Slate Sprite, Pseudagrion (A) salisburyense, Leiblougesie

100 107 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male WSBG GP RSA Dec 2014r 1Male

100 733 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Female Jewel NCP RSA Apr 2015r 3Female Brown Form

100 238 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Young Female Badplaas MP RSA Febr 2019r 4Female Blue Form

Short Description:

Slate Sprite, Pseudagrion (A) salisburyense, Leiblougesie is small to medium sized, marked by a dark slate blue pruinosity especially on the thorax.

Family Coenagrionidae     Kirby, 1890
More Images

100 225 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Kromdraai1 GP RSA Dec 2015r 5Image Gallery

1 10177 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 3Male

100 10073 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Old Male Close up Drie Berge NWP RSA Dec 2015r 9Male Old

100 10044 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Female Lajuma Nature Reserve LP RSA Dec 2018r 3Female

100 10068 Slate sprite female DrieBergeFemale

 

Click on all images to enlarge or view more

Key identification features:

Male

  • Note:- Colour and markings vary within the species. Stripes may be narrow and broaden becoming fuzzy edged and colour becomes more grey pruinose with age
  • Face is blue-green pruinosed with green to blue/grey
  • labrum. 100 10062 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 15No pruinosity on the forehead. The head above is black, with paddle-like bright blue postocular spots joined by blue band.100 10061 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 11 Frons and often head usually pruinosed. Neck brown
  • Eyes are black above and green below. 100 10062 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 15100 10059 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 5
  • Thorax has no side stripes and the upper thorax is plain dark slate blue with a mauve sheen. 100 10059 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 5 The sides of the thorax are green becoming heavily pruinescent with age. 100 10072 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Old Male Close up Drie Berge NWP RSA Dec 2015r 2
  • Wings are clear with dark reddish brown pterostigmas becoming black with age. NOT brown.
  • Abdomen is black above with a metallic bronze sheen and buff-greenish below, becoming slate blue pruinescent.100 10064 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 17 S 8-9 have blue patches (saddles), which varies from blue to mauve (purple grey) and light grey (pruinose) with age. 100 10063 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 16Abdomen buff /black below and becoming pruinescent light grey. S 10 is black above becoming pruinescent light grayish-blue.100 10076 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Old Male Close up Drie Berge NWP RSA Dec 2015r 18

Female

  • Note:- Variations in colour and markings vary within the species more so with age.
  • Distinct blue100 10051 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Female Hertzogberg MP RSA Jan 2023r 6 and brown100 240 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Female WSBG GP RSA Dec 2014r 1 forms
  • Dichromatic with a blue form and brown form.
  • Neck brown
  • Postocular spots are small paddle-like, light blue and joined by a brownish bar. 100 10061 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Female Lajuma Nature Reserve LP RSA Dec 2018r 7
  • Thorax can be buff or blue with black humeral (shoulder) stripes. 100 10060 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Female Lajuma Nature Reserve LP RSA Dec 2018r 5
  • Upper side of the abdomen is bronze-black. s 8 - 9 have a typical blue pattern. S8 has a half moon to a crown shaped pattern extending halfway from the posterior end of the segments to the middle of the segments. S 9 have a light blue Mexican hat-shaped pattern. S10 is blue above.100 10065 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Female Lajuma Nature Reserve LP RSA Dec 2018r 20
Habitat:

Frequents of sedge, grasses and reeds of streams, small rivers, natural pools and ponds

River Reed Rapid Leselo Lodge LP RSA Oct 2020r 2
100 3216 Mabusa pool MP RSA Oct 2020r 3
 
 
 
 
Behaviour:
  • Perch inactive on reed blades or grass stems overhanging the water.
Compared with other species:
  • Face of the P. draconisis (Mountain Sprite) is mostly black with black labrum, while face of P. salisburyense greyish green or blue is with green labrum. 100 10062 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male Close up SaBI MP RSA11 12 2022r 15
  • P. kersteni (Powder-faced Sprite) has a white pruinescent forehead, but the forehead of the P. salisburyense has no pruinosity.
  • P. salisburyense does not have the yellow face of P. citricola (Yellow-faced Sprite).
  • P. furcigerum (Palmiet Sprite) and the P. kersteni have striped thorax that are pale pruinescent but the thorax of the of P. salisburyense has no stripes on the side of the thorax.
  • In mature P. spernatum the abdomen is all the same colour, without the blue tip of P. salisburyense.
  • P. salisburyense has blue postocular spots and blue-green face like the P. draconisis (Mountain Sprite) and the P. spernatum (Upland Sprite).
 Learn more about species in Sprite A-group

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Pseudagrio Kersteni,

100 107 Pseudagrion salisbryense Slate Sprite Male WSBG GP RSA Dec 2014r 1Slate Sprite
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100 3754 Pseudagrion caffrum Springwater Sprite Male Belfast MPDec 2022r 2Springwater Sprite
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100 437 Pseudagrion citricola Yellow faced Sprite Old Male Bronkhorstspruit GP RSA Sept 2015r 6Yellow-faced Sprite
Pseudagrion citricola

  • B-Group
  • To view a list of B-Group Sprite images Click HERE
Distribution
Distribution MapSouth Africa Distribution Map
Political Map South africa Political Map
South Africa Topographical MapTopographical Map
Pseudagrion salisburyense Slate Sprite Distribution Map Jan 2021Distribution
Map
Africa PoliticalPolitical Map
Arica PhysicalTopographical Map
South Africa
  • Widespread throughout much of SA, but scarce in Western Cape. It is the most abundant sprite in South Africa.
Africa
  • Angola; Botswana; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ethiopia; Kenya; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Republic of South Africa; Swaziland; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe 
Further reading:

Website of interest: