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Newly emerged dragonfly?: |
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Ellie23 Member Joined: 29 May 2006 No. of posts: 7  View other posts by Ellie23 |
Posted: 21 Jun 2006 I spotted this in a pony 'footprint' about 4 inches deep. Would you agree that it is a newly hatched dragonfly?  |
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GemmaJF Admin Group Joined: 25 Jan 2003 No. of posts: 2090  View other posts by GemmaJF |
Posted: 21 Jun 2006 Nice find Ellie, it certainly is a newly hatched dragonfly, the discarded larval casing is visible in the photograph. I won't attempt an identitification with no colours to go on! Gemma Fairchild, Independent Ecological Consultant |
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Ellie23 Member Joined: 29 May 2006 No. of posts: 7 View other posts by Ellie23 |
Posted: 21 Jun 2006 Thanks. It was difficult to photograph because of where it was, I was pretty sure it was the larval case but couldn't get any closer to see. I'm still a little bemused to have found it in a hole in the ground instead of on a waterside plant. |
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Peter Senior Member Joined: 17 Jan 2008 No. of posts: 260 View other posts by Peter |
Posted: 24 May 2008 Apologies for my delayed response, I have only just noticed this thread The animal featured in the image is definately one of the larger Dragonfly species and a newly emerged or "Teneral" individual at that. It is very difficult to make an accurate species ID from that angle unfortunately. Habitat, locality and details of the situation would help. The head of the exuvia (empty larval case) looks to be a Libellula. The muddy substrate would then suggest L.depressa, the broad bodied chaser. This species is widespread and common throughout southern England and Wales, and has expanded into the North of England in the last few years. Emergence is usually well synchronised and occurs over a period of a few weeks from mid May. Emerging on a mud bank is not that usual however. Such behaviour tends towards Orthetrum cancellatum, the Black tailed skimmer. This species is quite common in southern England, parts of Wales and central Ireland. Emergence occurs in early morning from late May to July. L.depressa http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk/lidep.html O.cancellatum http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk/orcan.html It is often possible to get teneral animals to climb up on to your finger and then from there to climb onto some other vegetation if you need to get more detailed shots, dorsal views etc. They do need to be kept vertical or else the wings can collapse sideways and that is the end of the individuals flying days. You can also collect the exuvia which can be identified to species. 
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Ellie23 Member Joined: 29 May 2006 No. of posts: 7 View other posts by Ellie23 |
Posted: 24 May 2008 No need to apologise, thank you for taking the time to make such a lengthy and careful reply. I appreciate it. Unfortunately I no longer have the original picture, it was lost along with a hard drive and backup CDs don't seem to work any more, which is a bit disheartening. I spotted it about here which ties in with the geographical areas you've mentioned. It was close to the edge of a large natural 'pond', where the mud had been churned up by local animals. A really odd place for an insect to emerge. |
- Newly emerged dragonfly? |
