Norfolk Hawker (Aeshna Isoceles)

These images have been kindly supplied by Mr Tord Andreasson who has given his permission for me to publish them on this website.

The Norfolk Hawker

The Norfolk Hawker is a rare sighting indeed in the United Kingdom as it is confined to an area on the eastern fringes of East Anglia. Its distribution is very limited and is rarely seen elsewhere.

On the continent is is far more widespread and is commonly known as the Green Eyed Hawker, for obvious reasons.

It can only really be confused with the Brown Hawker; however there are some obvious differences between the two species. The brown hawker has brown suffused wings where as the wings of the Norfolk Hawker are clear. The Norfolk Hawker has green eyes in maturity, the Brown Hawkers being brown suffused with blue. Finally the Norfolk Hawker has a diognostic yellow triangle on segment 2 of its abdomen, this is lacking in the Brown Hawker.

Another feature that differs is the flight period. The Norfolk Hawker can be seen on the wing from early June to late July, the Brown Hawker usually emerges from early to mid July so there is only a very short overlapping period where both species could be encounterd together.

The male and the female of the species are very similar in appearance and very close examination of the anal appendages is necessary to tell them apart. The males are longer and flatter and slightly converge towards their tip, the females are smaller and thinner and slightly diverge.

Page Updated 07/11

All of these photographs were taken by and remain the property of Tord Andreasson

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