Warm and sunny so headed down to Kibblesworth Brickworks. The area was alive with Azure Damselflies and 30+ Four-spotted Chaser. There were smaller numbers of Common Blue, Blue-tailed and Large Red Damsels and the first couple of Common Darter were heading for the trees to dry. A Great Diving Beetle was hunting near the surface of the main pond. Surprisingly there were not loads of butterflies, but there were Large, Small and Dingy Skipper, Small Heath, Common Blue, Red Admiral, Small Tortoiseshell, Wall, Peacock, Spotted Wood and Small White.
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| Four-spotted Chaser |
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| Common Darter |
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| Great Diving Beetle |
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| Large Skipper |
At Burdon Moor 2 male Broad-bodied Chaser were dogfighting and not stopping for photos, but 3 females were perched up, well away from the battling males.
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| Female Broad-bodied Chaser |
I returned later when it had cooled a bit and the chasers were all perched up, the following two were out in the open.
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| Female and Male Broad-bodied Chaser |
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| Male Broad-bodied Chaser |
Nice pics Rob but your dragons need to be re-classified as the Broad-bodied Chasers are all male, the yellowish ones are immatures, becoming blue in time. The way to tell is by the anal appendages. On the males they are quite long and sprout from the centre, on females they are further apart and very short.
ReplyDeleteAlso the abdomen of the male is quite narrow and parallel-sided compared to the rounded shape of the female, on the photo of the two you have together they are basically the same in all but colour.
Cheers.
Cheers Alan. Please keep me on the straight and narrow! Hawkers are out soon and I find them hard to ID, never mind sex.
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