Fierce looking beastie and Dragonfly Nymph

[jdoherty]

Both of these were taken in N.Ireland. They were found in a small pond at the bottom of Glenside Quarry in the Belfast Hills. I've no idea of what the first is. It was about 10 mm long. The second I think is a dragonfly nymph of some sort. IDs anyone?

Thanks, John.

[earthdragon64]

I don't know about the first one, maybe a diving beetle larva. The 2nd one is a Hawker, I believe you get two species of Hawker in Northern Ireland, Common and Brown. As long as that's correct, it narrows the choice down a bit. I would say it's a Common Hawker due to the absence of lateral spines on segment 6 of the abdomen and relatively short lateral spines on segment 9.

Steve Chams "Field Guide to the larvae and exuviae of British Dragonflies Volume 1" is a really useful book for ID purposes with really good, clear pictures and explanations. Volume 1 is all Dragonflies, volume 2 is Damselflies, which has only recently been published, I'm still waiting for my copy to arrive.