Emperor Dragonfly
Anax imperator
The largest of the county's dragonflies, a powerful insect, wary and difficult to approach. It is most usually seen on territory, hunting over a waterbody, swooping and darting with amazing speed and agility. In flight the male appears a striking turquoise blue, the female a dullish green, but the absence of spots on the abdomen separates them from the other hawker types. At rest a dark line can be seen running down the middle of the abdomen.
Favoured habitats include big ponds, gravel pits, canals and slow flowing rivers with abundant marginal vegetation. The flight period is from early June to late August. On several occasions continental specimens are thought to have bred at Gibraltar Point - the females being coloured blue as the in the male forms.
It is never particularly numerous where it is found due to its very territorial behaviour. It is found predominantly in the south-east of the county, and very much towards the northern limit of its national distribution, few records occurring north of the Humber / Dee line.
Distribution map
