Cotman watercolours tubes, Faber Castel Pastel pencils on Saunders Waterford 300gsm 310×230 Cotton Satiné High White paper

The Emperor dragonfly or Blue emperor (Anax imperator) is a beautiful dragonfly that is common in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is also the largest dragonfly species in the Netherlands with a body length between 64 and 84 millimeters.

The male is most conspicuous by his sky-blue abdomen with a black longitudinal stripe on the upper side. The eyes are green with a blue tint. The female has a green (sometimes pale blue) abdomen with a broad dark brown longitudinal stripe. The eyes are green, often with a brown tint.

The males are seen flying more often, the females are seen less often and less easily, because they hide in the vegetation. Not for the males, they’ll find them. They pick up the females and mate with them (in the bushes). The female then lays the eggs floating in water, in dead parts of aquatic plants. The larvae, which hatch after about 3 weeks, can then emerge after 1 or 2 winters, where they can climb up to 4-5 meters into the trees!

You can see the great emperor dragonfly flying from mid-May through the end of October, mostly from mid-June to the end of August. You can find them near different types of water, such as larger puddles, ponds, smaller puddles, fens, flowing ditches and canals.

Reference photo: own photo

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