Common darter (Sympetrum vulgatum) belongs to the larger species of dragonflies and typically reaches 35 to 40 mm in length, and its wingspan measures about 5.5 cm. The abdomen of the male of the common darter is typically red. If we approach it carefully we can see that its abdomen is noticeably club-shaped, but not as much as the abdomen of the blood-red darter. For the common darter, a uniformly brown-coloured thorax is very characteristic, and its eyes are brown.
The body of the female is yellow. The dorsal side of her narrow, club-shaped abdomen is adorned with thin longitudinal stripes, one in the middle and one along the edge of each segment. She is very similar to the females of most other dragonfly species, so she can be reliably distinguished only by the shape and arrangement of the vulvar scale – a structure on the ventral side just before the end of the abdomen. This 'scale' in the female of the common darter has the shape of an equilateral triangle, and its rear edge is set distinctly perpendicular to the abdomen.
The common darter inhabits various types of standing bodies of water with dense and lush bank vegetation. Suitable living conditions are found primarily in ponds, gravel pits, and clay pits.
The common darter is an autumn species. Adults are mostly seen flying from July to September, although the earliest ones fly as early as June, and the most persistent ones fly even into November.
