Aeshna caerulea

The Azure Hawker is a relatively small aeshnid, similar in size to the Blue-Eyed and Migrant Hawkers (Aeshna affinis and A. mixta). Its thorax is essentially brown while the spots on its abdomen are a bright blue in the male and usually yellow in the female. Aeshna caerulea occurs at high latitudes (in Scandinavia and Northern Scotland) or, in Central Europe, at high altitudes (in the Alps and Dolomites). To survive in such cold conditions it has the typical habit of basking on bright and flat surfaces, by pressing its body against e.g. the bark of a birch tree. Failing that, above the tree line in the Alps its preferred perch is a sun-exposed rock (or a photographer's light-coloured trousers - see our photographs below).

For an overview of the Azure Hawker's distribution in Europe, hover your mouse pointer over the map symbol .
With the authors' permission we have based this map on data published in Kalkman et al. (2010).
Legend: Red = Occurs, White = Doesn't occur; Purple = Extinct; Yellow = Vagrant.

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