With the weather warming up dragonflies abound! Jan Shields braved the heat at Whixall Moss at the weekend and saw a male teneral Southern Hawker (left) still very pale and yet to develop full coloration. Jan also saw this Four-spotted Chaser form praenubila (below left) – so named because they have far more black coloration around the 4 spots on the wing nodes and sometimes at the wing tips as seen here. Many pairs were also mating such as these White-faced Darters (below right).
Elsewhere at the Bog pool on the Stiperstones Curious Raven saw a number of Emperors alongside Common Blue Damselflies, Azure Damselflies (far below left) and Large Red Damselflies (far below right). The photo of the Azures show clearly the coenagrion spur or ‘snooker cue’ visible on the side of the thorax.
