Coenagrion lunulatum
Coenagrion lunulatum Charpentier, 1840
Local names: Crescent bluet, Irish damselfly, Mond-Azurjungfer, Maanwaterjuffer, Agrion à lunules, Månflickslända
Species Information
Description
Simillar to C. hastulatum with both males and females darker and stockier. Postocular spots are round and not connected centrally, a characteristic only shared with C. armatum. The latin name lunulatum derives from the characteristic dorsal crescent-shaped marking on S2 of the males. This character is not always conspicious in the field so it can be easier to identify the species by observing the ventral part of the body that is greenish in males in contrast to the dorsal part which is mainly black. In fact only S8 and S9 are completely light blue, apart from the already mentioned S2.
Females vary greatly in colour, often greenish yellow but not as clearly yellow as C. hastulatum can be. Abdominal parts mainly dark except a part on S8 which is half blue, half black and where the black part has a characteristic frontally pointing thorn-shape which distinguishes it from other Coenagrion females.
Size
Habitat
In most of its European range it is predominantly found in oligotrophic to mesotrophic, acidic to slightly acidic ponds and small lakes, peat bogs and fens. These often support a vegetation of small sedges and Sphagnum peat mosses, and are largely unshaded. Most habitats lie within or in direct proximity to forests. In the east of its range, the species is found in a wider range of habitats such as cattle ponds and gravel and clay pits, where it occurs regularly in slightly more eutrophic water bodies with rather ordinary fringing vegetation. C. lunulatum is mainly found in lowlands and low hills in the north of its range, and is confined to mountains up to 1 500 m in the south. It is very rare in the Alps, which correlates with its rarity in the boreal belt.
Distribution
Coenagrion lunulatum has a disjunct distribution in Europe. The core of its range includes the Netherlands, northern Germany, Poland, the south of both Sweden and Finland, and the Baltic states, from where it is expected to continue east to the Ural Mountains. The species is rare south and north of this core region and is mostly found in scattered, small populations from the Ukrainian Carpathians to the Czech Republic and the Alps, and throughout most of Fennoscandia. In contrast to its rarity in the Alps, it is well established in Massif Central in France, which constitutes a disjunct area of occurence. Another disjunct area is found in Ireland, where C. lunulatum is widespread but uncommon in the northern half of the island. It is remarkably absent from Great Britain.
Flight Period
April to the end of July
Behavior
It can often dissapear among simillar speceies even if it actually is present in good numbers. Often only by patiently going through all individuals it can be found and identified. Males are more prone to perching on floating vegetation and both sexes can often be found up in higher vegetation as long as it grows a bit out in the water-filled marshes.
Conservation Status
Similar Species
Coenagrion hastulatum
External Links
Genus: Coenagrion
Coenagrion is a genus of damselflies in the family Coenagrionidae, commonly called the Eurasian Bluets (although three species are found in North America). Species of Coenagrion are generally medium-sized, brightly coloured damselflies.
Identification
Males are small blue damselflies with black markings. The blue areas may be partly greenish or whitish. Females have more extensive black markings, and are more often green or brownish. A damselfly with plain pterostigmas, with roundish postocular spots, with antehumeral stripes narrower than the black line below it, and with two short black lines on the thorax sides, will in most cases belong to Coenagrion.
Separation from other genera
Enallagma normally have antehumeral stripes wider than the black line below them and just one short black line on the thorax side. Ischnura males have bi-coloured pterostigma. Enallagma and Ischnura females have a vulvar spine. Erythromma species are darker, with reduced or no postocular spots, and males have red or all-blue eyes, whereas eyes of Coenagrion are blue with dark caps. The blue Erythromma lindenii is very similar, but differs in many details, like wider antehumeral stripes, an all-black upperside to S2 and a shorter 'tail-light' positioned further at the tip of the abdomen.
Behaviour
Males typically fly low among or along riparian vegetation. They rarely venture far from water. MAles and females in tandems often oviposit in concentrations on floating vegetation. The male often holds a conspicuous upright posture when in tandem with the female.
Family: Coenagrionidae
The insect family Coenagrionidae is placed in the order Odonata and the suborder Zygoptera. The Zygoptera are the damselflies, which although less known than the dragonflies, are no less common. More than 1,300 species are in this family, making it the largest damselfly family. The family Coenagrionidae has six subfamilies: Agriocnemidinae, Argiinae, Coenagrioninae, Ischnurinae, Leptobasinae, and Pseudagrioninae.
This family is referred to as the narrow-winged damselflies or the pond damselflies. The Coenagrionidae enjoy a worldwide distribution, and are among the most common of damselfly families. This family has the smallest of damselfly species. More than 110 genera of the family Coenagrionidae are currently accepted.
The family was named by William Forsell Kirby in 1890. The name may be derived from Greek coen meaning shared or common and agrio meaning fields or wild.