The Povirni dragonfly (Cordulegaster bidentata) is the smallest representative of the genus Cordulegaster, yet one of the largest dragonflies we encounter in Slovenia. It measures between 69 and 83 mm in length, and the wingspan between 41 and 50 mm; larger individuals are usually females.
Dragonflies have a black body decorated with a yellow pattern and large green eyes, and on the thorax they have some elongated yellow marks. On each segment of the abdomen of the dawning dragonfly there is a yellow ring, which is seen from the side, triangular in shape. The most reliable, and the only distinguishing sign by which we separate this species from the similar large dragonfly (C. heros) is the shape or orientation of the small yellow spot on the lateral side of the first abdominal segment (just behind the thorax). This spot on the dawning dragonfly is located on the upper part of this segment and oriented obliquely upward toward the head, or it is placed perpendicular to the larger yellow spots on the thorax (with the large dragonfly it is parallel to the larger yellow spots on the thorax and located on the lower part of the first abdominal segment). The sexes are equally colored, they differ only in the shape of the tail appendages.
The larva of the dawning dragonfly does not really need much space for its development, as it lives in headwaters, as well as in the smallest streams and on the slopes through which water flows. The adults, however, tirelessly patrol over headwater pools and the beds of streams, where they lived as larvae, and only here and there do they rest on a branch of a shrub or a reed stem.
This is also a summer species, which emerges from the larva into adults during the summer, most often in the warmest months of the year. Adults can therefore be observed between June and August.
The dawning dragonfly is also endangered here and as a vulnerable species (V) is listed on the Red List.
