Early season in South Cumbria; dragonflies, butterflies, and other invertebrates

May-mid June, 2013:
Quite a wide range of invertebrates finally emerged once the cold spring weather had abated. Some of those which were photographed are shown below.

Duke of Burgundy Fritillary

Northern Brown Argus

Emperor, female ovipositing

Four-spotted Chaser, female ovipositing

Beautiful Demoiselle, female

Chrysotoxum bicinctum, a hoverfly

Black-headed Cardinal Beetle (Pyrochroa coccinea)

Cryptocephalus sericeus, beetles

Emperors, Hawkers and Darters at Brockholes Wetlands

July 23, 2011:
Being warm and sunny today and with only a mild breeze, this made ideal conditions for dragonflies. There were large numbers of Common Darters flying, most of which were immatures. A male Emperor incessantly patrolled one of the small pools and on the single occasion when it briefly settled, provided an opportunity for a photograph. The damselflies present here were mainly Common Blues.




[Male Emperor]




[Common Darters spent much of the time sunning themelves on nearby alders]

DRAGONFLY: Emperor at Foulshaw Moss, Cumbria

July 23, 2010:
In intermittent late afternoon sunshine at the small pool at Foulshaw, a male Emperor (Anax imperator) restlessly quartered the water.



I watched it for over an hour and it never settled even for a moment throughout this time although on three occasions it successfully chased off an intruding male. Eventually, a female arrived at the pool and then within seconds, after a brief flurry, the pair were settled down in the vegetation. So this was a rare opportunity to get a photo of these mobile insects.




[Male]

DRAGONFLY: Emperors (Anax imperator) at Brockholes, Lancashire

June 20, 2010:
A warm and sunny Sunday morning appeared promising for dragonflies so a walk round some of the more remote pools at Brockholes with Allen Holmes seemed likely to produce good results. A stiff breeze from the north-west at first kept numbers down but later when this subsided, several species were seen. Perhaps of greatest interest was the presence of at least seven male Emperors distributed over three of the smaller pools. All had clearly defined territories and immediately drove off approaching males as well as the frequent Black-tailed Skimmers. The Emperors flew very quickly but at one stage, and quite unusually, a male settled on a bank giving a rare opportunity for a photograph.





A female Emperor could be seen ovipositing on submerged water-weed towards the middle of one of the pools, remaining stationary for a while and bending and inserting its lower abdomen into the water, occasionally buzzed by a male Black-tailed Skimmer.



[Emperor ovipositing, buzzed by a male Black-tailed Skimmer below]



On another occasion a female Broad-bodied Chaser also oviposited but used a different technique to the Emperor, very briefly dipping and trailing its abdomen over the water surface, moving on all the time, and attended and protected throughout by a male.


[Broad-bodied Chaser ovipositing, male above]

Common Blue and Blue-tailed damselflies, Four-spotted Chasers and a single Banded Demoiselle were also seen as well as Small Tortoiseshell and Large Skipper butterflies. Thanks to Allen whose sharp eyes spotted the perched male Emperor (and much else).


[Black-tailed Skimmer, male]