Broad Scarlet

• GeneralThe male is wholly scarlet; one of the most conspicuous dragonflies in southern Europe.
• The male's scarlet appears on maturing: young males look like the females, yellowish brown with a pale stripe on the thorax.
• The larva passes through eleven instars and needs the water to warm to about 18 °C before it will begin metamorphosis and emerge.
• It basks to regulate its body temperature, which is essential if it is to fly and hunt.
• It is one of the dragonflies expanding its range furthest into northern Europe as the climate warms.

Skeleton type

Invertebrate - chitin exoskeleton (insect)

Habitat and environment

Ponds, reservoirs, ditches and irrigation tanks

Sexual maturity

The males are territorial and chase the females during warm sunny hours, forming a tandem; copulation is very quick, 7 to 30 seconds, and takes place in flight if the weather is calm. The female then separates and lays at once

Gestation / incubation

The larvae develop mainly in still water and are fairly tolerant of water quality: they turn up in marshes, ponds, rice paddies and coastal lagoons

Litter / clutch size

The female lays alone, in flight, dropping the eggs into the water; the male escorts her and drives off any other that comes near

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Crocothemis erythraea · Ficha de especie de Crocothemis erythraea · Base de Datos de Odonatos · Base de Datos de Odonatos, ficha Crocothemis erythraea · Waste Magazine, guia de odonatos · Base de Datos de Odonatos (observaciones de P. Afuesse) · artaj.es

Best time: A very long flight period: from mid-May to October in central Europe and from April to November further south. Widely distributed throughout the Iberian Peninsula, the Balearics and the Canaries; it is scarce only in the north-west of the peninsula