Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) Nymph

With the weekend finally here, I decided after visiting Reculver for some birding to drive over to Grove Ferry for some dipping. I spent a couple of hours dipping in various dykes hoping to once again, find a Small Red eyed Damselfly nymph but despite netting various damselfly nymphs and scrutinising them with the 10X hand lens, I failed to find anything which ticked all the boxes. As ever, I shall keep persevering with this challenge and hope to connect with a nymph in due coarse. There were plenty of other nymphs to keep me occupied and I managed to net 4 Emperor Dragonfly nymphs of varying sizes, 2 Norfolk Hawker nymphs which were identified and then returned back to the water straight away, 1 Southern Hawker nymph and 5 Hairy Dragonfly nymphs. However, the pride of place had to go to the Brown Hawker nymph which was netted and then brought home for a photography session in my indoor tank this afternoon before being returned back to the ditch tomorrow morning. This is only the third Brown Hawker nymph I have ever netted but despite its size of 20mm, the features to identify it stood out well. Most noticeable were the pale stripes on the side of the thorax which extend to the back of the head behind the eye as well as the distinct banding on the legs. The broad mask was also noted as well as the tip shape of the epiproct. After returning home, I spent an hour this afternoon taking a number of photos of the nymph which hopefully show off some, if not all of the features mentioned of this elusive species. With April just around the corner, it won't be long until the first Large Red Damselflies emerge. I will have to start monitoring my pond from next week to see if I can see them moving into the shallows in preparation to emerge which hopefully I may be able to photograph. Exciting times are nearly here!

 

Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis) Nymph showing pale stripes on side of thorax

extending to the back of the head and distinct banding on legs