Hairy Dragonfly
Brachytron pratense
Notable/Nb
The county's smallest hawker, the most immediate aid to identification is its early flight period, as it is on the wing in May, June into early July, so rarely coincides with the flight periods of the bigger hawkers.
Superficially resembling both the Common Hawker and the Migrant Hawker, close inspection will reveal a hairy thorax, indistinct or absent antehumeral stripes and a single yellow dot on the first abdominal segment. The male is dotted blue, the female yellow. It never overlaps in flight period with the most similar insect, the Migrant Hawker.
It is an elusive species, frequenting reedy areas, in which it often settles. It is susceptible to disturbance and intensive agricultural practises such as ditch clearing and the resultant eutrophication of water bodies have reduced its range. Recent records have shown a strong recovery in Cambridgeshire and although it has always been a county rarity, it has recently moved back into the south of the county in the Baston / Thurlby area. The only other currently reliable site is at Messingham, the county stronghold for some years. There has not been a definite record for several years from the south-west Lincoln gravel pits complex.
Recognised in the Lincolnshire Trust's Biodiversity Strategy report as a county endangered species.
Distribution map
Male
Female
