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Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing orange-spotted emeralds. Like other emerald dragonfly species, the orange-spotted emeralds get their common name from their appearance. They have a metallic green body, although it looks dark from far away. Their abdomen is unsurprisingly covered in orange spots! These spots are even more prevalent on females who may also sport orange wings at the beginning of their adult life. Over time, an adult orange-spotted emerald's abdomen and wing colors may fade, but their eyes develop a bright green to blue hue which could also lend to their precious name.

These insects hail from southwestern Europe across to northern Morocco. Their exact distribution has changed over the past 100 years as they've locally gone extinct in various parts of their range. For example, they're considered extinct in Great Britain where they haven't been observed by science for over 60 years, although some question if they ever actually lived there at all since they were only known from a small locale. These dragonflies prefer clean slow moving, permanent rivers with plenty of sunshine and bank vegetation. Their larvae need pollutant-free water to survive as well as aquatic roots for habitat and to haul themselves out of the water when they're ready to mature.

Orange-spotted emeralds live at least 2 years in the wild, although they may live even longer in some parts of their range. Most of this time is spent in the larval stage, which is rarely observed by the average person. Most people aren't out in hip-deep water looking for dragonfly larvae! When they reach about an eighth of an inch, 22 millimeters, in length, the juveniles emerge from the water and take to the skies as adults. As an adult, the orange-spotted emerald only lives for about a month. Males spend their days patrolling a stretch of river, seeking out females with which to mate and other males with which to fight. When a female is spotted, the male quickly grabs her and they fly away to the tree canopy to mate. This occurs away from the river. Afterwards, the female immediately returns to the river to lay approximately 200 yellow eggs directly into the water.

As adults, orange-spotted emeralds reach about two inches, 5 centimeters, long with wingspans that extend to almost three inches, 7.6 centimeters. While they spend plenty of time at the river, they often leave the riverside to hunt in open fields or forest understories nearby. These dragonflies eat swarming midges, those big clusters of tiny insects you'll see hovering around right about face-height, especially during the summer. They'll also eat damselflies which look somewhat like dragonflies but are typically smaller and less agile in the air. After a day of patrolling the river and hunting down bugs, an orange-spotted emerald takes to the trees to roost for the night.

Although the adults are more well known for their flashy colors and easier to observe by the average person, it's really their larvae that are most at risk to threats. Dragonfly larvae in general usually need clean, pollution-free water to survive. If a population of orange-spotted emeralds did exist in Great Britain, they likely went extinct due to pollution in their home river. They've also had to deal with the introduction of non-native species, such as the American crayfish, which predate the larvae. These, accompanied with stream development that changes the habitat to the point it can no longer sustain the species, have all impacted orange-spotted emerald populations, although it's worth noting they're globally considered stable.

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