www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

Neither a butterfly nor a moth, but this dragonfly visited my brother's garden in West Hull over the weekend.

He didn't manage a shot directly over the top of it before it flew off.

Can anyone positively ID from these snaps ?

Cheers as always if so.

I'd go for migrant hawker, Aeshna mixta, though as much by elimination as anything else, as it's not conclusive on these views. The thoracic stripes are usually yellow, but I do have one photo of an individual with blue stripes like this.

Guy

Definitely Migrant Hawker. The narrow stripes on the side of the thorax combined with the pale "T" marking at the top of the abdomen (visible in one shot) confirm the ID.

Excellent - thanks very much both.

He'll be really chuffed to get a positive ID...and I promise I won't take the credit

I am definitely dragging him into the world of butterflies. He's already sent me Holly Blue pics from his garden with wings more open than I've ever achieved.

I found this report online, which backs both of you up (p54) in terms of the migrant hawker being the most commonly seen in the area.

http://www.yorkshiredragonflies.org.uk/ ... REPORT.pdf

So cheers again.