Rock Scarlet, Crocothemis divisa, Rorsblossie

Short Description

Rock Scarlet, Crocothemis divisa, Rorsblossie is medium sized with a distinctive grey brown thorax and red abdomen and yellow face

Male

Frons above and top of head yellowish brown. Antifrons yellow. Labrum creamy yellow gena light creamy white.
Eyes deep red cap above, light greyish blue below.
Thorax dark dull red above, greyish reddish brown at sides, darkening to grey with age. Black marks present between wing bases. Antihumeral stripe area reddish along the dorsal carina becoming grey/brown towards the humeral stripe. May have a light grey line along the metapleural suture
Wings clear but may have a slight darkening amber, without basal amber patches, at most with yellow wash along hindwing membranule that does not extend beyond Cux (cubital cross-vein(s). This amber wash is almost invisible in the field. Pterostigmas reddish brown, 4.0–4.4 mm being exceptionally long.
Abdomen long, fairly slender tapering gradually from approximately s 5 to a narrow s 10. Long slender appendages, yellowish when young becoming pinkish red. Small shallow triangular marks on s 4 - 6 with indistinct marks on s 3 and s 7 that may become visible with age Segment 4 dorsal vie with distinct dark patch

Female:

Female brownish.
Thorax mid brow and pale brown at sides. May have a light grey line along the metapleural suture
Wings without basal wing patches, pterostigmas reddish brown and long.
Abdomen becomes reddish pink with age similar to male

Habitat

Pools in/or next to rocky streams in open landscapes or sometimes open areas in forest. Often with rocks. From 0 to 2000 m above sea level, but mostly below 1500.

Behaviour:

It is alert as it perches mostly on rocks. at pools or near rapids hunting upstream

Compared with other species:

Male

Male is similar to c. saxicolor by the yellow-ream to light brown face and clear wing bases
C. divisa has a distinct yellow face C. erythraea and C. sanguinolenta has red faces.
C sanguinolenta h flat triangular stripes on the side of the abdomen C. divisa also has the marks BUT not as accentuated. C. erythraea. has no marks on the side of the abdomen
Male and female C. Erythraea and C. sanguinolenta has smallish amber marks in wings C. divisa virtually no amber marks
C erythraea abdomen broad. C sanguinolenta more slender and s 7 - s10 tapers to narrow end at claspers. C. Divisa tapers gradually toward s 10 from approximately s4 giving it a long slender look
Black marks along the abdominal carina indistinct on C. divisa Well defines on male C. erythraea and C sanguinolenta

Female

Female C. Erythraea and C. sanguinolenta have smallish amber marks in wings C. divisa virtually no amber marks
Black marks along the abdominal carina distinct on C. divisa. Well defines on C. erythraea and with the marks on C sanguinolenta spear point like
C erythraea abdomen broad. C sanguinolenta more slender and s 7 - s10 tapers to narrow end at claspers C. Divisa tapers gradually towsd s 10 from approximately s4 giving it a long slender look

Distribution Map
South Africa

Physical Map
South Africa

Political Map
South Africa

Distribution
Map Africa

Physical Map
Africa

Political Map
Africa

South Africa

Limpopo Province Waterberg region and north eastern Mpumalanga Province area (1 record)

Africa

Widespread south of the Sahara
Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Côte d'Ivoire; Cameroon; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Equatorial Guinea; Gabon; Gambia; Ghana; Guinee-Bissau; Liberia; Malawi; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Republic of Guinea; Republic of South Africa; Senegal; Sierra Leone; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Togo; Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe