Broad-bodied Chaser

The male Broad-bodied Chaser has a blue abdomen with yellow spots on the sides.
This species has been sponsored by: 
Colin Pearce

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Libellula depressa
Family: 
Dragonflies
Family Latin name: 
LIBELLULOIDEA
Category: 
Insects other

Species description

Species description

The male Broad-bodied Chaser has a blue abdomen with yellow spots on the sides, and the female has a golden-brown abdomen with yellow spots on the sides. There are four wing patches, near the body.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

Chasers and Darters are members of the Libellulidae family. With three other families of insects - the Corduliidae (emeralds and green-eyed skimmers), the Gomphomacromiidae and the Macrommiidae (the cruisers and skimmers) - they make up what is called the superfamily of dragonflies (Libelluloidea). The Chasers and Darters are a brightly coloured, banded-winged family, which is the largest dragonfly family in the world. Their bodies are shorter and broader than the popular image of the dragonfly.

Category information

Insects evolved in the Ordovician from a crustacean ancestral lineage as terrestrial invertebrates with six legs (the Hexapoda). This was the time when terrestrial plants first appeared. In the Devonian some insects developed wings and flight, the first animals to do so. An early flying group was the Odonata from the Carboniferous, the damselflies and dragonflies, which have densely-veined wings and long, ten-segmented bodies. They are day-flying carnivores, with an aquatic larval stage, so are commonly seen flying near water. The carnivorous larvae are called nymphs. Odonata species are short-lived, damselflies surviving for 2-4 weeks, dragonflies for up to 2 months.

Some insect groups in the Cretaceous co-evolved with the flowering plants, and they have had a close association ever since. These groups are the Hymenoptera (bees, wasps, and ants), the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths), the Diptera (flies), and the Coleoptera (beetles). The diversity of beetles is astonishing. Of all the known animal species on the planet, one in five is a beetle!