Ferruginous Glider, Tramea limbata, Enkelbandswerwer

Short description

Ferruginous Glider, Tramea limbata, Enkelbandswerwer is fairly large with a fuselage-shaped abdomen, deep red and brown with a black abdominal tip, and with a large oval-shaped dark red basal hindwing patch

Family Libellulidae Leach, 1815 

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Key identification features:

Male:

• Face is reddish to dark brown.   Frons always Black
• Eyes are dark red above and greyish with dark mottles below.
• Thorax is brown with almost no markings.
• Wings are pointed with reddish dark veins. Elongated, with large and narrow dark red patches on hind wings. Light yellow when young darkening with age
• Pterostigmas are yellowish brown with the ones on the fore wing longer than those on the hindwing.
• Abdomen is deep red with triangular dark parches on S 8-9 dorsal view, with yellow rings at segment joints. Dark brown claspers.   
  

Females:

• Similar to males in shape and colour but more yellow
• Body patterning duller and abdomen stouter.
  

Habitat:

• As records become available one will probably find the over the entire region. They disperse well, often swarming together with Pantala flavescens, likewise following rains and breeding in seasonal pools and marshes.
  
• From 0 to 1800 m above sea level, but mostly below 900.

Behaviour:

• Males fly between bushes and trees continuously for long periods, resting by hanging like a pendulum in sheltered places.
• However often perch in the ‘pennant’ position at the end of high or exposed stakes, with wings raised and abdomen either also slightly up or pressed down. 
• Often disturb other species at the pond
• Range from close to water to quite a distance away from the breeding water.
• In flight, the pattern of the dark red body and the narrow brown band at the base of the wing is diagnostic.

Compared with other species:

• Keyhole Glider, T. basilaris, has key-hole shaped markings in the hindwing.
• There are several red coloured species that needs close inspection to identify correctly.
  • Aethriamanta rezia, Pygmy Basker:   Very small. Eyes brown with red cap on top, mottled grey below. Thorax with black shoulder stripe. Legs black. Wings all with small dark brown flares at the base, hind wings with additional small patch just behind flares, flares are surrounded by amber halo. 6 Ax veins. Pterostigmas reddish brown 2mm. Abdomen wide, bright red with regular black ladder running along entire top. Segment 1 blackish. Superior appendages red.
    
  • Urothemis assignata, Red Basker:  Stout, bright red. Eyes deep red above, mottled dark and light grey below. Legs light red. Hind wings have large dark red angular basal patches with amber hallow. Fore wing has small traces of amber at the base. Wing veins red. Pterostigma yellow brown 4mm. Last Ax vein complete. Abdomen segments 5 -9 have black above with median ladder-like stripe of uneven width, widest on s 8 - 9. Appendages of moderate length, red.
    
  • Macrodiplax Cora. Coastal Pennant:   Wings clear, except for small amber patch at base of hind wings. Abdomen bright red with along top strongly contrasting black hour glass shaped stripe of varying width, broken at each segment joint.
  • Tramea basilaris, Keyhole Glider, Hind wing patches distinctive keyhole shaped. Thorax dull orange above dark brownish grey with dark brown areas along the side. Abdomen segment 8 triangular shaped mark, S 9 -10 black above. Superior appendages long, dark brown with light base.
  • Tramea limbata, Ferruginous Glider,   Hind wing patches distinctive elongated, narrow shaped dark panels close to basel edge of the wing that may appear black in flight.  long brown claspers
  • Tholymis tillarga, Twister.   Hind wings with dark brown patch just inside nodus in front half, with white patch outside of it and diffuse amber area inside it. Forewings with diffuse amber area at bases of wings. Abdomen tapered, light red. Appendages long, red, black at tips.

Distribution

South Africa:

• Flies in warm, humid  eastern, northern and north eastern areas of South Africa as well as the WCP and ECP..
  

Africa:

•  Botswana; Côte d'Ivoire; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Ethiopia; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Kenya; Liberia; Mali; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Republic of South Africa; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Socotra (Yemen); Somalia; Tanzania; Uganda; Zimbabwe;

Further reading:

Websites:
Odonata Atlas of Africa VMU Number 668630
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
African Dragonflies and Damselflies Online
A Visual Guide to the Damselflies and Dragonflies of South Africa