Potamarcha congener facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Potamarcha congener
Male, taken at Kadavoor, India
Juvenile male, taken at Kadavoor, India
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Synonyms
Libellula congener Rambur, 1842 Libellula obscura Rambur, 1842

Potamarcha congener is a species of dragonfly in the family Libellulidae. It was first described by Jules Pierre Rambur in 1842, almost fifty years before Friedrich Karsch described its genus. Potamarcha congener is one of two species making up the genus Potamarcha, together with Potamarcha puella.

Yellow tailed ashy skimmer - Potamarcha congener

Yellow tailed ashy skimmer , Potamarcha congener,aged

Yellow tailed ashy skimmerപുള്ളിവാലൻ തുമ്പി Potamarcha congener

Distribution

Potamarcha congener is common through much of its range, which stretches through parts of South Asia, South-East Asia, and Oceania, including in countries such as India, Indonesia, China, Australia, and Vietnam. Owing to its wide distribution, the species has been classified as Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Description and habitat

Potamarcha congener, known as a yellow-tailed ashy skimmer, common chaser, or swampwatcher, is a medium-sized dragonfly with a bluish black thorax and yellow tail with black markings. Face is olivaceous yellow to steel black or brown. Eyes are reddish brown above and bluish grey below. In male adults, the thorax and first four segments of the abdomen are covered with bluish pruinescence. In young adults, yellow markings are visible through the pruinescence. The rest of the abdomen is black with orange markings, with the last two segments entirely black. The female thorax has yellow and black stripes on the sides. The abdomen is black with dull orange markings, and has prominent flaps on each side of segment eight. The flaps may serve to hold the eggs in place during oviposition.

This dragonfly is found in terrestrial areas with standing water. This can include near small ponds, rice fields or marshes where it breeds.

Gallery

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  Female (note the prominent flaps on segment eight)

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  Female in obelisk posture

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  Female from behind

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  Female close-up

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  Female wings

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  Male wings