Ischnura pumilio
• English name: Small Bluetail
• German name: Kleine Pechlibelle
• French name: Agrion nain
• Dutch name: Tengere grasjuffer
• Swedish name: Mindre kustflickslända
• Norwegian name: N/A
• Finnish name: Keritytönkorento
• Danish name: Lille farvevandnymfe
• Italian name: Codazzurra minore
• Czech name: šidélko malé
• Slovenian name: Bledi kresničar
• Bulgarian name: Малко бръсниче
Ischnura pumilio
Not present
Present before 1990
Present after 1990
Present before and after 1990
Present after 2015
Map data based on J.-P. Boudot & V. J. Kalkman (eds.),
Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies
| General | • a very small species which is common throughout Europe except the north of Scandinavia and Finland and on Cyprus | |
| Classification | • suborder: Zygoptera (damselflies); family: Coenagrionidae | |
| Conservation status | • IUCN Red List Europe: Least Concern | |
| Scientific name | • Ischnura pumilio (Charpentier, 1825) | |
| Name genus | • Ischnura: from Grk. ἰσχνός = thin, slender +; οὐρά = tail ⇒ for the slender abdomen (compared to e.g. Calopteryx species) | |
| Name species | • pumilio: from Lat. pumilio = dwarf ⇒ the smallest species then known to Charpentier | |
| Distribution | • click or tap the Map button above | |
| Habitat | • shallow still or slow-flowing waters with sparse vegetation | |
| Dimensions | • typical body length: 26-31 mm; hindwing: 14-18 mm | |
| Male | Thorax | • the lower side of the thorax and the antehumeral stripe are green or blue |
| Abdomen | ➤ the abdomen is black on top, but the distal part of S8 and all of S9 are sky blue | |
| Wings | ➤ the pterostigma in the forewing is considerably larger than that in the hindwing and it is bicoloured: black on the inside, white on the outside; the pterostigma in the hindwing is uniformly beige/brown | |
| Female | Thorax | • in immature females the side of the thorax is bright orange (a colour form known as aurantiaca); with age this orange colour is gradually replaced by green |
| • in androchrome females the side of the thorax is blue or green | ||
| • females lack an antehumeral stripe | ||
| Abdomen | ➤ the abdomen is black on top, without a tail-light | |
| • the abdomen has a vulvar spine underneath S8 | ||
| Wings | • the pterostigma is uniformly beige/brown in both wings | |
| Photographs | • all of our photos below were made in Tuscany |
