[207] Libellula quadrimaculata, Four-spotted Chaser

[207] Libellula quadrimaculata, Four-spotted Chaser

Introduction

Libellula quadrimaculata, the Four-spotted Chaser, is a close relative of yesterday’s dragonfly with marked spots on its wings. In America it is called the Four-spotted Skimmer.

[It is probably worth noting that Britain and the USA often give species completely different common names. When I take my information from Wikipedia it sometimes prefers the American versions.]

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Odonata (Dragonflies and damselflies)

Infraorder – Anisoptera (Dragonflies)

Superfamily – Libelluloidea

Family – Libellulidae (Skimmers)

Genus – Libellula

Scientific Name – Libellula quadrimaculata

Name

I will let you use your knowledge of Latin to work out what quadrimaculata means, perhaps with a bit of help from [040] Lords and Ladies and the beetle we met four days ago.

Description

Male and female are both similar in shape to [206] Scarce Chaser with similarly coloured brown bodies. The spots on the otherwise clear wings are very obvious. Each wing has two spots making eight in total. You could say that either side is four-spotted – or the front wings or hind wings.

The larvae develop under water for two years eating other insects and sometimes tadpoles. Adults also eat small insects, mostly flies.

Habitat

Libellula quadrimaculata is found throughout Eurasia and North America. It is common and widespread throughout the UK and likes ponds and slow-moving water.

Other Notes

This dragonfly is the State Insect of Alaska.

[206] Libellula fulva, Scarce Chaser

[206] Libellula fulva, Scarce Chaser

Introduction

Libellula fulva, the Scarce Chaser, is a sexually dimorphic dragonfly. It’s either black and blue or brown.

Taxonomy

Kingdom – Animals

Phylum – Arthropods

Class – Insects

Order – Odonata (Dragonflies and damselflies)

Infraorder – Anisoptera (Dragonflies)

Superfamily – Libelluloidea

Family – Libellulidae (Skimmers)

Genus – Libellula

Scientific Name – Libellula fulva

Dragonflies and Damselflies

One of the differences between dragonflies and damselflies is that at rest dragonflies normally hold their wings out to the side whereas damselflies hold them over their backs. In practice the obvious difference is that dragonflies are larger. They spend most of their time hunting over water and are not often seen at rest.

Name

Lillebula is the Latin for dragonfly. Fulvus, also Latin, is a tawny orange colour – presumably from the female form.

Description

The head and thorax of the male Scarce Chaser are very dark blue and its abdomen is very light blue with dark markings.

The female is a tawny dark orange colour with a dark line down the back of the abdomen.

Habitat

The Scarce Chaser is common over continental Europe but relatively scarce in the UK, being found generally in a few location in the South of England.

Other Notes

I can’t say much about dragonflies. Your best chance of finding one is where the adults emerge and rest before flying, which may be on a stalk of grass emerging from water. So, a good camera with zoom facility is useful.

Even if you pick the right day in summer with the right weather. you need to pick the right time of day.

See Also

We will cover four species of dragonfly. [207] The Four-spot Chaser, coming tomorrow; [242] the Black-tailed Skimmer, which looks very similar to the Scarce Chaser; and [329] the Common Darter are all in the family Libellulidae.