Striped nymph for ID if poss

Dillybythesea · #1 (**permalink**) 13-08-2010, 04:06 PM

I found this on an old barleystraw log today (left out on the side of the pond for any creatures to climb back in) and am supposing it's a dragonfly nymph but not sure I've seen a striped one before. Any ID help appreciated!

Wild-Woman · #2 (**permalink**) 13-08-2010, 04:13 PM

Pretty sure this is a Broad-bodied Chaser nymph.

Dillybythesea · #3 (**permalink**) 13-08-2010, 04:58 PM

Thanks Wild-Woman - I'll label it up then! ATB, Dill

GuyF · #4 (**permalink**) 13-08-2010, 05:58 PM

An early instar Brown Hawker may be another possibility, although I'm only saying that because I've read they are black and white!
Guy

Dillybythesea · #5 (**permalink**) 14-08-2010, 10:15 AM

Cld anyone pls point me at a good dragonfly/ nymph identification Gallery or book? I was googling and came across various WAB threads, all fascinating but ultimately leading to total confusion at this end! I was interested in this that follows, for example, because I cld easily talk myself into 'my' nymph having eyes like that, but with a spine, so am wondering what a spine wld have made the ID?! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Quote:
Originally Posted by Fourwings
Firstly let me congratulate you on an excellent macro image, that's a good start with the new lens.

The larva/nymph is definately a Dragonfly, its an Aeshnid species, you can tell this by its size, 30mm, plus its distinctive head shape, they have large eyes that should be over half the length of the head in total, plus the eyes always have an inward angled rear edge.

The mottled green-brown colour and lack of large elongated spine on segment 9 makes the ID of this nymph fairly straight forward.

Southern Hawker - Aeshna cyanea

GuyF · #6 (**permalink**) 14-08-2010, 11:03 AM

There's a key to dragonfly larvae in the 'Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland' by Steve Brooks and Richard Lewington, but there are some other publications which specialise in larvae and exuviae.
To use the key you would really need to still have the nymph to check some features. Assuming this is a hawker nymph, I'd say that the spine on segment 9 is not especially long, and there is a spine present on segment 6. This would make it either a Southern or Brown Hawker, to separate these two you would then need to check the labium (part of the mouthparts), if they're relatively narrow it would be a Southern Hawker, if they're broad it would be a Brown.
I've never tried keying out a nymph before, so I may have got this wrong, hopefully someone with more experience of larvae can give you their opinion.

Guy

Dillybythesea · #7 (**permalink**) 14-08-2010, 01:47 PM

Thank you Guy. The work you put in on dragonflies in 2007 (as well as everything else!) obviously paid off. (You can tell I read the full thread!) I'm going to get that book - if only to be able to use words like instar. When you're talking about spines, are they the ones around the bottom edge (forgive the terminology), or the one that seems to be bang in the middle? Dill

GuyF · #8 (**permalink**) 14-08-2010, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dillybythesea

Thank you Guy. The work you put in on dragonflies in 2007 (as well as everything else!) obviously paid off. (You can tell I read the full thread!) I'm going to get that book - if only to be able to use words like instar. When you're talking about spines, are they the ones around the bottom edge (forgive the terminology), or the one that seems to be bang in the middle? Dill

Cheers Dill, I've really gotten into dragonflies since then, although I haven't really looked at nymphs yet! That book is mainly a guide to adult dragonflies and damselflies (and it's excellent for that purpose) but the key does look like it would be very useful if you had a nymph. If you are specifically interested in larvae you may want to try something like the 'Field Guide to the Larvae and Exuviae of British Dragonflies: Volume 1' by Steve Cham, although I don't own this book so can't tell you how good it is.
Here's my picture from the other thread showing the spines to look for on the side of the abdomen. I've circled the spines on abdominal segments 7, 8 and 9, with 9 being closest to the tip.

The length of the spine on segment 9, and the presence or absence of a spine on segment 6 seem to be important features for the hawkers, although I should say again that I've never really tried identifying nymphs before!
Guy

Dillybythesea · #9 (**permalink**) 14-08-2010, 03:56 PM

That's really kind and helpful, Guy! It's so good to know what folk are talking about when they mention spines and such. You can tell from my lowly level that I wldn't really aspire to specialist knowledge in larvae, not yet anyway, but I shall know where to look in My Posts, come the day! It's not even a year since we had our nature pond dug and lined, and hardly a day goes by without something strange crawling or flying into view. So much to learn, so little time...! ATB, Dill