Another of the large mosaic hawkers. Nominally common it may be but I was in the Pyrenees when I saw my first. I saw and heard a male literally slam into and grab a female (who I think was already ovipositing) beside the Lac de Payolle before the pair flew off in tandem. It seemed like a quite a violent encounter.
Id Notes
- Paired dots on each abdominal segment
- Contrasting brown and yellow side panels on thorax
- Yellow costas
- Thick-stemmed T-mark atop frons
- ♀ very small antehumeral stripes, similar to A. mixta
Moorland/Common Hawker (A. juncea) and Migrant Hawker (A. mixta) can be a source of confusion, particularly since both females have very short antehumeral stripes. Here is a diagram comparing the two to clarify.
[If you find generally distinguishing our Hawkers a little confusing see my comparison chart which should help.]
| male | |||
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| female | ||
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| in flight | ||
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