Northern emerald

{{Short description|Species of dragonfly}}

{{For |the Australian moth species with this common name |Prasinocyma rhodocosma{{!}}Prasinocyma rhodocosma}}

{{Speciesbox

| image = Somatochlora_arctica.JPG

| image_caption = Male

| status = LC

| status_system = IUCN3.1

| status_ref = {{cite iucn|author=Boudot, J.-P. |year=2020 |title= Somatochlora arctica |page= e.T165490A140528834 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2020-3.RLTS.T165490A140528834.en |access-date=23 May 2024}}

| taxon = Somatochlora arctica

| authority = (Zetterstedt, 1840)

| synonyms = {{Species list

| Aeshna arctica | Zetterstedt, 1840

| Cordulia subalpina | Selys, 1840

| Somatochlora gratiosa | Bartenev, 1919

}}

| synonyms_ref =

}}

The northern emerald (Somatochlora arctica) is a middle-sized species of dragonfly first described by Johan Wilhelm Zetterstedt in 1840. The male can be recognised by its pincer-like appendages and its narrow-waisted body. The female has distinctive orange-yellow spots on (only) the third segment of the abdomen.

This species lives in bogs and lays its eggs in very small water-filled depressions. It hunts between trees and avoids open spaces.

In Great Britain, it is only present in north-western Scotland and is confined to the south-western part of Ireland.{{cite web |url=http://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/northern-emerald |publisher=British Dragonfly Society |title=Somatochlora arctica - Northern Emerald |date=2011-05-28}} It is present in all of northern Eurasia. In Western Europe, it is present in alpine areas and wherever a suitable habitat can be found. It is found in the Rila mountains of Bulgaria.