Darter ID

[ellio]

Hi Folks,

Just going through some old images and found this. I must have filed it away not knowing what species it is. I think its a darter

[Ollie]

Looks like a Common Darter to me but I'm no expert so would wait for further conformation.
Roger

[glsammy]

Yes, it looks like a female Common Darter - Sympetrum striolatum.

[GRH]

Look at the legs - there are yellow stripes present so it can't be a Ruddy Darter.

Greg

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by GRH

Look at the legs - there are yellow stripes present so it can't be a Ruddy Darter.

Greg

Yep, the yellow stripes on the legs, the yellow patches on the Thorax. It's still a female Common Darter!

[GRH]

Not forgetting the lack of black extending down either side of the frons.

The 'what' is easy.

The 'why' is more helpful!

Greg

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by GRH

The 'what' is easy.

The 'why' is more helpful!

Greg

The only problem with these is that they change with age! The yellow patches seperated by a reddish-brown bit is just about the best id point for the Common Darter. As they age they become duller and sometimes with a more reddish tone.
The female Ruddy looks similar, but has a more overall yellow thorax.

[Fourwings]

Sorry to chuck a spanner in the works Guys but this is not a Common Darter!
Look at the eyes, lower half is blue coloured,not right for Common Darter,
The black markings on the abdomen are far too extensive for Common Darter,
The markings on the side of the thorax are not correct for Common Darter.

I'd really like to know both when and where this image was taken if possible please as it may help to confirm my initial thoughts, which is..........

Over-Mature female Yellow-winged Darter

But I could be wrong

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Fourwings

Sorry to chuck a spanner in the works Guys but this is not a Common Darter!
Look at the eyes, lower half is blue coloured,not right for Common Darter,
The black markings on the abdomen are far too extensive for Common Darter,
The markings on the side of the thorax are not correct for Common Darter.

I'd really like to know both when and where this image was taken if possible please as it may help to confirm my initial thoughts, which is..........

Over-Mature female Yellow-winged Darter

But I could be wrong

Ok, I'll wind back the clock, forget all I said and start again!! It's obviously a Yellow-winged Darter!!

I'm not about to disagree with the master!!

[Fourwings]

Last Summer was exceptional for Migrant Odonata species with both Yellow-Winged & Red-Veined Darters being fairly widespread across the UK.
Several images of these species have found their way into the Gallery here on WAB and in some instances their ID had been quite understandably over-looked in favour of the Common Darter. I'm sure there are hundreds of images of these migrant Darters out there on computer hard drives and CD's that have simply been labelled as Darter Species or Common Darter.
After looking at this image closely again I am still pretty sure that it is an over-mature female Yellow-Winged Darter, a large percentage of the females show very little yellow colouration on the base of the wings.
If anyone else has any Darter images that they are unsure of then please post them, it would be fantastic if we could find even more images of the migrant invasion of last Summer.

Steve.