Scarce Chaser

Fascinating facts about the Scarce Chaser

• The male scarce chaser displays a striking bright blue abdomen marked with black patches, a colour that instantly distinguishes it from the females and young males. Those females and juvenile males are uniformly vivid orange on their abdomens, and adults measure about 45 mm in length with an average wingspan of 74 mm.
• After the female deposits her eggs, they become lodged in the mud of the riverbed where they remain hidden until hatching. The newly emerged larvae stay submerged and develop underwater for about two years.
• In Great Britain the scarce chaser is listed as a species of special concern because the wetland habitats it depends on are disappearing. The loss of its preferred floodplain and marsh environments reduces the sites where females can lay eggs and larvae can develop. This habitat decline directly threatens the local populations, making the species vulnerable to further reductions.
• The scarce chaser makes its home on floodplains and marshes that are thick with vegetation, preferring the lush, water-logged edges of rivers. Female dragonflies seek out slow-current streams to deposit their eggs, which become lodged in the soft river-bed mud. Those buried eggs then hatch into aquatic larvae that remain underwater for about two years as they grow and feed before emerging as adults.
• Adult scarce chasers are only on the wing from May through August, a period that coincides with the warm summer months across their European range. During this brief window the dragonflies find mates, engage in courtship flights and lay their eggs before the season ends. The limited adult lifespan means all reproductive activity - mating, egg deposition and the start of the next generation - must be completed within those four months.

Sources

Every fact above was checked against these pages, and kept only where one of them states it.

• Wikipedia

At a glance

About the Scarce Chaser

As the sun casts its warm glow upon the tranquil waters, the Scarce Chaser emerges, its iridescent body glimmering like a shard of molten glass as it dances through the air with effortless elegance. With a mesmerizing flutter of its wings, this dragonfly navigates the lush vegetation, its piercing gaze scanning the surroundings for unsuspecting prey, its every movement a testament to its remarkable agility and adaptability. In this serene landscape, the Scarce Chaser reigns supreme, a master of stealth and precision, its beauty and grace captivating all who are fortunate enough to witness its aerial ballet.

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