Species account

Eurasian Baskettail (Epitheca bimaculata)    (Charpentier, 1825)
   Emeralds (Corduliidae) [Dragonflies]    EUBA    24817
Toplettet Falkelibel (dk)   Tvåfläckad Trollslända (se)  
Synonyms (common):
Two-spotted Dragonfly (gb)
Synonyms (scientific):
Libellula fuchsiana Eversmann, 1836
Epitheca bimaculata sibirica Selys, 1887
Epitheca bimaculata altaica Belyshev, 1951
Measurements:
To 55-65mm Ab 37-43mm Hw 36-44mm
Generations:
Flight period:
JFMAMJJASOND 
Scan
EU n
EU s
Identification:
Similar species:
Life stages:
After mating the female finds a spot along the shore, where she presses out a large amount of eggs held together as a string by a jelly-like substance. She then flies low and dips the egg-string into the water. The substance swells and the up to 30-40 cm and 5 mm thick string now attaches to the underwater vegetation, where the eggs hatch after a few weeks. The larvae live in-between water plants (hibernating in the bottom mud) and develop during 3 years. Remarkably the mature larva can move up to a hundred meters and several meters up into trees and bushes before finding a the right spot to do the imago-transformation. Mass-emergence within a few days occur.
Distribution:
WC and NE Europe around the Baltic Sea; absent Denmark. Also present locally in southern Norway and E Europe south to the Balkans. Also present Ukraine and Russia patchily across Siberia to China and Japan. Extinct in Denmark where used to be found mainly in NE Sjælland.
Habitat:
Behavior:
Endemic:
Status
Last seen in Denmark in 1938 where forest lakes north of Copenhagen, Sjælland, was the only area from where the species was reported. Increasing populations in neighboring countries, Sweden and C Europe, spark a hope that the species might show up again in Denmark.
Comment:
Eurasian Baskettail 1572    (7 photos)
2023-06-07    Valdemarsvik (Östergötland), Sweden

Imago Female
A great lifer.
Hoped for it but early in the season and often flying over water were the conditions I had focused on, and therefore gave it little hope. And then it came to us, patrolling for food along a short stretch of forest road with no water nearby. Erratic movements and getting too close constantly made it difficult to catch it with the camera.