Ischnura genei
Island bluetail
Description
Closely related to Ischnura elegans which it replaces on the Tyrrhenian islands west of the Italian mainland, and on Malta. It is also very like I. saharensis structurally.
The colour of the face, thorax and abdomen is never blue but always green (although a turquoise tinge develops in full maturity). Females of all colour forms may have black markings on S8. Mature females without antehumeral black stripes may be confused with the co-existing I. pumilio, but the relative size in pterostigma is discriminatory, that in the forewing is larger in I. pumilio
Behaviour
Distribution
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Ischnura genei is an endemic to the Tuscan archipelago and the Tyrrhenian and Maltese islands, and is common and widespread within its range. It is absent from mainland Europe and replaces I. elegans on the above islands, except in Giglio, where both species cohabit. A male and female were caught on the Italian island of Linosa, between the Maltese islands and the Tunisian coast, in 2010. Whether they belonged to a local population breeding in the few man-made water tanks present on the island or were vagrants are unknown.
Habitat
Ischnura genei breeds in all kinds of standing waters and sometimes in slow-flowing rivers and ditches up to 1 000 m. This species usually frequents water bodies rich in surrounding vegetation. Like I. elegans, it is capable of breeding in waters with relatively high salinities, and larvae have been recorded from brackish waters.