5-8-2023 ADOR CAMPO, VALENCIA - VIOLET DROPWING DRAGONFLY (FEMALE)

Trithemis annulata, known commonly as the violet dropwing, violet-marked darter, purple-blushed darter or plum-coloured dropwing, is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It is found in most of Africa, in the Middle East, in the Arabian Peninsula and southern Europe. These insects are called dropwings because of their habit of immediately lowering their wings after landing on a perch. Males of this species are violet-red with red veins in the wings while females are yellow and brown. Both sexes have red eyes.

Trithemis annulata is found in most of Africa and also in France, Cyprus, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Mauritius, Oman, Portugal, Qatar, Réunion, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Yemen. It was also recorded in the Maltese islands in 2005 and found breeding there in 2007. With the advent of global warming, it is increasing its range northwards in Europe and in the late 1990s advanced from southern Spain and southern Italy into France, and from Greece and Turkey into Central Europe. One such place where it has become established is the floodplain of the River Ebro in northeastern Spain.