Crocothemis sanguinolenta

Crocothemis sanguinolenta
Male
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Odonata
Family:	Libellulidae
Genus:	Crocothemis
Species:	C. sanguinolenta
Binomial name
Crocothemis sanguinolenta (Burmeister, 1839)

Crocothemis sanguinolenta is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Angola, Botswana, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, rivers, intermittent rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, freshwater marshes, and intermittent freshwater marshes.

Common names for this species include little scarlet, slim scarlet-darter and small scarlet.

Similar species

Over most of its range, Crocothemis sanguinolenta is easily confused with Crocothemis erythraea, but C. sanguinolenta has a narrower abdomen (3 mm or less wide), the lateral carinae of S3 to S7 are usually marked with black dashes, and the pterostigmata are short and usually the same colour as the abdomen (red in mature males). The abdomen of Crocothemis erythraea is 3.5 mm or more wide, the lateral carinae of S3 to S7 are generally unmarked, and the pterostigmata are longer and less brightly coloured than the abdomen.^[1]

References

1. Dijkstra, K.-D.B.; Clausnitzer, V. (2014). The dragonflies and damselflies of eastern Africa. Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa. ISBN 978-94-916-1506-1.

• Clausnitzer, V. 2005. Crocothemis sanguinolenta. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 9 August 2007.