Coenagrion lunulatum

Description

The Irish damselfly or crescent bluet (Coenagrion lunulatum) is a damselfly found in northern Europe and Asia to north-eastern China;. It is common and widespread in northern Finland, scarce and local in the Netherlands and Ireland and rare elsewhere.One of its English name comes from the fact that it is found in Ireland but not in Britain. The alternative name, crescent bluet, refers to the shape of the markings on segment two of the male and its scientific name. This species is similar to the azure damselfly (C. puella), the variable damselfly (C. pulchellum) and the common blue damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum) with which it coexists. However, both the female and male are darker and shorter-bodied in comparison with other blue damselflies. C. lunulatum is uncommon in Ireland and is confined to the midlands and north. It is listed as Vulnerable on the Red List of Irish dragonflies.Adults have been recorded from the beginning of May (Co. Tyrone on 1 May 2011) to late July. It is found on sheltered mesotrophic lakes and large pools, fens and cutover bogs. It was first recorded in Ireland in Sligo in 1981. The total number of sites known in Ireland at the beginning of 2013 was 94 in 16 counties. The range encompasses most of the northern half of Ireland. The northernmost site is in County Donegal at Lough Napaste north of Milford and the southern limit is on the eastern edge of the Burren in Co Claree at Lough Skeardeen near Boston. The core of the range is in four counties – Fermanagh, Leitrim, Monaghan and Tyrone. These hold three-quarters of the recorded sites (71). The other counties have five or fewer known sites. One of the places it has been successfully recorded and photographed is Brackagh Moss, in Armagh but it is probably extinct there. Eutrophication is suggested as the most serious threat to the species. Coenagrion is a genus of damselflies in the family Coenagrionidae, commonly called the Eurasian Bluets (although three species are found in North America: Coenagrion angulatum, Coenagrion interrogatum, and Coenagrion resolutum). Species of Coenagrion are generally medium-sized, brightly coloured damselflies.