About Trithemis arteriosa (Burmeister, 1839)
Trithemis arteriosa (Burmeister, 1839) is a dragonfly species with distinct physical traits that differ between mature males and females. The face of a mature male is deep red, and the vertex and top of the frons have a purple sheen. Its eyes are deep red, and its labium is deep yellow with a dark brown central stripe. The synthorax is red with black stripes, and mature males often have a purple bloom on the upper thorax. The wings have bright red veins and orange markings at their bases; the dark brown pterostigmata measure 2.3-2.4 mm in length. The slender abdomen is bright red, with black wedges on each side of segments S6 to S8, and completely black segments S9 and S10. Females share the same general marking pattern, but their abdomen and face range from yellow to yellowish brown. The sides of the female synthorax are pale yellow-brown, and this color also appears on the lower sides of abdominal segments S1 to S3. This species is widespread and common across most of its range. Its distribution covers most of Africa, extending into western Asia and southern Europe. Recorded African localities include Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canary Islands, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mayotte, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Recorded localities in western Asia and southern Europe include Crete, Cyprus, Iran, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian Territory, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. This dragonfly inhabits a wide variety of slow-flowing and still freshwater habitats, and areas adjacent to these habitats. Habitats it occurs in include streams, rivers, intermittent rivers, freshwater lakes, intermittent freshwater lakes, freshwater marshes, intermittent freshwater marshes, irrigation canals, and ditches.
