''Zosteraeschna minuscula'', the friendly hawker is a species of

dragonfly A dragonfly is a flying insect belonging to the infraorder Anisoptera below the order Odonata. About 3,000 extant species of dragonflies are known. Most are tropical, with fewer species in temperate regions. Loss of wetland habitat threat ...

in family

Aeshnidae Aeshnidae, also called aeshnids, hawkers, or darners, is a family of dragonflies, found nearly worldwide, with more than 50 genera and over 450 species. The family includes some of the largest dragonflies. Description Common worldwide or nearl ...

. It is found in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

and

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

. Its natural

habitat In ecology, habitat refers to the array of resources, biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species' habitat can be seen as the physical manifestation of its ...

s include ponds and still pools in montane streams. This is a fairly large species; 59–62 mm long with a wingspan of 76–83 mm. The thorax is brown with green stripes, and the abdomen is brown and blue. The eyes are green. It is similar to '' Pinheyschna subpupillata'' and '' Zosteraeschna usambarica'', but has an anchor- or T-shaped mark on the

frons Insect morphology is the study and description of the physical form of insects. The terminology used to describe insects is similar to that used for other arthropods due to their shared evolutionary history. Three physical features separate insec ...

. Males have a blue saddle on the abdomen near the thorax, and females and

teneral Ecdysis is the moulting of the cuticle in many invertebrates of the clade Ecdysozoa. Since the cuticle of these animals typically forms a largely inelastic exoskeleton, it is shed during growth and a new, larger covering is formed. The remnant ...

s have an amber wash on the wings. Z_minuscula_AManson_012462-1.jpg, Male Z_minuscula_AManson_006833-2.jpg, Male in flight Z_minuscula_AManson_004268-1.jpg, Female Z_minuscula_AManson_012534-2.jpg, Female Z_minuscula_AManson_009079-1.jpg, Teneral female Z_minuscula_AManson_012534-1.jpg, Female ovipositing Z_minuscula_AManson_012534-3.jpg, Female ovipositing

References

External links

Friendly hawker
Species text in the Online Atlas of South African Odonata Aeshnidae Insects of South Africa Insects described in 1893 {{Aeshnidae-stub