Aditya's Photography

 Other names -B road scarlet ,  common scarlet-darter ,  scarlet darter The scarlet dragonfly is a common species in  southern Europe  and throughout  Africa . It also occurs across western  Asia  as far as southern  China . Its habitat is a  wide range of both running and standing waters, except those that are shaded. Adults may be found some distance from water in habitats ranging from desert to open woodland; absent from dense forest. They can reach a length of 33–44 millimetres. These dragonflies have a flattened and rather broad abdomen. The adult male scarlet dragonfly has a bright scarlet red, widened  abdomen , with small amber patches at the bases of the hindwings. Also, the veins on the leading edges of the wings are red. Females and immatures are yellow-brown and have a conspicuous pale stripe along the top of the  thorax . It feeds mainly on  water shrews, frogs, predatory insects (including other dragonflies) ...

The male's abdomen length is nearly 18-21 mm and wing length is 20-23 mm The female's  abdomen length is nearly 18-20 mm and wing length is 22-25 mm  The Ditch Jewel  is a small dragonfly with brown-capped yellowish-green eyes. Its thorax (body) is olivaceous-brown, marked with a reddish-brown stripe and two brownish stripes on each side. It has wings that are transparent but reddish in color. Its Abdomen(tail) is ochreous-red, marked with brown stripes. The Female is similar to the male in body structure but it is pale yellowish-green in color. Its wings are transparent, tinted with yellow at the extreme base. It breeds in weedy ponds, lakes, and slowly moving streams; especially in sluggish waters. It is very common along sewage canals, tanks, ponds, and ditches. It is a  dragonfly of polluted waters. That flies very near the ground and perches on aquatic weeds.  It is found in most of the Asain countries.

  It is native to  India ,  Sri Lanka  and  Thailand , where it is a common and widespread species. It is a medium-sized dragonfly with brown-capped grey eyes.  Its thorax is  ashy grey in appearance , marbled, and peppered with black in a very irregular manner. Wings are transparent and black at the center and pure white at distal and proximal ends .  Female is similar to the male. Taking advantage of its well-developed camouflage, it always rests flat on slab rock or cement-plastered walls, where it almost invisible. Adults occupy habitat near water bodies, such as pools, irrigation channels, wells, and containers with standing water. It breeds in rainy hollows in the rocks or in wells and small cemented tanks. The species has been studied as a predator of the disease-carrying  Yellow Fever Mosquito  ( Aedes aegypti ). The larvae of the dragonfly consume the larvae of the mosquito in the standing-water habitat types that both occ...

This dragonfly is a common and widely distributed species found throughout the year across the Indian Subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The male (as shown in the above images) of this species is distinctly different from the female.  The male has a reddish-brown face, with eyes that are crimson above and brown on the sides.   The wings are transparent with crimson venation and the base has a broad amber patch.  The female has a  bright reddish-brown face with eyes that are purplish-brown above and grey below.  The wings are transparent with brown tips. The venation is bright yellow to brown and basal amber markings are pale.   It is commonly found in weedy tanks and ponds, gardens, marshes, and slow-flowing streams and rivers in the lowlands and mid-hills. It breeds in streams, rivers, canals, ponds, and tanks.  

Other name - Green Marsh Hawk  Distribution - South-eastern Europe, Australia, and from North Africa to Japan.  It is a medium-sized dragonfly with a wingspan of 60-85mm. Adults are grayish to greenish-yellow with black pale markings (this information might not be completely accurate since a few females of this species have been spotted which are completely yellow). The females are very similar to the males in shape and size but might differ a bit in colour. This dragonfly perches motionless on shrubs and dry twigs for long periods. It voraciously preys on smaller butterflies and dragonflies.  The image above is of a female.