Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum (Charpentier 1840)

• Female, photographed at Cambridge 29 June 2001.
• Arrowed features: the shape of the hind margin of the pronotum, and the spine underneath segment 8, distiguish this from other blue female damselflies.

Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis (Linnaeus, 1758)

Cambridge, garden, 8th July 2001.

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta Latreille, 1805

• Cambridge: male (left) 5 Aug 2001, female (right) 19 Aug 2001.
• Both sexes have the "T" mark on the thorax, the tranverse stripe on the male is interrupted.
• A little over 60mm long.
• Once a migrant to Britain, now an incrasingly common resident.

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum (Charpentier, 1840)

Photographed at Cambridge 9th September 2000.

Not much bigger than a damsel fly - this one is about 43mm long overall. This is a female - males are rather reddish in colour.

Female Ruddy Darters Sympetrum sanguineum are rather similar but have all black legs and are rather smaller (35mm). On this specimen the legs (inset) are at least partly light colour.