Migrant Hawker

Name: Migrant Hawker

Scientific name: Aeshna mixta

Category: Minibeasts

Nature Stars: 40

What are nature stars?

About: A medium-sized hawker-type dragonfly, about 9 cm long. Mostly dark brown and black in colour, the male has pale blue spots and yellow flecks all along the body, dark blue eyes and pale yellow and blue patches on the thorax. The female has yellowish spots and brownish eyes. On the wing from the end of July through to October, even November in warm years. A very common animal during the late summer and autumn, when they can be found hunting in gardens, grassland and woodland well away from breeding ponds.

How to identify: The black-and-blue hawkers are a tricky group of dragonflies to identify. The Migrant Hawker is smaller and has more brown on it than the other three large species (Common, Azure and Southern Hawker), and is not on the wing at the same time as Hairy Dragonfly.

Where: Southern and central England and south Wales.

Natural Superpowers

• Predator: 70
• Agility: 80
• Rarity: 40
• Cute factor: 20
• Traveller: 40

Fantastic fact: During the late summer, large numbers of Migrant Hawkers arrive from the continent.

Photograph credit: Photo credit tbc