The Four spotted Chaser Nymph

After finding a few Broad bodied Chaser the other day at Nethergong campsite, I decided to visit a site near Reculver over the weekend where during the season, a good number of Four spotted Chaser were seen on the wing. I hoped that during a dipping session that I could maybe find a nymph or two of this species and maybe learn more on their identification from the Broad bodied Chaser. Armed with nets, pots, magnifying glass and flask, I was soon catching a few damselfly nymphs and after a good search, I did indeed find two Chaser nymphs. Having a good look through the magnifying glass and comparing it to photos in the 'Field Guide to the Larvae and Exuviae of British Dragonflies', I straight away noted a yellow fleck on each side of the labial mask, an indicator that this was indeed a Chaser nymph and not a skimmer as this mark is absent in this species. It also appeared to show more shallow serrations on the labial palps and in some shots, the tips of the eyes appeared to be below the level of the head but getting the right angle for photos was a bit more trickier. I have only seen a couple of Broad bodied Chaser at this site over the past few years so the chance that they are Four spotted Chaser given the evidence is quite good but please correct me if I am incorrect. I spent some time taking a number of photos at home in my indoor tank and managed a few pleasing efforts but I feel to capture more detail on them, I need to revisit how I am photographing them and in all honesty, I need a 100mm macro lens for this close up work of the small nymphs. I also managed to get a number of probable Common Darter nymphs, some only a few millimetres in length which I also struggled to photograph but I will post these later in the week.

Four spotted Chaser Nymph