Fat dragonflies

Male Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa)

Our new pond has attracted a new couple – at least two Broad-bodied Chasers (Libellula depressa) that this week have spent long minutes perched on dead sticks that Mike positioned along the pond's edges. This is a distinctively "fat" dragonfly, easily identifiable by its short, broad abdomen. The male is blue while the female is golden-brown. Both have a row of yellow spots along the sides of the abdomen, and both have dark triangular marks at the base of their wings. According to the British Dragonfly Society, this species may be the first to colonize new ponds. It's typically found around ponds and small lakes, patrolling over the water's edge in swift flights and returning again and again to the same low perch (in our garden, that's the base of one of the sticks Mike put in). This is a common species in southern and central England and southern Wales. Elsewhere, it's one of the commonest dragonflies from Europe right across to central Asia. It flies from mostly from May through July, though it can be seen as early as April (in warmer years) and as late as September. We're hoping the female will decide to lay her eggs here, though the pond may not have enough vegetation yet to entice her to do so. If she likes the look of things, she'll hover over the pond, dipping her abdomen repeatedly into the water and dropping her eggs onto vegetation below the surface. There would certainly be plenty of pond life in there for her larvae to eat!

Female