English name: Vagrant Emperor.
Like all members of the emperor dragonfly family, the Vagrant Emperor tends to patrol its territory back and forth and drive away any intruder.
In some information sources, the Vagrant Emperor is assigned to a different genus from the other emperors, and appears as -
Hemianax ephippiger.
Distribution: An essentially African and Middle Eastern species that occasionally reaches Europe in migratory waves.
Size:  Large, but slightly smaller than the Blue Emperor (about 6 cm).
Habitat: In small pools with shallow standing water and marshes, and it does not shy away from brackish water. The floating plants in the water are used by the female for laying eggs, while the male is usually attached to her and makes sure she does not mate with other males. But during migration it can be found in any habitat.
Season: Throughout the year (according to data from Turkey).

Identification marks
The Vagrant Emperor is similar to and closely related to the Blue Emperor, but differs from it in several characteristics:
Eye color is brown.
In side view, the male's thorax appears two-toned: brown in the upper part, and green in the lower part.
The abdomen is brown and a black stripe runs along it. The second segment of the male's abdomen is blue, and the color does not extend to the third segment or to the sides of the second segment. In the female's abdomen the blue color is very faded and sometimes completely absent; in young males it appears pale purple or pinkish.
There are 2-3 black stripes on the head in front of the eyes.
Another important identification mark among the three common emperor species is the structure of the male appendages. At the bottom of the page there is a drawn comparison between the three species.

Similar species:
Blue Emperor