Broom Flat-body vs Common Winter Damsel

Agonopterix scopariella compared with Sympecma fusca

Key Differences

• Broom Flat-body is Near Threatened while Common Winter Damsel is Least Concern.

Taxonomic Classification

Rank	Broom Flat-body	Common Winter Damsel
Kingdom same	Animalia (Animals)	Animalia (Animals)
Phylum same	Arthropoda (Arthropods)	Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Class same	Insecta (Insects)	Insecta (Insects)
Order	Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths)	Odonata (Odonata)
Family	Depressariidae	Lestidae
Genus	Agonopterix	Sympecma
Species	Agonopterix scopariella	Sympecma fusca

Evolutionary Relationship

Broom Flat-body and Common Winter Damsel share a common ancestor at the Class level: Insecta. (Insects)

Conservation Status

Broom Flat-body

NT — Near Threatened

Common Winter Damsel

LC — Least Concern

Physical Characteristics

Attribute	Broom Flat-body	Common Winter Damsel
Diet	—	—
Average Lifespan	—	—
Average Length	—	—
Average Weight	—	—

Habitat & Geographic Range

Broom Flat-body

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, and Sweden. Listed as Near Threatened, this species requires ongoing monitoring to prevent population decline.

Common Winter Damsel

Habitat

Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Range

Distributed across Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Sweden.

Broom Flat-body

The Broom Flat-Body (Agonopterix scopariella) is a species in the genus Agonopterix. It is currently classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List. Typically found in virtually all terrestrial and freshwater habitats.

Common Winter Damsel

<em>Sympecma fusca</em>, commonly known as the common winter damsel or common spreadwing, is a damselfly in the family Lestidae, classified as Least Concern by the IUCN. It is distributed across temperate Europe, with confirmed records from Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Sweden, and is one of the very few odonates in Europe that overwinters as an adult. This remarkable strategy distinguishes <em>Sympecma fusca</em> from most other damselflies, which overwinter in aquatic larval stages. Adults emerge in late summer, enter a reproductive diapause, and survive through autumn and winter by seeking sheltered terrestrial refugia such as dense vegetation, bark, or leaf litter. Mating and oviposition occur the following spring, typically from March onward. The species inhabits a range of standing and slow-moving freshwater habitats including ponds, marshes, ditches, and the margins of reed-fringed lakes, where larvae develop in aquatic vegetation. Like all lestid damselflies, adults hold their wings partly open at rest rather than folded over the abdomen as in most other damselflies. Biological traits including average adult lifespan, body length, and mass remain poorly documented in standardized databases, though the adult lifespan spanning overwintering can extend to several months. Ecologically, the common winter damsel contributes to freshwater invertebrate food webs as both a predatory adult and as aquatic larval prey for fish and other predators across its European range.

Shared Countries

Both species can be found in 3 countries:

🇧🇪 Belgium 🇩🇰 Denmark 🇸🇪 Sweden