Blue-sided Sprite, Pseudagrion (B) sudanicum,  Blousygesie. 

Short Description:

Blue-sided Sprite, Pseudagrion (B) sudanicum  Blousygesie small sized, rusty face, mostly black with yellow thoracic stripes, with blue at start and tip of abdomen, and blue spots between wings.

Family Coenagrionidae     Kirby, 1890

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Key identification features:

Male

• Face rusty brown, postclypeus with black dashes. Head rusty brown in front and black behind when viewed from above. Frons with black crescent. Postocular spots triangular, large, bright blue, fine rusty bar present between postocular spots, not quite touching them.
• Eyes rusty brown above, light brown below. Neck black with rusty spots.
• Thorax black with deep yellow stripes above, that may lesson or disappear with age.  Sides sky blue that may get black marks with age  Brownish when young. Distinct blue spots between wing bases.
• Wings clear. Pterostigmas bright yellowish brown.
• Abdomen long fairly slender, black with greenish sheen. Segment 1 with bright blue saddle. S 2 with bright blue pointed dash either side of the of the dorsal carina. Fine pale yellow ring present at start of each of segments 4- 6. S 8 - 9 bright blue. Segment 8 with two tiny black dots and black, finely spiked terminal ring. S 9 with two tiny black dots and scallop-edged semicircular black saddle. Segment 10 black

Female

• Similar to male, overall dull brown
• Postocular spots dull greenish blue
• Thorax greenish brown with slight bluish hue, blue spots present between wing bases, 
• Abdomen segment 1 with blue saddle, no blue on 2. Segments 4 to 6 each with fine fine yellow rings S 8 - 9 bright blue.

Habitat:

• Tall reeds, grasses and small bushes beside pools at the margins of hot savanna rivers but also streams, in open landscapes or shaded by gallery forest. Usually with emergent vegetation.
• From 0 to 1500 m above sea level, but mostly between 400 and 1300.

Behaviour:

• Very alert as it moves quickly and close to the water surface when disturbed.
• It perches on grass stems or low bushes over water.
• The male and female are often seen together.

Compared with other species:

Male

• Pseudagrion sudanicum is distinctive as it is the only species with a black and yellowish thorax when viewed from above, and with blue sides Brouwn face and eys are diagnostic.
• When young it has a distinct a brown form .
• There are also sharp, bright blue spots between the wing bases. These features, combined with the rusty brown face, blue saddle on S1, and the black dots and scalloped rings on S8 and S9, are an unmistakable combination.
• Appendages very distinctive with strongly hooked superior appendages when viewed from above, and strongly upturned inferior appendages when viewed from the side.

Female

•  The brown form of the female very distinctive 

Related Species

Distribution

South Africa

•  The Blue-sided Sprite occurs in northern KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga lowveld and Limpopo Province..

Africa

•  Botswana; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gambia; Ghana; Malawi; Namibia; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe;

Further reading:

Website of interest:

•   African Dragonflies & Damselflies online
•   A Visual Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of South Africa
•   Odonata Atlas of Africa VMU Number 663560.
•    The IUCN red List of Threatened Species.

Credit to:  Manual of Freshwater Assessment for South Africa:Dragonfly Biotic Index By Michael J. Samways & John P. Simaika