This is a medium-sized (50mm) dragonfly with both sexes having a noticeably
clubbed tail. Specific requirements for slow moving rivers with plenty
of silt and adjacent tree cover mean this is a local dragonfly, but can
be abundant where found.
In common with
most UK enthusiasts I've so far only encountered
freshly-emerged or teneral individuals close to
the site of emergence. In 2016 I intend to seek
out the adults along the Thames.
From the
little written the males patrol away from shore
but frequently perch on bankside vegetation,
although it's often quoted they disappear into the
treeline. Besides the River Thames they are also
resident on the Severn, Wye, Dee and Arun.
Despite having a reputation as scarce it's more
likely that they're just under-recorded throughout
their range, a problem which hopefully will be
addressed with the introduction of the
irecord app for mobile devices.
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