Summary

These are a medium-sized dragonflies, typically found by ponds and lakes. Quite territorial, they often return to the same perch, after swooping across the lake to find food.
They are in flight on the wetlands between May and August but you are most likely to see them in the early summer months in flight over The Mere and The Island Lake (May and June).

Broad-Bodied Chaser facts and statistics

Length 3.9cm to 4.8cm
Often the first to colonise ponds / waterways
Local residents

How to identify

Their name comes from the fact that they have a broad, flat body.
Males have a powder blue body with yellow spots and a dark thorax. Whereas the female's colouring is green / brown.
Both, however, have the distinctive chocolate brown eyes and broad bodies which differentiate them from their counterparts.

Conservation status

Low priority - common

Habitat

In the UK they are widespread. They live in:
• Wetlands
• Grasslands
• Woodland
• Freshwater
• Towns / Cities (gardens / parks)

Ways to help

You can help attract broad bodied chasers by creating a wildlife pond in your garden. Visit our Little Explorers page for information on how you can create your own mini-wetlands.