Fiery Darter, Trithetrum navasi

Short Description:

Fiery Darter, Trithetrum navasi, Males are medium-sized (hindwing 23-29 mm) and diagnostically uniform and unmarked

Family Libellulidae. Leach, 1815

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Key identification features:

Male:

• Face reddish brown, Frons without band
• Eyes brown at the top light blue below
• Thorax uniformly brown unmarked. Mid and hind femur all black
• Wings venation blackish. Forward discoidal field 5-8 cells wide on wing border. Pterostigmas red.
• Abdomen red
• Secondary genitalia. Lobe of hamule triangular, somewhat angled on anterior side, its tip not extending beyond genital lobe

Female:

• currently no information

Habitat:

• Mostly rivers, but also streams, standing waters and possibly large lakes and flowing channels in marshes, mostly in open landscapes, but also open areas in forest. Usually with emergent vegetation.
• From 0 to 1500 m above sea level.

Compared to other species:

•  Body parts uniform: thorax unmarked; frons without band
• May be mistaken for Trithemis, Dropwings
• Similar to Rock Scarlet Crocothemis divisa,  Granite Scarlet Crocothemis saxicolor

Distribution:

Africa:

• Benin; Botswana; Côte d'Ivoire; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Kenya; Liberia; Malawi; Namibia; Nigeria; Rwanda; Sierra Leone; South Sudan; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe;

Further reading:

Websites:

•     The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species    Least Concern
•     African Dragonflies & Damselflies Online
•    Odonata Atlas of Africa Number

[Adapted from Dijkstra & Clausnitzer 2014]