Tau Emerald
Male, profile
Ellura
Tau Emerald
Male, Body
 
                      
Tau Emerald (Hemicordulia tau)Class: Animals (Animalia) - Jointed Legs (Arthropoda) - Insects (Insecta)
Order: Dragonflies (Odonata)
Family: Emerald Dragonfly (Epiprocta: Corduliidae)     iNaturalist Observation
Species: Tau Emerald (Hemicordulia tau)
This Photo:     Male, in flight

Thank you Stephen Fricker for confirming the id of this species for us

EXTRA - Photo Specific Information:
During flight, the bottom of the legs (feet) of Odonata tuck in behind their head. You can just see it here (the extra black behind the head)
General Species Information:
Found on Ellura (in the Murray Mallee, SA), the Adelaide Hills, the Flinders Ranges, the Riverland and elsewhere
Different to the Australian Emerald (H. australiae) in a few ways. The Tau has:
1. Orange leading wing veins & wing patch (pterostigma), rather than black
2. An orange spot at the end of it's tail (segment 10)
3. An inverted "T" on it's face (unfortunately we didn't capture this in the photo's, yet)

Copyright © 2014-2024 Brett & Marie Smith. All Rights Reserved. Photographed 11-Dec-2014
This species is an Australian Native Species, not listed in the SA Murray Mallee Survey of 2010.