Aeshna grandis (female)

The male Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator) is easily recognised by its large size, green thorax and light blue abdomen:

The female is less colourful, but should be recognizable:

The most common species is Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum). This is very common during Summer and Autumn at Hurst Grange Park. The juveniles are yellow. As they get older, females turn brown, and eventually, if they live long enough, may show some red along the top of the abdomen. As males mature, they turn orange, which can deepen into red as they get older.

Some species of damselflies look very much alike, and are hard to tell apart except at close quarters.

Blue Tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans) is fairly straight-forward for the male, but the females come in various colour forms, and so can be confusing for the beginner (especially as one form lacks a blue tail light).

When mature, dragonflies spend their active time feeding or reproducing.

In all British dragonflies, the larva, after they hatch from the egg, live in fresh water. Since the egg is layed in or close to the water, and since males spend much of their active time searching for egg-laying females to mate with, dragonflies are most easily seen at these fresh-water bodies.

Dragonflies form an ancient order (Odonata) of the lower insects. The order is tropical in origin, so they love warmth. They don't like cold, wet or windy conditions.

They are divided into two sub-orders - the zygoptera (Damselflies), and the anisoptera (traditionally also called Dragonflies, to avoid ambiguity the name Warriorflies has recently been proposed).

Aeshna grandis

Lestes sponsa (pool D)

Sympetrum striolatum (male)