Species account

Yellow-spotted Whiteface (Leucorrhinia pectoralis)    (Charpentier, 1825)
   Skimmers (Libellulidae) [Dragonflies]    YSWH    24825
Stor Kærguldsmed (dk)   Libélula Cariblanca Grande (es)   Citronfläckad Kärrtrollslända (se)  
Synonyms (common):
Large White-faced Darter (gb)
Synonyms (scientific):
Leucorrhinia borysthenica Charleman & Artobolevskii, 1915
Leucorrhinia sylvatica Charleman & Artobolevskii, 1915
Measurements:
To 32-39mm Ab 23-27mm Hw 30-33mm
Generations:
Identification:
Males and young females have a single yellow spot on S7. Ad females gain yellow spots on S2-7.
Ruby and Small Whitefaces have narrower bodies than YSWH.
Similar species:
Life stages:
Mating takes place near the shore on the ground or in vegetation. It lasts a few minutes. The solo female flies forth and back and drops the eggs into the water where many water plants. Sometimes the male stays close to watch over her. The eggs hatch after a few weeks and the larvae live in-between the water plants and develop during 2 years. The imago-transformation takes place on plants near the shore.
Distribution: (?):Altitude is often taken from a specific localized resource, why the true entire range very likely is wider.
C and NE Europe. From France to Ukraine and north. Also locally in the Balkans, Romania and Bulgaria. Local in east England, Turkey and the Pyrenees. Absent Mediterranean region and northern Fennoscandinavia. Also present through E Europe and Russia to Kazakhstan and C Asia. In Denmark the main distribution area is NE Sjælland, but is also found in S and C Jylland, Fyn, Falster and Bornholm.
Habitat:
Behavior:
Endemic:
Status:
Bern Convention. EU Habitat Directive IV. The protective status of the species is somewhat contraditive of the present situation in Denmark. It used to be a rarer and declining species in the last century, but in recent years, though localized, the species seems to be stable and perhaps even spreading in NE Sjælland and it also seems to be stable on Falster. And furthermore, the species is spreading in Jylland during these years, now being seen throughout the southern half of the peninsula. It's presence on Bornholm, is also new compared to the past. The protective status of the species probably should be revised. This said, it is still the rarest of the three "red" whitefaces in Denmark.
Comment:
Articles:
Yellow-spotted Whiteface 623    (1 photos)
2021-06-07    Store Hareskov (Gladsaxe), Denmark

Imago Male




Yellow-spotted Whiteface 624    (2 photos)
2021-06-07    Store Hareskov (Gladsaxe), Denmark

Imago Male




Yellow-spotted Whiteface 762    (4 photos)
2022-06-18    Teglstrup Hegn (nordsjælland), Denmark

Imago Male
Fandens Hul. The rarer of the whitefaces here. At least today. I'm not sure if all photos are of the same individual or more.



Yellow-spotted Whiteface 781    (2 photos)
2022-06-28    Krebseklo-vandhullet/kirkegård (Hørsholm), Denmark

Imago Male
Between Arboretet and Hørsholm Cemetery.
1 or a few present.



Yellow-spotted Whiteface 2791    (3 photos)
2024-05-22    Store Hareskov (Furesø), Denmark

Imago Male
Jagtvej-vandhullet.



Yellow-spotted Whiteface 2792    (1 photos)
2024-05-22    Store Hareskov (Furesø), Denmark

Imago Male
Jagtvej-vandhullet.



Yellow-spotted Whiteface 2793    (2 photos)
2024-05-22    Store Hareskov (Gladsaxe), Denmark

Imago Male
Syd-vandhullet.



Yellow-spotted Whiteface 2794    (2 photos)
2024-05-22    Store Hareskov (Gladsaxe), Denmark

Imago Male
Syd-vandhullet.



Yellow-spotted Whiteface 2795    (1 photos)
2024-05-22    Store Hareskov (Gladsaxe), Denmark

Imago Male
Syd-vandhullet.



Yellow-spotted Whiteface 10088    (2 photos)
2026-06-02    Amager Fælled, Denmark

Imago Male
DLK-syd.
Perched on the concrete wall, and after being lightly disturbed by me and heavily by several Four-spotted Chasers, quadrimaculata, it apparently disappeared. Before that it continued to come back to the wall, as its preferred roosting site, but was chased away by the chaser everytime.

This is the first record of the species on Amager, and is of course merely the result of a straying animal rather than the beginning of a dawning population.

I'm calling it a male, because the shape in the frontal photo seems to fit a male better than a female, but from behind, and with the appendages blurred-out, it looks broader over the abdomen, and would fit an old female better.

Mobile bino photos.

Rare
Yellow-spotted Whiteface 614    (1 photos)
2021-06-07    Store Hareskov (Gladsaxe), Denmark

Imago Female




Yellow-spotted Whiteface 2790    (2 photos)
2024-05-22    Store Hareskov (Furesø), Denmark

Imago Male & Female
Jagtvej-vandhullet. Mating wheel.
5 seconds before I was ready with the camera they were sitting completely exposed - puff wind alfie disaster...