View the above photo record (by John Wilkinson) in OdonataMAP here.
Find the Swarthy Sprite in the FBIS database (Freshwater Biodiversity Information System) here.
Family Coenagrionidae
Pseudagrion hamoni – SWARTHY SPRITE
Identification
Small size
Length up to 39mm; Wingspan reaches 50mm.
This species shows much variety in colouration, depending on age.
Most closely resembles Pseudagrion commoniae (Black Sprite). Both species may show a uniformly pruinescent black upper thorax, blue thorax sides and blue between the wings. P. hamoni has red and black eyes with the red being visible both on top and in the front of the eyes. The eyes of P. commoniae are black above and in front, only showing a small amount of red on the undersides.
Females are similar to those of many other Pseudagrion species. Best identified by their association with the males.
Click here for more details on identification.
Mkuze River, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo by Ryan Tippett
Habitat
Occupies still or slow moving sections of rivers, as well as the vegetated fringes of dams, pans and pools. Often found where there are patches of floating aquatic plants.
Photo by Rowan Poortier
Behaviour
Perches on vegetation or rocks near the water. Males and females are frequently found side by side.
Most active from October to April but recorded year round at some sites. See Phenology below.
Status and Conservation
Common in NE South Africa. Listed as of Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
Distribution
Widespread across much of Sub-Saharan Africa.
In South Africa it is restricted to the North-East, occuring in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North-West and Gauteng.
Below is a map showing the distribution of records for Swarthy Sprite in the OdonataMAP database as at February 2020.
The next 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.
Ultimately, we will produce a series of maps for all the odonata species in the region. The current algorithm is a new algorithm. The objective is mainly to produce “smoothed” maps that could go into a field guide for odonata. This basic version of the algorithm (as mapped above) does not make use of “explanatory variables” (e.g. altitude, terrain roughness, presence of freshwater — we will be producing maps that take these variables into account soon). Currently, it only makes use of the OdonataMAP records for the species being mapped, as well as all the other records of all other species. The basic maps are “optimistic” and will generally show ranges to be larger than what they probably are.
These maps use the data in the OdonataMAP section of the Virtual Museum, and also the database assembled by the previous JRS funded project, which was led by Professor Michael Samways and Dr KD Dijkstra.
Phenology
