Back Coenagrion mercuriale AST Coenagrion mercuriale Bulgarian Donzell mercurial Catalan Coenagrion mercuriale CEB Mursen las Penfro Welsh Helm-Azurjungfer German Coenagrion mercuriale Spanish Kiiverliidrik Estonian Coenagrion mercuriale Basque Agrion de Mercure French
| Coenagrion mercuriale | |
|---|---|
_male_Parsonage_Moor.jpg)
| |
| Male, Parsonage Moor, Oxfordshire | |
_female_Dry_Sandford.jpg)
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| Female, Dry Sandford Pit, Oxfordshire | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Suborder: | Zygoptera |
| Family: | Coenagrionidae |
| Genus: | Coenagrion |
| Species: | C. mercuriale
|
| Binomial name | |
| Coenagrion mercuriale (Charpentier, 1840)
| |
_immature_male_Parsonage_Moor.jpg)
Coenagrion mercuriale, the southern damselfly, is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. It is found in Algeria, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom. Its natural habitats are rivers and freshwater springs. It is threatened by habitat loss.
The specific part of the scientific name, mercuriale, is because of the distinctive markings on the second segment of the abdomen that resembles the astrological symbol for the planet Mercury - ☿. [2] This also gives the species an alternative common name of mercury bluet.[3]
- ^ De Knijf, G., Billqvist, M., van Grunsven, R.H.A., Prunier, F., Vinko, D. & Boudot, J.-P. (2023). "Coenagrion mercuriale". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2023: e.T203582437A220527463. Retrieved 24 October 2024.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Costantino D’Antonio and Francesca Vegliante. "Derivatio nominis libellularum europæarum" (PDF) (in Italian). Retrieved 3 August 2010.
- ^ "Checklist, English common names". DragonflyPix.com. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2010.