26-9-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HOUSE CENTIPEDE (Scutigera coleoptrata)

Scutigera coleoptrata, also known as the house centipede, is a species of centipede that is typically yellowish-grey and has up to 15 pairs of long legs. Originating in the Mediterranean region, it has spread to other parts of the world, where it can live in human homes. It is an insectivore; it kills and eats other arthropods, such as insects and arachnids.

In 1758, Carl Linnaeus described the species in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae, giving the name Scolopendra coleoptrata, writing that it has a "coleopterated thorax" (similar to a coleopter). In 1801, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck separated scutigera from scolopendra, calling this species Scutigera coleoptrata. The word scutigera comes from Latin gerere 'to bear' and scutum 'shield', because of the shape of the plates in the back of the chilopod.

The body of an adult Scutigera coleoptrata is typically 25 to 35 mm (1.0 to 1.4 in) in length, although larger specimens are sometimes encountered. Up to 15 pairs of long legs are attached to the rigid body. Together with the antennae they give the centipede an appearance of being 75 to 100 mm (3 to 4 in) in length. The delicate legs enable it to reach surprising speeds of up to 0.4 meters per second (1.3 ft/s)[citation needed] running across floors, up walls and along ceilings. Its body is yellowish-grey and has three dark dorsal stripes running down its length; the legs also have dark stripes. S. coleoptrata has developed automimicry in that its tail-like hind legs present the appearance of antennae. When the centipede is at rest, it is not easy to tell its cranial end from its caudal end.

Unlike most other centipedes, house centipedes and their close relatives have well-developed faceted eyes.

House centipedes lay their eggs in spring. In a laboratory observation of 24 house centipedes, an average of 63 and a maximum of 151 eggs were laid. As with many other arthropods, the larvae look like miniature versions of the adult, albeit with fewer legs. Young centipedes have four pairs of legs when they are hatched. They gain a new pair with the first molting, and two pairs with each of their five subsequent moltings. Adults with 15 pairs of legs retain that number through three more molting stages (sequence 4-5-7-9-11-13-15-15-15-15 pairs).

House centipedes live anywhere from three to seven years, depending on the environment. They can start breeding in their third year. To begin mating, the male and female circle around each other. They initiate contact with their antennae. The male deposits his sperm on the ground and the female then uses it to fertilize her eggs.

House centipedes feed on spiders, bed bugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish, ants, and other household arthropods. They administer venom through forcipules. These are not part of their mandibles, so strictly speaking they sting rather than bite. They are mostly nocturnal hunters. Despite their developed eyes, they seem to rely mostly on their antennae when hunting. Their antennae are sensitive to both smells and tactile information. They use both their mandibles and their legs for holding prey. This way they can deal with several small insects at the same time. To capture prey they either jump onto it or use their legs in a technique described as "lassoing". Using their legs to beat prey has also been described. Like other centipedes they can stridulate.

25-9-2016 VILLALONGA CAMPO, VALENCIA - BARN SWALLOW

The Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it has the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometers globally. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only common species called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".

The Barn swallow is a distinctive songbird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. There is a line of white spots across the outer end of the upper tail. The female is similar in appearance to the male, but the tail streamers are shorter, the blue of the upperparts and breast band is less glossy, and the underparts paler. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts. It also lacks the long tail streamers of the adult.

Barn swallows are found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These birds are long-distance migrants and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia. The preferred habitat of Barn swallows is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows, and farmland, preferably with nearby water. These birds avoid heavily wooded or precipitous areas and densely built-up locations. On their wintering grounds, Barn swallows avoid only dense forests and deserts. They are most common in open, low vegetation habitats, such as savanna and ranch land, and in Venezuela, South Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago the birds are particularly attracted to burnt or harvested sugarcane fields and the waste from the cane.

Barn swallows are gregarious birds and in the absence of suitable roost sites, they sometimes roost on wires where they are more exposed to predators. Individual birds tend to return to the same wintering locality each year and congregate from a large area to roost in reed beds. These roosts can be extremely large and are thought to be a protection from predators. Barn swallows typically feed by day in open areas 7-8 m (23-26 ft) above shallow water or the ground often following animals, humans, or farm machinery to catch disturbed insects; they may also pick prey items from the water surface, walls, and plants. During the breeding, season Barn swallows hunt in pairs, but otherwise form often large flocks. These birds are usually fairly quiet on the wintering grounds. At other times they communicate with constant twittering and chattering. The song of the male Barn swallow is a cheerful warble, often ending with 'su-seer'. Other calls include 'witt' or 'witt-witt' and a loud 'splee-plink' when excited (or trying to chase intruders away from the nest). The alarm calls include a sharp 'siflitt' for predators like cats and a 'flitt-flitt' for birds of prey like the hobby.

25-9-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla cinerea)

This slim wagtail has a narrow white supercilium and a broken eye ring. The upperparts are grey and the yellow vent contrasting with whitish underparts makes it distinctive. The breeding male has a black throat that is edged by whitish moustachial stripes. They forage singly or in pairs on meadows or on shallow water marshes. They also use rocks in water and will often perch on trees. They have a clear sharp call note and the song consists of trills.

The breeding season is April to July and the nest is placed near fast running streams or rivers on an embankment between stones and roots. The male in display, makes short flights up into the air and descends slowly with fluttering flight accompanied by a rapid series of chipping high notes. In Europe the nests are often made in holes in manmade structures. The clutch consists of 3–6 speckled eggs and multiple broods may be raised with declining numbers in the clutch in subsequent broods. The usual clutch size is five in Ireland and the breeding success is about 80% with predation of eggs or chicks being the main cause of breeding failure. The Canary Islands population typically have smaller clutches and the breeding season is not as short and well marked as in populations at higher latitudes. The incubation period is about two weeks with chicks fledging within a fortnight. They live for a maximum of 8 years in the wild.

25-9-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREEN SANDPIPER (Tringa ochropus)

The green sandpiper represents an ancient lineage of the genus Tringa; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria). They both have brown wings with little light dots and a delicate but contrasting neck and chest pattern. In addition, both species nest in trees, unlike most other scolopacids.

Given its basal position in Tringa, it is fairly unsurprising that suspected cases of hybridisation between this species and the common sandpiper (A. hypoleucos) of the sister genus Actitis have been reported.

The green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World.

This species is a somewhat plump wader with a dark greenish-brown back and wings, greyish head and breast and otherwise white underparts. The back is spotted white to varying extents, being maximal in the breeding adult, and less in winter and young birds. The legs and short bill are both dark green.

It is conspicuous and characteristically patterned in flight, with the wings dark above and below and a brilliant white rump. The latter feature reliably distinguishes it from the slightly smaller but otherwise very similar solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria) of North America.

In flight it has a characteristic three-note whistle.

25-9-2015 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE BITTERN (JUVENILE) (Ixobrychus minutus)

The little bittern or common little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus ) is a wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. Ixobrychus is from Ancient Greek ixias, a reed-like plant and brukhomai, to bellow, and minutus is Latin for "small".

The little bittern has a length of 33–38 centimetres (13–15 in) and a wing span of 52–58 centimetres (20–23 in). It is the smallest of the breeding herons of Europe and is characterised by its tiny size, long and sharp bill and thick neck. The males are distinctively patterned and both sexes show pale forewing panels. The males have black with a faint green sheen on the crown, nape, back, tail and scapulars. The underparts are pale buff and the wing has a pinkish buff oval shaped panel which contrasts with the otherwise black wings and is formed by the inner wing coverts. The underwing is completely whiteish in colour. The female is duller than the male and has brownish black upperparts with paler feather margins visible at close range. The underparts of the female are not as clean as those of the male and are streaked with dark buff and brown. The female's wing panel is less obvious than the male's. The juveniles are duller and more rufous than the females and are more heavily streaked on both their upperparts and underparts, including their wing coverts.

The little bittern is native to the Old World, breeding in Africa, central and southern Europe, western and southern Asia, and Madagascar. Birds from temperate regions in Europe and western Asia are migratory, wintering in Africa and further south in Asia, while those nesting in the tropics are sedentary. It is rare north of its breeding range.

The little bittern is crepuscular, skulking and normally solitary. It feeds on fishes, amphibians and insects which are caught within reedbeds or at their edges by the bird slowly stalking the prey. The male claims a territory in the Spring, advertising his presence with a deep barking or croaking call and the monogamous pair remain together for at least one breeding season. Eggs are laid in a nest situated in dense reedbeds, rushes or bushes above the water from the middle of May and there is a single brood which is normally 5-6 eggs. These are incubated for 17–19 days and the chicks are fledged after 25–30 days.

Little Bitterns were once widespread in Central Europe. In the meantime it is a poorly distributed breeding bird of the lowlands, sporadically up to low mountain ranges. It occurs from Europe (without regular breeding in Great Britain, Ireland or Scandinavia) to West Siberia up to 56° N. It also occurs in North Africa and southern Iran and south of the Sahara to southern Africa. Isolated populations also exist in Madagascar and Australia. The total population of Europe is about 60,000-120,000 breeding pairs, with occurrences of> 5000 breeding pairs in Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Turkey. In Central Europe (around 2000) about 5300-7800 pairs are breeding, most of it in Hungary. The formerly large population in Germany has decreased to just over 100 breeding pairs. However, inventory information is particularly unreliable for this very secret species.

14-7-2015 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - EPAULET SKIMMER DRAGONFLY (MALE) (Orthetrum chrysostigma)

Orthetrum chrysostigma, the epaulet skimmer, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and possibly Burundi as well as Canary Islands, Israel, and Portugal. It was recorded in the Maltese Islands in 2010. One was also spotted in Tel Aviv, Israel in August 2022.

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, dry savanna, moist savanna, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, subtropical or tropical moist shrubland, rivers, intermittent rivers, shrub-dominated wetlands, swamps, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, and freshwater springs. The adults prey on various flying insects. The bodies of adult males are blue, and those of young and females are yellow and brown.

Makes use of a wide range of freshwater habitats, including Rivers, streams, lakes, pans, dams and water-holes. Favours sites that are fairly open with exposed rocks, sand or gravel. Most common along rivers in the savanna regions.

Often perches on the ground, but also on rocks and exposed stems and twigs. Hunts from a perch with a rapid, darting flight. Frequently returns to the same perch. Both sexes can be found in the same area.

29-7-2015 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - EURASIAN REED WARBLER (Acrocephalus scirpaceus)

Rather plain medium-sized warbler: warm brown above with narrow pale spectacles, pale buffy below. Can be very difficult to separate from other reed warbler species. Most populations breed in reed or sedge beds, both pure and mixed with bushes, often wandering to adjacent scrub and thickets. “Mangrove” Reed Warbler is a resident in mangroves along the Red Sea. Non-breeding migratory birds may wind up in a wide range of habitats, from marshes to mangroves, to acacia scrub and cultivation. Often heard but can be hard to see: prolonged song much like Sedge Warbler but more even-paced and melodic, without rough and jerky phrases. Calls include a low “chuk” and rattled “chrrt.”

23-9-2016 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - WESTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL (Motacilla flava)

The Western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) is a small songbird that can be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Its common name comes from characteristic tail-pumping behavior and the part of its scientific name 'flava' means 'golden-yellow' from Latin.

The Western yellow wagtail is a slender bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail. It is the shortest-tailed of the European wagtails. The breeding adult male is basically olive above and yellow below. In other plumages, the yellow may be diluted by white. The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colors and patterns depending on the subspecies.

Western yellow wagtails breed in much of temperate Europe and Asia. Populations in the milder parts, such as western Europe, are resident but northern and eastern populations migrate to Africa and south Asia. Western yellow wagtails prefer open country near water, such as wet meadows, marshes, bogs, pastures near water, damp steppe, and grassy tundra.

Outside of the breeding season, Western yellow wagtails are gregarious and often spend time in flocks. They also gather in large numbers on the night roosts and migrate in flocks. Western yellow wagtails are active during the day spending their time in search of food. They forage by walking on the ground picking insects or seeds and can also search for food items walking in shallow water. They may catch insects on the wing or pick them up while flying over vegetation. Western yellow wagtails frequently wag their tail while foraging. The common call of these birds is a high-pitched 'jeet'. When flying they often produce loud 'pseet' or long 'swee-eep'.

Population size

64-107Mln

Life Span

8 years

Weight

11-26

goz

g oz 

Length

15-16

cminch

23-9-2016 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - WESTERN YELLOW WAGTAIL (Motacilla flava)

The Western yellow wagtail (Motacilla flava) is a small songbird that can be found in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Its common name comes from characteristic tail-pumping behavior and the part of its scientific name 'flava' means 'golden-yellow' from Latin.

The Western yellow wagtail is a slender bird, with the characteristic long, constantly wagging tail. It is the shortest-tailed of the European wagtails. The breeding adult male is basically olive above and yellow below. In other plumages, the yellow may be diluted by white. The heads of breeding males come in a variety of colors and patterns depending on the subspecies.

Outside of the breeding season, Western yellow wagtails are gregarious and often spend time in flocks. They also gather in large numbers on the night roosts and migrate in flocks. Western yellow wagtails are active during the day spending their time in search of food. They forage by walking on the ground picking insects or seeds and can also search for food items walking in shallow water. They may catch insects on the wing or pick them up while flying over vegetation. Western yellow wagtails frequently wag their tail while foraging. The common call of these birds is a high-pitched 'jeet'. When flying they often produce loud 'pseet' or long 'swee-eep'.

Western yellow wagtails are carnivores (insectivores) and herbivores (granivores). They eat various terrestrial and aquatic insects, and small crustaceans and supplement their diet with seeds.

Western yellow wagtails are monogamous. They form pairs and prefer to nest separately. They breed from April to August and are territorial during this period with each pair defending its nesting site. The nest is a shallow scrape located on or near the ground; it is made of grass and lined with animal hair. The female lays 4-6 eggs and both parents incubate them for about 11-13 days. The chicks hatch blind and helpless and are fed by both parents. They fledge between 10 and 14 days but usually remain with their parents for several weeks more.

Population size

64-107Mln

Life Span

8 years

Weight

11-26

goz

g oz 

Length

15-16

cminch

23-9-2016 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - ROBBERFLY (Machimus chrysitis)

Robber flies deliver a painful bite, so be careful with them. They don't “go after” humans, but if you mishandle them, they might bite. Their bite, adapted for their predatory lifestyle, injects digestive enzymes and a painful venom. If one lands on you, don't slap it — instead, brush it lightly away.

The common name for this group comes from their ferocious manner of pouncing from the air on their prey. Various species of robber flies are common in different areas throughout North America.

The world is full of robber flies—approximately 7,000 species have been recognized worldwide and 1,000 are native to North America. A robber fly perched on a flat piece of sandstone in the red rock country of the Colorado Plateau. The choice of perch was not arbitrary, for here the robber had a view in all directions.

Machimus is a genus of flies in the family Asilidae, the robber flies and assassin flies. They can be found nearly worldwide, except in Australia and New Zealand. Most are native to the Palearctic realm and southern Asia.

Machimus chrysitis (Meigen, 1820)

kingdom Animalia - animals »  phylum Arthropoda - arthropods »  class Insecta - insects »  order Diptera - true flies, mosquitoes and gnats »  family Asilidae - robber flies »  genus Machimus

23-9-2016 RACO DE OLLA, VALENCIA - BLACK WINGED STILT (JUVENILE) (Himantopus himantopus)

Black-winged stilts (Himantopus himantopus) are very long-legged wading birds. They are found in both warm and hot climates, feed on small aquatic creatures, and nest on the ground surface in small colonies.

Adult Black-winged stilts have long, pink legs, and a long, rather thin black bill. They are generally black above and white below, with a white head and neck. Males have a black back, often with a greenish gloss or sheen. Females' backs have a brownish hue, contrasting with the black remiges. In populations where the top of the head is normally white (at least in winter), females tend to have less black on the head and neck the entire year round, while males often have much more black, particularly in summer. This difference is not clear-cut, however, and males usually grow all-white head feathers in winter. Immature birds are grey, instead of black, and have a markedly sandy hue on their wings, with light feather fringes appearing as a whitish line in flight.

23-9-2016 EL PALMAR, VALENCIA - EUROPEAN STARLING (Sturnus vulgaris)

The Common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is a noisy bird, especially in communal roosts and other gregarious situations, with an unmusical but varied song. Its gift for mimicry has been noted in literature including the Mabinogion and the works of Pliny the Elder and William Shakespeare.

The Сommon starling is a medium-sized bird. It has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, which is speckled with white at some times of the year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer. Juveniles are grey-brown and by their first winter resemble adults though often retaining some brown juvenile feathering, especially on the head. They can usually be sexed by the color of the irises, rich brown in males, mouse-brown, or grey in females.

23-9-2016 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - WHISKERED TERN (Chlidonias niger)

The whiskered tern (Chlidonias hybrida ) is a tern in the family Laridae. The genus name is from Ancient Greek khelidonios, "swallow-like", from khelidon, "swallow". The specific hybridus is Latin for hybrid ; Pallas thought it might be a hybrid of white-winged black tern and common tern, writing "Sterna fissipes et Hirundine natam ”.

This bird has a number of geographical races, differing mainly in size and minor plumage details.

C. h. hybrida breeds in warmer parts of Europe and the Palearctic (northwestern Africa and central and southern Europe to southeastern Siberia, eastern China and south to Pakistan and northern India). The smaller-billed and darker C. h. delalandii is found in east and south Africa, and the paler C. h. javanicus from Java to Australia.

The tropical forms are resident, but European and Asian birds winter south to Africa and the Indian Subcontinent. A tagged whiskered tern was spotted at Manakudi Bird Sanctuary, Kanniyakumari District of Tamil Nadu, India in the month of April 2021.

This species breeds in colonies on inland marshes, sometimes amongst black-headed gulls, which provide some protection. The scientific name arises from the fact that this, the largest marsh tern, show similarities in appearance to both the white Sterna terns and to black tern.

23-9-2016 ALBUFERA, VALENCIA - GREY HERON (Ardea cinerea)

The Grey heron (Ardea cinerea) is a large long-legged wading bird of the heron native to Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It lives in wetland areas and feeds on various aquatic creatures which it catches after standing stationary beside or in the water.

The plumage of the Grey heron is largely ashy-grey above, and greyish-white below with some black on the flanks. Adults have a head and neck white with a broad black supercilium that terminates in the slender, dangling crest, and bluish-black streaks on the front of the neck. The scapular feathers are elongated and the feathers at the base of the neck are also somewhat elongated. Immature birds lack the dark stripe on the head and are generally duller in appearance than adults, with a grey head and neck, and a small, dark grey crest. The pinkish-yellow beak is long, straight, and powerful, and is brighter in color in breeding adults. The iris is yellow and the legs are brown and very long.

Grey herons occur in most parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Over much of their range, these birds are resident, but populations from the more northerly parts of Europe migrate southwards; some remain in Central and Southern Europe, and others travel on to Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Grey herons can be found anywhere with suitable watery habitats that can supply their food. Although most common in the lowlands, they also occur in mountain tarns, lakes, reservoirs, large and small rivers, marshes, ponds, ditches, flooded areas, coastal lagoons, estuaries, and seashore. They sometimes forage away from water in the pasture, and can even be found in desert areas, hunting for beetles and lizards.

The plumage of the Grey heron is largely ashy-grey above, and greyish-white below with some black on the flanks. Adults have a head and neck white with a broad black supercilium that terminates in the slender, dangling crest, and bluish-black streaks on the front of the neck. The scapular feathers are elongated and the feathers at the base of the neck are also somewhat elongated. Immature birds lack the dark stripe on the head and are generally duller in appearance than adults, with a grey head and neck, and a small, dark grey crest. The pinkish-yellow beak is long, straight, and powerful, and is brighter in color in breeding adults. The iris is yellow and the legs are brown and very long.

Grey herons are the largest birds most of us ever see in our garden: the wing span is around 6ft.

Despite their size, they are surprisingly light, weighing on average only half as much as a greylag goose.

The old English name for a heron was hragra; other names now largely fallen into disuse include harn, hernser and hernshaw. Heron comes from the French, for the French name is héron céndre.

In medieval times the heron was a favourite quarry of falconers who valued its great flying skills and ability to evade the falcon's stoops.

Roast herons were also popular at medieval banquets: the young birds, called branchers, were thought to be the best to eat.

The fat of a heron killed at full moon was once believed to be a cure for rheumatism.

Herons are sociable birds when nesting, invariably nesting in long-established heronries.

Grey herons are widely distributed, occurring throughout much of Asia as far east as Japan. They also breed in South Africa, while migrants are regular throughout much of Africa.

Only 3.3% of British-ringed herons have been recovered overseas, with the most distant recoveries in Morocco and the Gambia.

Persuading marauding herons not to raid goldfish ponds is very difficult. The only 100% effective protection is netting the pond.

Plastic decoy herons are more likely to lure birds to a pond than frighten them away from it.

20-9-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - BAND WINGED GRASSHOPPER (Genus Sphingonotus)

Sphingonotus is a genus of grasshoppers in the family Acrididae, subfamily Oedipodinae, found in Europe Africa, Asia and Australia.

Sphingonotus is a genus of grasshoppers in the family Acrididae, subfamily Oedipodinae, found in Europe Africa, Asia and Australia.

20-9-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - RED VEINED DARTER DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Sympetrum fonscolombii)

The red-veined darter or nomad (Sympetrum fonscolombii) is a dragonfly of the genus Sympetrum.

Sympetrum fonscolombii was named under the protonym Libellula fonscolombii by the Belgian entomologist Edmond de Sélys Longchamps, in 1840, in honor of the French entomologist Étienne of Fonscolombe (hence the species name). Its name is sometimes spelt fonscolombei instead of fonscolombii but Askew (2004) gives the latter as the correct spelling.

Sympetrum fonscolombii can reach a body length of 38–40 millimetres (1.5–1.6 in). This species is similar to other Sympetrum species but a good view with binoculars should give a positive identification, especially with a male.

Males have a red abdomen, redder than many other Sympetrum species. The frons and the thorax are red-brown. The eyes are brown above and blue/grey below. The wings have red veins and the wing bases of the hind-wings are yellow. The pterostigma is pale yellow with a border of black veins.

Female are similar but the abdomen is ochre yellow, not red, with two black lines along each side. The wings have yellow veins at the costa, leading edge and base, not red veins as found in the males. The legs of both sexes are mostly black with some yellow.

Immature males are like females but often with more red and a single line along each side of the abdomen.

Male S. fonscolombii can be mistaken for Crocothemis erythraea as both are very red dragonflies with yellow bases to the wings, red veins and pale pterostigma. However C. erythraea has no black on the legs, a broader body and no black on the head. Also C. erythraea females do not oviposit in tandem. The gestalt image of these two species is different and with some experience are easy to tell apart.

20-9-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - COMMON DARTER DRAGONFLY (FEMALE) (Sympetrum striolatum)

The common darter (Sympetrum striolatum) is a dragonfly of the family Libellulidae native to Eurasia. It is one of the most common dragonflies in Europe, occurring in a wide variety of water bodies, though with a preference for breeding in still water such as ponds and lakes. In the south of its range adults are on the wing all year round.

Sympetrum species are not easy to tell apart and in most areas more than one Sympetrum species will occur. Females and teneral individuals have light yellow thorax and abdomen. Males turn red as they mature. Females darken with age, becoming a dark chocolate brown, and sometimes develop a blue colouration to the bottom of the abdomen. The wings also develop a brown tinge with age. In all cases the legs have a cream or yellow stripe on a black background - this is a diagnostic feature of this species. The pterostigma of the females can be red, blue, pale blue or brown.

Adults can be seen on the wing all year round in southern Europe but in northern regions they occur from June to November.

This small dragonfly is seen in a wide variety of habitats, including lakes, ponds, canals and slow-flowing rivers. They are ambush predators, waiting on a prominent perch - such as a leaf or the top of a gate, until prey fly past, whereupon they will fly after it. They are territorial on breeding waters, often attempting to chase much bigger dragonflies away such as southern hawkers. This habit of repeatedly returning to a sunny spot allows you to easily predict where they are going to land, which is why it is one of the easiest dragonflies to photograph.

In suitable hunting areas away from water, however, they are not territorial: large numbers may assemble - groups of several hundred in a single field have been recorded - and lines of insects can be seen along the top of field gates.

Eggs are not laid, but broadcast from the air: the male holds the female in tandem and swings her down and forward over water. At the furthest point of the arc the female releases some of her eggs to fall on the water.

This is one of the most abundant dragonflies in Europe, and populations show no evidence of decline.