Gold-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii), Dowrog Common SSSI
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Gold-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii), Dowrog Common SSSI by Stefan Czapski as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Gold-ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii), Dowrog Common SSSI
Image: © Stefan Czapski Taken: 22 Jun 2011
This is the largest British dragonfly species, and in my experience one of the most approachable. According to the British Dragonfly Society website http://british-dragonflies.org.uk/species/golden-ringed-dragonfly females of this species reach a length of 84mm, males being smaller, reaching 74mm. Wing-span will be greater, so this is a pretty impressive insect. The individual in the picture is, I believe, a female. While the body of the insect shows well in this shot, details of the wings aren't that easy to see - so I am making the image available in larger sizes.
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
51.891957
Longitude
-5.23921