Venus Pool - Ruddy Darters

Ruddy Darters are now making their presence known at Venus Pool and elsewhere. It looks like last year was a good one and numbers already seem impressive. On just a short walk, I saw at least six males of which, this was the only obliging one!

Apart from the deep red colour, the body shape is key to separating them from Common Darters...

And they look menacing close up!

 They always seem to look better on natural perches!

I was lucky to find this immature male!

Exactly the same structure as the adult but the immature bright yellow ochre colouration will eventually turn red...

Now then, what have I stumbled on here? A female! There is no 'waist' to the body which gradually tapers and the colouration is paler

To exclude a female Common Darter, note the all black legs and the T-shaped mark at the top of the thorax

There's a lot going on in the Odonata world at VP and it's right under your nose :-)