Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)



One sunny afternoon in August we were sat by our garden pond and were fascinated to watch a pair of common darter dragonflies.The female was dabbing her tail into the water weed at intervals of about one second laying an egg with each dip. As she did this the male (see photo) sat nearby on the stones watching the proceedings and every now and again he would take off, do a quick patrol to ensure there were no rivals about before returning to the same stone. All in all this took about 20 minutes and was a real pleasure to witness.

The common darter is probably our most common dragonfly species and can be found near still water almost anywhere.

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