Yellow-winged Darter

Sympetrum flaveolum (Linnaeus, 1758)

DESCRIPTION

This species can easily be identified by some evident yellow spots at the wing base, extended especially on the hindwings, by the black underside of the abdomen and by the black legs with yellows streaks.

PHENOLOGY

Adults can be found from the end of May to October, with a peak in August.

HABITAT

The larvae grow in small, shallow and rich in vegetation still water bodies. Often they can be found in peatbogs, but also in marshy meadows and in sedge fens, usually at high altitudes (beyond 2400 meters above sea level in the Pyrenees). In the Cuneo region it is a rare species, occurring just in one station in the upper part of the Stura valley.