Southern banded groundling - Brachythemis leucosticta

Southern banded groundling – Brachythemis leucosticta

  • Family: Libellulidae.
  • Scientific: Brachythemis leucosticta.
  • English: Southern banded groundling.
  • Spanish:
Description

The Southern banded groundling – Brachythemis leucosticta is a small species with an overall body color that ranges from yellowish to blackish-brown. The face of young males and females is yellowish-cream, and the thorax and abdomen are yellow-greenish with noticeable brown or black marks. As they age, males become black, and females become brown.

Southern banded groundling - Brachythemis leucosticta
Southern banded groundling – Brachythemis leucosticta – Male

The legs are yellowish with black bands, and the wings of mature males have a transverse brown band just before the pterostigma. The pterostigma is a darkened cell on the leading edge of the insect wing, elongated (about 3 mm) and bicolored (light and dark brown in the apical third). The abdomen is short and moderately wide, flattened dorso-ventrally, and each segment has dark lateral marks.

  • Total length: 33mm.
  • Wingspan: 57 mm.
  • Flight period in Iberia: May to October.
  • Habitat: open low grassland and shrubland close to lakes and ponds.
  • Distribution: An African species but widespread across the Iberian peninsular especially Andalucia.
  • Similar species:
Southern banded groundling - Brachythemis leucosticta
Southern banded groundling – Brachythemis leucosticta – Female

The Southern banded groundling – Brachythemis leucosticta has a habit of following large mammals as they move across fields and even humans as they walk along the edges of marshland and lakes. they take advantage of the prey that arise from the movements. (Similar to cattle egrets when they take advantage of livestock grazing through meadows and fields.)

Further reading

Ronda Today

Everything you need to know before you visit Ronda “The city of dreams” in Andalucia. https://www.rondatoday.com/

The Caminito del Rey

Find tickets for the Caminito del Rey: https://www.caminodelrey.es/

Wildside Holidays – Spain

Take a trip on the Wildside! Discover the wildlife and nature of Spain, its Natural and National Parks and find the top wildlife, activity and walking holiday companies.

Iberia Nature Forum

Struggling with identifying those bugs and beasties? Why not check out the Iberia nature Forum!

Discover the Iberia Nature Forum – Environment, geography, nature, landscape, climate, culture, history, rural tourism and travel.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *