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Interesting Brown Hawker behaviour…

By August 12, 2019Blog

John Barratt has been observing Brown Hawkers on the wing at Cricklade and sent in these interesting pics. Males are often seen curling up the end of the abdomen in the process of transferring sperm, but here we have the female apparently mimicking the action. Discussing this with Bob Kemp reveals he has witnessed this behaviour in several of the hawker females and it is most likely a deterrent to the pursuing male. Another interesting tack to take having heard last year about female Common Hawkers dropping out of the sky and feigning death to avoid mating!