what was the bug in my house

[frankie79]

hi yesterday i had a large insect in my conservatory, sorry didnt manage to get a pic, i went to get the camera and it escaped.

It was similar to a dragonfly however, much larger than any dragonfly i have seen before. The body was very fat, around 2cmm and around 8cm in length, with 4 dragonfly style wings the wingspan was roughly the size of my hand, 15cm. The body was all black, no colour at all, and it emitted a very low frequency buzzing sound when flying.

I have never seen anything like this before, although I am guessing it is a type of dragonfly, can anyone shed any light on what this could be from the description?

[Harry Eales]

Without a photograph, your on a hiding to nothing, but to take a stab at it, I would suggest it is most likely to be one of the 'Chaser' Dragonflies.

The blackest of all the British Dragonflies is the Black Darter, but it's tiny in relation to the sizes you quote.

Harry

[frankie79]

Thanks very much for the guess, I hope it comes back so I can get a picture, can dragonflies get that big?? I had a green/blue dragonfly in the conservatory a few days ago, and it was tiny in comparison.

[Harry Eales]

Frankie79,

Some Dragonflies are the largest of all British insects with wingspans of around 5 inches and they're just as long. Of the largest there is a species called The Golden-ringed Dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii that is black but ringed with yellow bands, it is a species of the uplands and seldom seen away from it's habitat. It's unlikely that you would have missed the yellow rings.

Try looking through the British Dragonfly Society website, you may see what you saw in the pictures of dragonflies. There isn't any other group of insects that is similar to dragonflies and so large.

Harry