Lestes forcipula

Stephens, J. F., 1836, Illustrations of British Entomology; Mandibulata (excerpt), London: Baldwin and Cradock : 78

Sp. 3. forcipula . Supra lateribusque viridi-cenea, nitens, abdomine subtusflavescente, thoracis lateribus maris coeruleo pulveratis, fceminse luteis, pedibus atris. (Long. corp. 18—19 lin.; Exp. Alar. 21—22 lin.)

Ag. forcipula . Charpentier, Horoe Ent. p. 6.— Le. autumnalis . Steph. Catal. 308. No. 3422.

Head dull brassy-green, the mouth yellowish; tips of the mandibles black; collar with a yellowish margin behind; thorax above dull brassy-green, with three faint yellowish streaks, the sides and space between the wings covered with a fine blue bloom, on a dusky ground; abdomen brassy-green above, yellowish below, the terminal segments with a blue bloom; caudal appendages of the males black, sometimes luteous at the base; legs black, occasionally yellowish beneath, especially at the base; wings with a black or fuscous stigma. The female has the sides of the thorax luteous, without the blue gloss.

Found abundantly in some of the marshy districts in the vicinity of the Thames, especially about Plaistow in Essex; also taken in the New Forest, in Devonshire, near Ripley, &c.