Not Lepidoptera (dragons!)

[geniculata]

having read through your quote again now im home from work, ive taken in the important words "all females", this meaning that this is merely a colour phase that they go through before reaching their typical colouration. reading the term "form" applied to it in my wildguides book gave me the impression that it was a form in entirety. ill just have to pop back and see if i can get some images of the typical forms "adult" now.
thanks for your as ever concise input guy.

gary.

[Padfield]

I think that's right, though I've never seen this species myself!

The British version of Dijkstra and Lewington - Brooks and Lewington - focuses less on detailed field and hand ID and includes more information on ecology and behaviour (it has many fewer species to deal with!). It notes that males will readily form tandem with the 'bright orange immature aurantiaca females, which do not contain mature eggs. At present it is not know whether females are able to store sperm until the eggs mature'.

Guy

[Malcolm Farrow]

Thought I'd join the fun. Common by name they may be, but wonderful nonetheless!

[Shirley Roulston]

Found this one in the garden to-day, not sure what it is but I think I saw one earlier on this thread.

Shirley

[Padfield]

That's a female broad-bodied chaser, Shirley. I've been seeing this species out here, too - the dragons have only just started coming on the wing here.

Guy

[eccles]

Female black tailed skimmer found at Shapwick Heath on Friday.

[geniculata]

some images i took of azure damselflys in a garden in barton-on-sea at a the weekend.

gary.

[xmilehigh]

Great shots everyone, Whilst out with Eccel's this afternoon we were lucky enough to seen this Downey Emerald stop for a quick rest





Keep em coming, excellent thread

[Charles Nicol]

this was taken on Monday at Belton's Hill near Spaldwick, Cambs:

Charles

[owen figgis]

Took this shot of a 4 spot chaser a few days ago.

Owen

[eccles]

A belated addition to Xmilehigh's female downy, a male of the same species snapped at the same location, Priddy Mineries.

[hammer]

Beautiful shot Eccles.

Colin.

[Matsukaze]

Masses of Beautiful Demoiselles along the old railway line at Midford south of Bath at present.

[hammer]

Made a trip to Whixall moss on Friday in search of the white faced darter. the weather was not that good,although it was dry and sunny at times it was still not warm enough for dragonflies, but i still managed to see approx 9. they are a bit tricky to photograph, you have to rely on finding them along the footpaths as you cannot go chasing after them off the footpaths or you could end up sinking ten feet under, but i did manage to get some decent shots of an immature male.

Colin.

[eccles]

Colin, nice catch - another one that I've never seen. This thread keeps on getting better!
If you try for dragons in flight, eventually if you shoot enough you'll maybe get one. I shot dozens of downy emerald at Priddy Mineries this afternoon and got two, including this one.

[hammer]

Excellent eccles. I was hoping to get some flight shots last week of downy emeralds at Wake valley pond in Epping forest and at the Moat pond at Thursley common,unfortunately the weather was not warm enough and i only saw a few, i tried last year and got some. Downy emerald is excellent for flight shots as they tend to hover long enough to get the picture, red veined darters are the same.

Colin.

[GsButterflies]

Hi All,

I'm new to Dragon's and would like to ask for a little help / confirmation on a couple of Damselfly's ID'S both images where taken on 16th June in the New Forest.

No: 1, Emerald Damselfly ~ female
No: 2, Azure Damselfly ~ female

Also could anybody recommend a good field guide.

Thanks in advance.

G

[fourwings]

I spent last weekend at Strumpshaw fen in Norfolk, as well as seeing loads of Swallowtails there were also a good number of Norfolk Hawkers on territory in the meadows around the ditches and with a bit of patience they were posing nicely for the cameras. These have to be my favourite Dragon, such an enigmatic and scarce species.
Just a couple of images from last weekend.

[xmilehigh]

Awesome Dragon & Damsel shots all.

GsButterflies,

For field guides I can recommend the following books. Both are excellent & cost 18.95 & 21.95 GBP respectively. The documentation & illustrations are absolutely superb IMHO.

1. Field Guide to the Dragonflies & Damselflies of Great Britain & Ireland : Steve Brooks - Illustrated by Richard Lewington.

2. Field Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain & Europe. : Klaas-Douwe B Dijkstra - Illustrated by Richard Lewington (Also contains Damselflies)

Cheers

[cjs]

Yes Both your Id's look good and agree with the books just mentioned.