Red Like Blood_TNY_0113
On an early September visit to the Näsudden nature reserve outside Åkersberga, Sweden, I came across a bunch of common darters (Sympetrum striolatum) - plus this guy.
If you look at the his legs (red means its a guy) you'll notice that they are completely black. This means it can't be anything but a ruddy darter (Sympetrum sanguineum). Both the common darter and the vagrant darter (S. vulgatum) have more or less yellow or red stripes along the legs.
"Ruddy" in the name is an old word for "reddish", but in many other languages (Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Danish) the name is about "blood red" - and the same for the scientific name: "sanguineum".
Red Like Blood_TNY_0113
On an early September visit to the Näsudden nature reserve outside Åkersberga, Sweden, I came across a bunch of common darters (Sympetrum striolatum) - plus this guy.
If you look at the his legs (red means its a guy) you'll notice that they are completely black. This means it can't be anything but a ruddy darter (Sympetrum sanguineum). Both the common darter and the vagrant darter (S. vulgatum) have more or less yellow or red stripes along the legs.
"Ruddy" in the name is an old word for "reddish", but in many other languages (Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Finnish, German, Danish) the name is about "blood red" - and the same for the scientific name: "sanguineum".