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Crocothemis erythraea

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Taxonomy [top]

Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
ANIMALIA ARTHROPODA INSECTA ODONATA LIBELLULIDAE

Scientific Name: Crocothemis erythraea
Species Authority: (Brullé, 1832)
Common Name/s:
English – Broad Scarlet, Common Scarlet-darter, Scarlet Darter, Scarlet Dragonfly
French – Libellule écarlate

Assessment Information [top]

Red List Category & Criteria: Least Concern ver 3.1
Year Published: 2011
Assessor/s: Clausnitzer, V.
Reviewer/s: Dow, R.A., Dijkstra, K.-D.B. & Allen, D.
Contributor/s: Suhling, F., Ferreira, S., Mitra, A. & Subramanian, K.A.
Justification:
The species is widespread and common, increasing in range in some parts of the world, and therefore assessed as Least Concern.
History:
2006 – Least Concern (IUCN 2006)
2006 – Least Concern

Geographic Range [top]

Range Description: The species is widespread in Africa, southern Europe, the Middle East, and west Asia, extending as far east as Yunnan in China. It is absent from southeast Asia; its Asian distribution is essentially Himalayan (Nepal (Asahina 1965, Mahato 1988), and northern India (with records from Assam (Schneider 1995) and West Bengal (Peters 1981)). It is currently expanding northwards in Europe, and is known or expected to occur in every country south of the Sahara in Africa (K.-D. Dijkstra pers. comm. 2011). Known records from Central Africa are from Angola, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Sao Tome, and Zambia, and it expected to be present in Congo; in eastern Africa, it has been recorded in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi and Burundi: common and widespread in all five countries (Burundi assumed); in northern Africa, it is common and widespread; in northeastern Africa, the species is recorded from Socotra, Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, and occurrence in Djibouti, Eritrea, Chad and Uganda is assumed; the species is widespread all over southern Africa; in western Africa, the species is known from Senegal and Gambia to Chad.

It is common and widespread in the southern half of Europe (Boudot et al. 2009) and in the south of Ukraine. In the last two decades it has been strongly expanding its range in the north being now indigenous to many areas were it previously did not occur (Ott 2007).
Countries:
Native:
Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; Angola (Angola, Angola, Cabinda); Austria; Azerbaijan (Nakhichevan); Bahrain; Bangladesh; Belarus; Belgium; Benin; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; China (Yunnan); Comoros; Congo; Congo, The Democratic Republic of the; Côte d'Ivoire; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Djibouti; Egypt (Egypt (African part), Sinai); Equatorial Guinea (Annobón, Bioko, Equatorial Guinea (mainland)); Eritrea; Ethiopia; France (Clipperton I., France (mainland)); Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Germany; Ghana; Greece (East Aegean Is., Greece (mainland), Kriti); Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Hungary; India (Assam, West Bengal); Iran, Islamic Republic of; Iraq; Israel; Italy (Italy (mainland), Sardegna, Sicilia); Jersey; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kenya; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Luxembourg; Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Malta; Mauritania; Moldova; Montenegro; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar (Myanmar (mainland)); Namibia (Caprivi Strip, Namibia (main part)); Nepal; Netherlands; Niger; Nigeria; Oman; Pakistan; Palestinian Territory, Occupied; Poland; Portugal (Portugal (mainland)); Romania; Russian Federation; Sao Tomé and Principe (Principe, Sâo Tomé); Senegal; Serbia (Kosovo, Serbia, Serbia); Seychelles (Aldabra, Seychelles (main island group)); Sierra Leone; Slovakia; Slovenia; Somalia; South Africa; Spain (Baleares, Canary Is., Spain (mainland), Spanish North African Territories); Sudan; Swaziland; Syrian Arab Republic; Tajikistan; Tanzania, United Republic of; Togo; Tunisia; Turkey (Turkey-in-Asia, Turkey-in-Europe); Turkmenistan; Uganda; Ukraine; United Arab Emirates; Uzbekistan; Western Sahara; Yemen (North Yemen, Socotra, South Yemen); Zambia; Zimbabwe
Vagrant:
United Kingdom (Great Britain)
Range Map: Click here to open the map viewer and explore range.

Population [top]

Population: The species is common in most of its range, and in Europe it is steadily expanding its range northwards.
Population Trend: Increasing

Habitat and Ecology [top]

Habitat and Ecology: The species occurs at a wide range of running and standing, unshaded waters including rice paddies and brackish lagoons. In the northern part of its range it is mostly found at not too shallow, well vegetated waters. Various terrestrial habitats except dense forest, and prefers stagnant water.
Systems: Terrestrial; Freshwater

Threats [top]

Major Threat(s): The species is not under any specific threat.

Conservation Actions [top]

Conservation Actions: No conservation measures are needed.
Citation: Clausnitzer, V. 2011. Crocothemis erythraea. In: IUCN 2012. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2012.2. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 20 May 2013.
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