Shropshire Birder
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Shropshire
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Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea)
A locally common species where the breeding requirement for standing acidic water from lakes to boggy pools can be met. Another species with a late period on the wing, from July to September. The male has a dark body with pairs of blue dots and yellow flecks along the abdomen. The female is brown with a similar pattern to the male but the dots are normally yellow. Both sexes have a dignostic yellow costa (leading edge to the wing) only likely to be obvious when at rest. Females can be separated from Brown Hawkers by their unstained wings.
A series of flight images a a male Common Hawker. Note the narrow yellow antehumeral stripes and waisted abdomen. The stripes on the side of the thorax and narrower than those on Southern Hawker. Interesting to see how the legs are folded beneathe the thorax during flight. ....
A female ovipositing at Whixall Moss, yellow dots and stripes along the abdomen. The yellow costa or leading edge to the wings is clearly visible at the wing base ....
Another view, broad yellow stripes to the side of the thorax and abdominal marks.
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