UPDATED CHECKLIST: An Adobe pdf version of the checklist as at December 2018 is available here (click to view/download - approx 10 MB).

View lists of Odonata: Dragonflies and Damselflies by eighth degree grid square

Pseudagrion massaicum
      Masai Sprite
   Mlawula

View photos in Biodiversity Explorer

Distribution: Common throughout much of South Africa, but rarely above 1300 m a.s.l., except in Limpopo. To North Africa.
Body Length: 31-35 mm
Hind Wing Length: 16.5-20.5 mm
Habitat: Well-vegetated ponds, pools and sluggish reaches of rivers, with lilies, reeds and sedges, and an abundance of submerged water weed and floating algal mats.
Flight Period: October to May
Features: Small, red-headed, vermilion red thorax, with bright blue pruinescent area between wing bases and cobalt blue abdominal tip. Stillwater throughout South Africa.
Comments: Occurrence in Eswatini confirmed by photos by Kate Braun and Gerhard Diedericks.

10 records, from 11/17/1959 to 10/19/2019

Information extracted from "Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa" by Michael J Samways, which also includes detailed descriptions of each species.