomen is bright orange. Segment 10 has two small (teeth-like), distinct backward-pointing projections on hind margin. Cercus (superior appendages) shorter the paraproct (Inferior appendages) 

Female:  

• Females are similar to males but slightly more robust, duller, browner and greener.

Compared with other species:

• C. glabrum and, C suave (Suave Citril) best identified in hand when in co-habitation areas
• The only common bright, all-orange species throughout most of SA, except in the lowveld  areas of northern KZN, MP and the Limpopo river valley (vary rare) where the much rarer Suave Citril, Ceriagrion suave, occurs.
• C. glabrum has two prominent, black-tipped, multiple-pointed (teeth-like) projections on the hind margin of S10, while C. suave does not have these projections.
• Inferior appendages of C. glabrum are longer than the superior appendages of C. suave.

Habitat:

• Frequents pools, marshes and sluggish reaches of rivers with an abundance of tall grass, sedge and reeds. Sometimes an open habitat, with trees nearby, or even in thick forest.
• From 0 to 2000 m above sea level, but mostly below 1500

Behaviour:

• Rests in and hovers among tall grass and other vegetation, sometimes some distance away from the water's edge. Females are often with males and mating pairs are common.

Compared with other species:

• C. glabrum and, C suave (Suave Citril) best identified in hand when in co-habitation areas
• The only common bright, all-orange species throughout most of SA, except in the lowveld  areas of northern KZN, MP and the Limpopo river valley (vary rare) where the much rarer Suave Citril, Ceriagrion suave, occurs.
• C. glabrum has two prominent, black-tipped, multiple-pointed (teeth-like) projections on the hind margin of S10, while C. sauve does not have these projections.
• Inferior appendages of C. glabrum are longer than the superior appendages of C. suave.

Distribution:

South Africa:

• Common Citril Ceriagrion glabrum Gewone Aljander is common in the northern and eastern half of South Africa, and along the coastal areas to the Western Cape. 

Africa:

• Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Côte d'Ivoire; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; Congo-Brazzaville; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; Ethiopia; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Guinee-Bissau; Kenya; Liberia; Malawi; Mali; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Republic of Guinea; Republic of South Africa; Rwanda; São Tomé & Príncipe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Socotra (Yemen); Somalia; South Sudan; Swaziland; Tanzania; Togo; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe

Further reading:

Websites

The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
A Visual Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of South Africa