There is absolutely nothing dull or boring about the Four-spotted Chaser or its lifestyle. This stout-bodied insect is the first true dragonfly to emerge in Spring, with insects on the wing locally from the third week of May.

 

The chunky, but tapered abdomen is amber-coloured except nearer the tip where it is black. The individual abdominal segments have a translucent yellow edge, which illuminates this insect at rest.

 

This dragonfly gets its name on account of the dark spots situated at the node of each of its four wings. Look closely and you will see the yellow colouring along the leading edge of each wing towards these dark nodal spots. All in all, a medium-sized predator that is rather subtly, but beautifully coloured and marked.

 

A separate form, praenubila, which has darker wing nodes and black smudging near the wingtips is said to be fairly common, but how true this is in Argyll is unknown.

 

These are aggressive and highly territorial dragonflies. The males spend a lot of time perched within the boundaries of their bogland realms, only venturing forth to accost any intruders or to intercept a stray female with which to mate. Many dragonflies mate in the characteristic 'Wheel' position while perched among vegetation, but the Four-spotted Chaser does so on the wing.

 

As a result, mating is timed in seconds rather than the prolonged affair it can be for some other damsel or dragonflies. It is also a potentially hazardous time for any female that has just been mated. Left immediately after sex by her partner she is at great risk of being intercepted and re-mated by other males on the look-out to capitalise on such situations!