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Image-of-the-Day by Subject
Dragonflies & Damselflies Page 9
Image Taken on 24 May 2009
at 13:39 Image of day on 14 Jun 2009
This Broad Bodied Chaser Dragonfly obliged with just this one flight
across the camera field
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20090614_d01_20090524_1339_038+1403_128 ft1 broad bodied chaser dragonfly male in flight with flag iris leaf (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Jul 2010
at 11:19 Image of day on 16 Aug 2010
This Broad bodied Chaser is one of the unmistakable dragonflies.
Only the male of this species has the blue pruinescence - a
powdery blue coating that gets patchy over the weeks that the
insect lives.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20100816_df1_20100705_1119_014 broad bodied chaser dragonfly male on desiccated stem (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 04 Jul 2022
at 17:41 Image of day on 22 Aug 2022
A couple of times in the last few weeks we have shown you the orange
female of the Broad Bodied Chaser. Here at last we see the very different male.
The blue colour (called Pruinescence) is a powder that can be rubbed off
and you can see a few patches missing on this individual.
The Pruinescence is very bright in Ultra-violet light - you can see an old
set of images of this at
Broad Bodied Chaser in UV
.jpg)
Ref: 20220822_d72_20220704_1741_035 broad bodied chaser dragonfly male perched in tree on duck pond island(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 24 May 2009
at 13:55 Image of day on 14 Jun 2009
We include this static shot taken later to show the wonderful
powder blue abdomen (and it really is powdery and gets worn off
with 'living'). The blue is a strictly male feature - the female
is orange and not a powder.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20090614_d01_20090524_1355_106 ft1 broad bodied chaser dragonfly male top view (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 18 Jun 2024
at 16:23 Image of day on 19 Jul 2024
This Broad Bodied Chaser Dragonfly is perched on the tip of a flowering Nettle
making what we think is a rather interesting contrast.
.jpg)
Ref: 20240719_r70_20240618_1623_035 broad bodied chaser dragonfly on top of flowering nettle(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 04 Jun 2015
at 12:54 Image of day on 09 Aug 2015
A first for us here is seeing both male and female Broad Bodies Chaser
Dragonflies at the same time on one pond. This is the female
some 5 metres from the male.
.jpg)
Ref: 20150809_df3_20150604_1254_004 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 14 Jun 2022
at 18:03 Image of day on 02 Aug 2022
A moderately regular visitors is the Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly.
This female was fluttering from perch to perch - here is a little celebration.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20220802_df3_20220614_1803_412+1756_388+1801_401 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female - great willow herb + blackberry (montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 02 Jun 2024
at 15:34 Image of day on 01 Jul 2024
The (at least) two immature Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonflies spotted a few days ago
have now matured and we have both males and females. This is a female.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20240701_r70_20240602_1534_056 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female 1 of 2 (crop)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 21 May 2023
at 17:51 Image of day on 25 Jul 2023
A female Broad-bodied chaser in the evening sunlight gave us a few minutes to enjoy her
- albeit some 4 metres away over impenetrable brambles.
The male has similar body form but the body is powder (literally) blue.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20230725_df3_20230521_1751_509 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female 4 of 4 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 10 May 2011
at 15:07 Image of day on 09 Jun 2011
Our first Dragonfly (as opposed to Damselfly) sighting this year is a Broad-Bodied
Chaser female (actually seen briefly on 9 May 2011).
We think this is the first sighting in Buckinghamshire this year
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20110609_db1_20110510_1507_010 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female hanging from blackthorn (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 02 Jun 2024
at 18:09 Image of day on 01 Jul 2024
So far all the Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonflies have been spotted
well away from water - perfectly normal.
Here this female spends several minutes hunting from this broken off stem
sticking out of the Duck Pond's water.
Read this bottom then top just an eighth of a second apart.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20240701_r70_20240602_1809_212+213 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female hunting from stem in duck pond 04+05 of 13 (montage)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 02 Jun 2024
at 18:11 Image of day on 01 Jul 2024
Another landing montaged into a single image, in reality taking about half a second.
We believe that the Dragonfly was hunting the cloud of midges low over the water.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20240701_r70_20240602_1811_238-241 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female hunting from stem in duck pond 06- 09 of 13 (imp montage)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 10 Jul 2018
at 12:33 Image of day on 27 Aug 2018
Here we have a female Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly. The male of the same
species has the back of the body covered in a powdery blue pruinescence.
.jpg)
Ref: 20180827_d72_20180710_1233_010 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female perched on leaf(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 10 May 2011
at 15:01 Image of day on 09 Jun 2011
A few minutes earlier 'grabbing' an image before going back to the
house for the 'macro' kit, we caught this view of the abdomen's translucence.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20110609_df1_20110510_1501_056 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly female underside backlit showing abdominal translucence (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 02 Jun 2024
at 18:02 Image of day on 01 Jul 2024
This male Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly is about the same size as the female (wingspan about 70mm)
but his abdominal segments are coated with this beautiful blue
pruinescence.
We know from experience from handling these insects that the blue power is rather
easy to rub off, and in fact the males gradually get a bit tatty as they brush the blue
powder on vegetation. The pruinescence reflects Ultra-violet (UV) light very well for some reason.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20240701_r70_20240602_1802_160 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly male 5 of 6 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Jun 2008
at 15:51 Image of day on 06 Jul 2008
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20080706_dc1_20080623_1551_049 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly male head detail (orig)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 04 Jun 2010
at 12:33 Image of day on 12 Jul 2010
This beautiful Broad-Bodied Chaser Dragonfly was using the withering
flag iris as a vantage point - it has no interest in pollen or nectar.
Shortly afterward an orange female flew by and he flew off after her.
The blue back (on the males only) is powdery and bright in Ultraviolet.
If you are interested see
Dragonflies in Ultraviolet
from part way down & the top item on the page that follows. They are NOT dead - just cold,
and like all the others flew off fine after warming in the sunshine.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20100712_df1_20100604_1233_015 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly male on withering flag iris flower (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 04 Jun 2015
at 13:58 Image of day on 09 Aug 2015
A first for us here is seeing both male and female Broad Bodies Chaser
Dragonflies at the same time on one pond. This is the male which you
can see he has already damaged a wing. Our experience is that
this sort of damage is most usually from being caught by brambles
or wild rose thorns. Dragonflies seem to be able to fly fine with
half their wing surface missing from encounters with thorns and
bird beaks.
He is perched on a Yellow Flag Iris flower but he is not
interested in nectar - he is a hunter using the flower only as
the highest nearby perch.
The blue back is a powder that gradually gets rubbed off. It is
very bright in UV light - see our UV section on the web site if interested.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20150809_df3_20150604_1358_318 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly male on yellow flag iris flower (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Jun 2008
at 13:55 Image of day on 06 Jul 2008
This is the first dragonfly we have seen here, with beautiful powder
blue (and powdery texture) abdomen. It has a wingspan of about 7cm.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20080706_dc1_20080623_1355_016 broad-bodied chaser dragonfly male perched on willow stick (web crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 15 Jun 2022
at 17:44 Image of day on 02 Aug 2022
A female Broad-bodied Chaser Dragonfly beautifully back-lit while
perched facing the camera on what looks like one of last years Teasel stems.
 stem(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20220802_df3_20220615_1744_544 broad-bodied chaser female dragonfly facing camera backlit on desiccated teasel (q) stem(r+mb id@768).jpg
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