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Hi,

Please could someone help me with these.West Sussex UK.

Sorry about the second one,a sad pic,hit by a car maybe.

Many thanks.

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second one,poor little fella

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I think the top one is Aeshna mixta, the bottom one Aeshna cyanea, both males.

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I'm not sure, but I think that first one is A. cyanea too, freshly born.

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I think the top one is A mixta, but female - seems to have female genitalia, long anal appendages, brown costa. I think the bottom one is a male A juncea - the antehumeral stripes don't seem big enough for A cyanea and it looks like the costa is yellow.

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Thankyou for the helpful replies.


I had a look through some old disks and found a better shot of the second one,another rather grim picture im afraid.


;)

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Well, with this image it is clear that they are different species - three and bit stripes on the side of thorax on the deceased, whilst the top one has only two. I think what you might have here is the Hairy Dragonfly Brachytron pratense - it did cross my mind earlier, but the yellowy costa sidetracked me. The antehumerals are a better fit for this species too, as although they are too narrow for A cyanea, they are too wide really for A juncea. How exciting! :)(Uncommon, but increasing its range in the UK.)

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The first is a female Aeshna mixta.
The dead one is Brachytron pratense male.
Edit : [Susan - great that we agree - I must try not to get distracted when composing a comment - makes me look as though I don't read the posts! :D ]

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Tony

I'm pleased to have my ID confirmed.:) I live in that strange gap in B pratense's distribution along the Thames, so am not actually familiar with the beast in the field.