Brown Aeshna

Friday, 16th August 2002, West Yorkshire

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This large aeshna, also known as the brown hawker or brown aeshna, Aeshna grandis, was found trapped in a conservatory down the road.

The amber wings are a way to identify it even when it's hawking past on a sunny day but the yellow stripes on its thorax and blue marks on the abdomen are easier to see at close quarters.

One feature I didn't pick out as I drew is the blue mark across the front of each eye which identifies this individual as a male. That slim abdomen aslo identifies it as a male; the female is broader.

The male would normally have blue spots along the top of his abdomen but these may have faded after the insect died.

Old brown pen

It's while I'm drawing this insect that I realise that my ten year old pen, the Rotring art pen with a sketch nib which I keep filled with brown foutain pen ink, really is the worse for wear. I just can't get fine lines with it now, so I drew the smaller sketches with my new (black ink) art pen.

Richard Bell,
wildlife illustrator
E-mail; 'richard@willowisland.co.uk'