Willow Emerald

Today i managed to see my first Willow Emerald at Yardley Chase and very charasmatic it was too. Last week there was one captured but it managed to escape just as the pot was opened to photograph it and yesterday there was some small signs of the egg/larvae scarring in willow. However today i followed jeff to the pond for a concerted look.

Image from Dragonfly Society - I will lod up jeff's when he sends through. I had looked for them a few times but was not convinced and today seemed to be similar. I managed to see a few Emerald's but there didnt seem to be anything different. And then one seemed to be just a little larger, no blue on the abdomen and it's pale Pterostigma stood out. As i looked closer there was a green line on the thorax. It was definitely a Willow Emperor. It was too far away to take a photo so i netted it and left that part to Jeff.

I then looked at the willow stems and found the evidence of eggs and larvae on just about all of the willow stems which is a great sign that it is breeding but in good numbers. The sun came out and i got my eye in and it was great to see a few more too. A very pretty damselfly that can so easily be overlooked