On today’s show we learn about the Greek Red Damsel, a critically endangered damselfly native to southeastern Europe, specifically Greece and Albania.
Rough Transcript
Intro 00:05
Welcome to Bad at Goodbyes.
On today’s show we consider the Greek Red Damsel.
Species Information 02:05
The Greek Red Damsel is a critically endangered damselfly native to southeastern Europe, specifically Greece and Albania.
The Greek Red Damsel is a flying insect in the dragonfly and damselfly family; it has a long slender, cylindrical body measuring roughly an inch and a half in length. Its exoskeleton is a really rich bright red, marked with dark vertical bands.
Its anatomic form, like all insects, is divided into three sections, the head, the thorax and the abdomen.
The head is small and rounded with large, compound eyes on each side of the head, providing a wide field of vision. Their eyes are reddish-brown at the top and yellow-ish at the bottom divided by dark brown horizontal bands. Compound eyes are comprised of thousands of ommatidia, each one like a tiny lens, so the Greek Red Damsel, sees the world in a kind of mosaic. So, instead of one singular clear image like humans see, the damselfly’s brain combines all of these tiny dots into a composite view, adapted to subtle movement detection, ultraviolet light, and high contrast polarized light useful for navigation. The varied coloration of their eyes is thought to filter color and light, different ommatidium are tuned to accept or reject different color wavelengths.
I find this so gorgeous and humbling; that for all of our human accomplishment, there is a world of sights, light and color, generally inaccessible to us.
Between the eyes of the Greek Red Damsel are two short bristly antenna, another sensory organ, covered in fine hairs (called sensilla), primarily adapted in the damselfly to detect air speed. This is a somewhat specialized adaptation as other flying insects rely on their antennae to sense smell like butterfly, or to explore via touch, like beetles; the damselfly mainly uses its antennae for flight navigation.
At the front of the Greek Red Damsel’s head are mandibulate mouthparts. We’ve gone into detail about insect mandible on past shows, so for now, let’s generalize their mouth as a pair of horizontal pincers. The Greek Red Damsel is a carnivorous predator, and so these pincers are particularly strong, adapted for piercing and breaking open the exoskeletons of its insect prey.
So that’s an overview of the head. The small middle section, the thorax, is roughly a quarter of the damselfly’s overall length, and bears two pairs of legs and two pairs of wings. The legs are long and slender with numerous spines, all four bent facing forward, adapted for grasping prey. The wings are translucent, with thin black veins throughout that provide structural support and flexibility for flight. Both pairs of wings, the forewings and hindwings, are similar in size and shape. And when at rest the wings are held vertically above the body, folded neatly together above their abdomen, a trait I note because this is a key way that entomologists differentiate damselflies from dragonflies. Dragonflies keep their wings out horizontally, lateral to the body, even at rest.
The damselfly’s thorax also includes powerful flight muscles and houses parts of their circulatory, nervous, and respiratory systems. It is a brown-ish metallic color, like a rust bronze but a little shiny.
Okay, onward to the abdomen, from which our damselfly derives part of its name. The long, cylinder-shaped, ten segment abdomen is a vibrant red with dark vertical bands. It houses parts of the digestive system, the nervous system, the circulatory system, as well as the reproductive system and respiratory system. Damselfly breathe, they respirate, through tiny spiracles, these are numerous little openings across the abdomen that take in oxygen from the air and expel carbon dioxide.
Damselfly reproduction is remarkable. Males have a sperm production organ near the end of their abdomen and a secondary copulation organ on the underside of their second segment, near the thorax. The female reproductive and copulatory organs are near the end of their abdomen. So to mate the male must transfer sperm from its frontal abdomen to the female’s posterior abdomen, near the end. And they do so in flight. Here’s how this works:
Damselfly abdomen are flexible at each segment and so with the pair both facing forward, the male will bend his abdomen upward to grasp the female behind the head using a specialized clasping organ at the end of his abdomen. The female will then bend her abdomen downward so her reproductive organs, near the tip of her abdomen meet with the male’s copulatory organs. Together they form a kind of wheel shape, and remain so, in flight, for sperm transfer. Following sperm transfer the male continues to grasp her head, guarding and protecting, while the female disengages to prepare for egg laying. Female damselfly have a specialized egg laying organ called an ovipositor. The pair will fly together to a suitable nearby site and using her ovipositor the female burrows her eggs directly into the stems or leaves of water grass, sedge, or water plantain, plant tissues just above or just below the water’s surface. The tandem pair often remain connected throughout this process, separating after successful egg-laying.
Greek Red Damselfly do not form long term pair bonds or family units and will mate with different individuals across their adult life.
The eggs will hatch in 1-3 weeks and the new larvae are totally self-sufficient at birth. This larva is totally aquatic with gills for breathing underwater and specialized mouthparts (the extendable mask) for catching prey. It matures through a series of molts. Larval exoskeletons are hardened and do not like expand or grow, so as the larva matures and gets bigger it must shed its exoskeleton. So before a molt, the larva begins to develop a new, larger soft exoskeleton beneath the existing one. The old exoskeleton splits open, and the soft-bodied larva wriggles out of the old exoskeleton. And over time the new exoskeleton hardens and the larva has more room to grow before the next molt.
After a series of underwater molts, over 2-3 years the damselfly reaches its final larval stage. The larva will climb out of the water, like onto a plant stem or a rock and again the exoskeleton will split open, similar to previous molts, but this time, an adult damselfly emerges.
This new adult is soft, pale, and its wings are crumpled and small. Quickly though, in the course of a day, the exoskeleton hardens, its adult coloration develops, and the wings expand, soon able to fly and begin its mature life.
This is a profound metamorphosis, a transformation from a wingless, water-dwelling, water-breathing, larva into an air-breathing, winged adult, capable of flight. A winged adult who only lives 1-2 months focused on reproduction and feeding.
The adult Greek Red Damsel feeds on other flying insects. It is a diurnal carnivorous predator hunting during the daytime, preying on mayflies, moths, and smaller dragonflies and damselflies, which they capture mid-flight. They rely on their finely tuned eyesight to identify potential prey and use their antennae to sense wind current, their strong wing muscles allow them to hover in place and then strike, intercepting their flying target. They hold their forward facing legs in a kind-of basket formation, scooping their meal out of the air. Their strong mandibles crush and tear their prey’s exoskeleton, allowing them to feed on it.
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In the dream
A swirl of color, fragmented,
whirling shuddering light
pixels pointillism
And I hold my beloved, dressed in red, softly and we tumble together falling and flying and flying
in the dream
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The Greek Red Damsel is native to southeastern Europe, to three distinct subpopulations in Greece and Albania. One subpopulation in southwestern Albania, in the county of Vlorë. One subpopulation on the Greek Island of Corfu, and one in the northeast of the Greecian Peloponnese peninsula.
This is a Mediterranean bioregion, with warm dry summers and mild wet winters, high temperatures reach into the 90s °F in the summer and lows average in the 40s°f in the winter, and sees a rough average of 30inches per year of rainfall.
The Greek Red Damsel’s specific habitat is freshwater ecosystems, clear brooks and sometimes slow-flowing streams with abundant vegetation. The Corfu habitat includes ditches and slow rivers, while the Peloponnese populations inhabit mountain brooklets. One study suggests that the damselfly is unable to survive in habitats that dry out during the hot summer months, needing year-round, slow-flowing freshwater access.
Though researchers have not directly correlated this as a habitat requirement, it is also interesting to note that all the remaining subpopulations are found less than about 15 miles from the ocean, specifically the Ionian Sea and the Gulf of Corinth.
The Greek Red Damsel shares it’s Mediterranean habitat with:
Beech Marten, European Green Toad, Emperor Dragonfly, Soft Rush, Arrowhead, Willow, Golden Jackal, Spiked Water-Milfoil, European Water-Plantain, Sardinian Warbler, Pondweed, Kingfisher, European Otter, Common Reed, Agile Frog, Water Starwort, Alder, Swallowtail Butterfly, Kestrel, Greek Marsh Frog, Cleopatra Butterfly, Balkan Terrapin, Hedgehog, Woodchat Shrike, Sedge, Mayfly, Stonefly, Stonewort, Red Fox, and many many more.
Historically and currently the Greek Red Damsel population is primarily threatened by habitat loss and degradation.
The natural brooks and small rivers of its habitat have historically been drained, diverted, or profoundly modified for agricultural irrigation. The construction of artificial concrete channels destroys the aquatic plant life rendering these built waterways uninhabitable for the Greek Red Damsel.
Water pollution is also a concern. Agricultural runoff (pesticides and fertilizers) and urban wastewater contaminants can directly harm the larvae of the Greek Red Damsel, and degrade water quality, reducing oxygen levels impacting the aquatic ecosystem that the damselfly depends upon.
Human induced climate change is an emerging threat. The increased frequency and intensity of summer droughts in the Mediterranean region directly affects the water level and even dries out some of the small streams and brooks that the Greek Red Damsel requires. Increasingly severe drought conditions will lead to the direct mortality of larvae and the loss of suitable breeding habitat.
It is important to note the ways in which these threats are intertwined. For example, water extraction for irrigation lowers stream flows, making the remaining water more susceptible to higher concentrations of pollution. And increasing the likelihood that the stream will completely run dry during a drought.
Dragonfly and Damselfly researchers across the EU note that because waterways cross borders and water management is not site-specific, like agricultural overuse can affect habitats miles upstream. So to address habitat degradation, we need more than just localized site protection. Proper conservation will require integrated regional and even international water resource management policies, alongside site protection.
Due to the very recent recognition of its endangered status, the Greek Red Damsel is not currently legally protected nor is its habitat. There is no conservation activity for this species.
The Greek Red Damsel has been considered critically endangered on the IUCN Red List since 2023 and their population is currently in decline.
Our most recent counts estimate that less than 1000 Greek Red Damsel remain in the wild.
Citations 26:27
Information for today’s show about the Greek Red Damsel was compiled from:
Atlas of the European dragonflies and damselflies. De Knijf et al. 2015. “Pyrrhosoma elisabethae.” In: Boudot, J.-P. & V.J. Kalkman (eds.). KNNV publishing, the Netherlands.- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291165298_Atlas_of_the_European_dragonflies_and_damselflies
Hydrobiologia. vol. 811. 269-282. Kalkman, Vincent & Boudot, Jean-Pierre & Bernard, Rafał & De Knijf, Geert & Suhling, Frank & Termaat, Tim. (2018). “Diversity and conservation of European dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata)”. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-017-3495-6
International Journal of Odonatology. vol. 9. 175-184. Kalkman, Vincent & Lopau, Wolfgang. (2012). Identification of Pyrrhosoma elisabethae with notes on its distribution and habitat (Odonata: Coenagrionidae). – https://doi.org/10.1080/13887890.2006.9748276
IUCN - https://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2023-1.RLTS.T60274A208811863.en
Journal of the British Dragonfly Society. Volume 26. Number 1. April 2010. “The Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula (Sulzer) with notes on its close relative the Greek Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma elisabethae.” Mill, Peter J. – https://british-dragonflies.org.uk/what-we-do/our-publications/
Journal of Zoology, v. 317, issue 1. 1–9. Suárez-Tovar, C. M., Guillermo-Ferreira, R., Cooper, I. A., Cezário, R. R., & Córdoba-Aguilar, A. (2022). “Dragon colors: the nature and function of Odonata (dragonfly and damselfly) coloration.” – https://doi.org/10.1111/jzo.12963
Libellula, vol. 32 issue 3/4: 159-174. Brochard C. and van der Ploeg E. 2013a. “Description of the exuvia and larva of Pyrrhosoma elisabethae (Odonata: Coenagrionidae)”. – https://www.libellula.org/libellula/libellula-band-32-34/
The Science of Nature. vol. 112, no. 8. 21 Jan. 2025. Cezário, Rodrigo Roucourt et al. “Polarized vision in the eyes of the most effective predators: dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata).” – https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-025-01959-3
Music 27:59
Pledge 33:51
I honor the lifeforce of the Greek Red Damsel. I will commit its name to my record. I am grateful to have shared time on our planet with this being. I lament the ways in which I and my species have harmed and diminished this species. I grieve.
And so, in the name of the Greek Red Damsel I pledge to reduce my consumption. And my carbon footprint. And curb my wastefulness. I pledge to acknowledge and attempt to address the costs of my actions and inactions. And I pledge to resist the harm of plant or animal kin or their habitat, by individuals, corporations, and governments.
I pledge my song to the witness and memory of all life, to a broad celebration of biodiversity, and to the total liberation of all beings.
