Southern Hawker

The Southern Hawker is a large, stocky and inquisitive dragonfly.

Species introduction

At a glance
Latin name: 
Aeshna cyanea
Family: 
Hawkers
Family Latin name: 
AESHNIDAE
Category: 
Insects other

Species description

Species description

The Southern Hawker is a large, stocky and inquisitive dragonfly. Males are dark with blue and green markings. Females are brown with green markings. They have become increasingly common in southern England and in Wales. 

These dragonflies breed in water, even in small ponds, yet they are found some distance from water, dashing back and forth, hunting for food. Their diet consists of flying insects such as midges, mosquitoes and flies. 

They are about 7 centimetres long, and show a certain boldness in flying near to people to inspect these 'intruders'.

Species photographs

Larger photograph(s) (click to magnify)

Details

Species family information

In Britain, just 38 species of dragonfly and damselfly breed. The Hawker family of dragonflies consists of around eleven different species in Britain. These are the largest dragonflies that we see. 

As with other dragonflies, Hawkers mate in flight, and females deposit their eggs in or close to water. The larvae that develop are fearsome aquatic predators that are carnivores that feed on insects and sometimes fish. As the larvae develop into adults (underwater), they moult, shedding their outer skin up to a dozen or more times. The final moult takes place out of water. In some species of dragonfly, this process can take a year or two, depending upon the temperature of the water and the scarcity or abundance of food.

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!