Coenagrion mercuriale

Coenagrion mercuriale
Male, Parsonage Moor, Oxfordshire
Female, Dry Sandford Pit, Oxfordshire
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Odonata
Suborder: Zygoptera
Family: Coenagrionidae
Genus: Coenagrion
Species:
C. mercuriale
Binomial name
Coenagrion mercuriale
(Charpentier, 1840)

Coenagrion mercuriale, the southern damselfly, is a species of damselfly in the family Coenagrionidae. It is found in Algeria, Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Morocco, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Tunisia, and the United Kingdom. Its natural habitats are rivers and freshwater springs. It is threatened by habitat loss.

The specific part of the scientific name, mercuriale, is because of the distinctive markings on the second segment of the abdomen that resembles the astrological symbol for the planet Mercury - . This also gives the species an alternative common name of mercury bluet.