View the above photo record (by Corrie du Toit) in OdonataMAP here.
Find the Blue Emperor in the FBIS database (Freshwater Biodiversity Information System) here.
Family Aeshnidae
Anax imperator – BLUE EMPEROR
Identification
Very large
Length up to 79mm; Wingspan attains 110mm.
Both sexes are distinctive and unmistakable in Southern Africa. The combination of large size, apple-green thorax, blue eyes and blue abdomen is diagnostic.
Click here for more details on identification.
Mabibi, iSimangaliso Wetland Park, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo by Ryan Tippett
Near Hluhluwe, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo by Ryan Tippett
Habitat
The Blue Emperor inhabits a very wide range of habitat types and can be found virtually anywhere in South Africa. Anax imperator is a highly adaptable and successful species and will breed opportunistically at virtually any fresh water habitat, including cement reservoirs. It is most often seen near water and it has a preference for still habitats with plentiful water plants such as dams, ponds, marshes and pans. The Blue Emperor is also regularly encountered far from water, even in very arid regions like the karoo and the Kalahari. This species is able to quickly colonise seasonal wetlands after rain.
Photo by Ryan Tippett
Photo by Alex Briggs
Behaviour
This species is a powerful and fast flyer and spends most of its time on the wing. At water males tend to pick a general flight path that they follow back and forth, deviating only to chase down prey or a rival male. Females are most often seen when they visit the water to lay their eggs, otherwise they are inconspicuous. When at rest all Anax species hang vertically. They may be active at dusk on humid evenings, and regularly join mixed species feeding swarms at this time.
Status and Conservation
The Blue Emperor is a common, adaptable and widespread species. It has a high resistance to habitat degradation and can occur at virtually any water body, man-made or natural, including stagnant and somewhat polluted waters. It is listed as of Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Distribution
Anax imperator has a vast distribution and is found virtually throughout Africa. It also occurs throughout most of Europe and central Asia and south to parts of the Arabian peninsular and Southern India.
The map below shows the distribution of records for Anax imperator in the OdonataMAP database, as at January 2020.
Phenology
Use this link to embed this map of distribution records in OdonataMAP: http://thebdi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/664140-Blue-Emperor-actual-records.png
The map below is an imputed map, produced by an interpolation algorithm, which attempts to generate a full distribution map from the partial information in the map above. This map will be improved by the submission of records to the OdonataMAP section of the Virtual Museum. Use this link to embed the imputed distribution map: http://thebdi.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/664140-Blue-Emperor-inner-core-outer-core-and-periphery.png
The map below shows the imputed distribution which has been adjusted for terrain roughness
