Gilded Presba (Syncordulia legator)

Cover photo by Basil Boer.

Find the Gilded Presba in the FBIS database (Freshwater Biodiversity Information System) here.

Family Synthemistidae

Identification

Medium-large size

Length up to 49mm; Wingspan attains 70mm.

The Gilded Presba is a very distinctively marked species. The chocolate brown thorax is noticeably hairy and carries indistinct black lines and markings with a single pale stripe above. The abdomen pattern is diagnostic, being dark yellow with black bands and streaks. The sexes are alike in terms of colouration but differ in abdomen shape. Males have fairly slender abdomens that broaden towards the tip, and they have distinctly elongate black claspers. Females have broader abdomens and lack the elongate claspers.

The Gilded Presba is most similar to the Yellow Presba (Syncordulia gracilis), but that species has diagonal yellow bands on the sides of the thorax and a differently patterned abdomen.

Click here for more details on identification of the Gilded Presba.

Habitat

The Gilded Presba is restricted to the fynbos biome. It inhabits flowing, rocky streams and rivers, and surrounding fynbos vegetation. It mostly flies over open and fairly flat terrain in hilly or mountainous areas. The Gilded Presba is confined to pristine, undisturbed habitats up to 800m above sea level.

Behaviour

The Gilded Presba hunts in sustained flight as it courses up and down a chosen route along the stream. However, the Gilded Presba is just as likely to be encountered some distance from water, hunting aerial insects over open fynbos vegetation. Adults spend relatively little time at the water. The flight is fast and direct. The Gilded Presba hangs vertically from a branch or twig when perched. It often perches fairly close to the ground and is most likely to be seen perched during the hottest part of the day.

The Gilded Presba starts flying earlier in the season than other Presbas. It is on the wing from late September to early December. See Phenology below.

Status and Conservation

The Gilded Presba is a rare and localised South African endemic. It is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Gilded Presba is intolerant of habitat degradation and only occurs at pristine, undisturbed sites.

Distribution

The Gilded Presba is endemic to South Africa, where it is confined to the mountainous regions of the Western Cape. Occurs from the Cedarberg in the North to the Kogelberg Nature Reserve in the South.

Below is a map showing the distribution of records for Gilded Presba in the OdonataMAP database as at February 2020.

Below is a map showing the distribution of records for Gilded Presba in the OdonataMAP database as at December 2024.

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

Further Resources

The use of photographs by Basil Boer, and Corné Rautenbach is acknowledged.

Gilded Presba Syncordulia legator Dijkstra, Samways & Simaika, 2007

Other Common names: Goudvlekswalker (Afrikaans)

Recommended citation format: Loftie-Eaton M; Navarro R; Tippett RM; Underhill L. 2025. Gilded Presba Syncordulia legator.  Biodiversity and Development Institute. Available online at https://thebdi.org/2020/06/08/gilded-presba-syncordulia-legator/

References: Tarboton, M; Tarboton, W. (2019). A Guide to the Dragonflies & Damselflies of South Africa. Struik Nature.

Samways, MJ. (2008). Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa. Pensoft

Samways, MJ. (2016). Manual of Freshwater Assessment for South Africa: Dragonfly Biotic Index.Suricata 2. South African National Biodiversity Institute, Pretoria