Aeshna viridis
The
Green Hawker Aeshna viridis is a very
interesting species. It is closely connected with the Water Soldier Stratiotes aloides and occurs only in
tanks on which she grows. Females of Green Hawker lay eggs in to the leaf of
this plant, larval development also takes place between leaves, which provide a
good hiding place. It has long been looking for sites of this species in our
province, but so far to no avail. To view this dragonfly we went to one of few
known sites in south-western Poland - apart from a compact range of its
occurrence. We managed to find a few exuviae, pick one larva and observed one
female and one male of this species. Unfortunately, we managed to photograph
only a female. Pictures are not perfect, but they are our first photographs of
this species, which is protected by law in our country.
Michał & Piotr