Southern Hawker

Aeshna cyanea

Large, solitary, and inquisitive. This hawker hunts along woodland paths often late into warm evenings and often away from water. Breeding takes place in well-vegetated ponds. Males are dark with bright blue and green markings. Occasionally males with all-blue markings occur. Females are brown with bright green markings. Immatures of both sexes have brown eyes and their bodies are brown with light yellow markings. Several dragonflies have shoulder-stripes, however those belonging to the Southern Hawker are usually broader which can assist with identification. The female shown above is ovipositing, a behaviour where they jab their abdomen into materials like wood or rotting vegetation to lay eggs.