Lower Moor Farm NR, Wiltshire, UK
Family : Libellulidae
Subfamily : Libellulinae
Species : Libellula depressa
The Broad-bodied Chaser is well named with its distinctive broad abdomen and is instantly recognisable with the dark brown patches at the base of its wings. It is a very common dragonfly found throughout a large part of Europe with its range extending as far as Central Asia and parts of the Middle East. The species exhibits distinct sexual dimorphism with the male abdomen being blue and the female an ochreous-yellow. Young males are also yellow before they change colour with maturity. It is a medium sized dragonfly with the total length from head to tail being 40-48mm and the wing length being 32-38mm.
Flight period is from May to September. Habitat is a wide range of still waters but favouring small shallow ponds with a good sunny aspect. They are very fast flyers and the males are very territorial and will fiercely defend their patch against rival males and other dragonflies.
All my insect pics are single, handheld shots of live insects.
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