Squadron Emperor - Red Book Air Predator

Dragonflies are the oldest flying insects. Large individuals with a moving head and large eyes are active predators. The watchman-emperor is a vivid representative of the suborder of diverse dragonflies. Two pairs of its wings are located perpendicular to the body, in flight they do not move uniformly. Insects live near water bodies where their offspring is born. Due to the pollution of water bodies, the number of dragonflies is rapidly declining; the species is listed in the Red Book of Russia.

Insect appearance

The watchman-emperor (Anaximperator), the watchman-lord or the blue emperor is a large dragonfly from the family of the yoke. She belongs to the family of watchmen. Her body size is 65-75 mm, wingspan - 90-110 mm. The head and chest of the insect is green. The wings are two pairs, they are transparent, the wing plate is gray-white with black venation. The dragonfly the batcher-emperor in flight uses alternately the front and rear pair of wings. This feature provides freedom of maneuvering. The flight speed of insects reaches 40-50 km / h.

The abdomen is long and thin, on the last segment there are peculiar spikes used for mating. The main color is blue with dark spots. The abdomen accounts for 90% of the body length. It consists of 10 segments formed by chitinous guards. Between them are tensile membranes, allowing the dragonfly to bend the abdomen.
Most of the head is occupied by large faceted eyes of blue-green color. In a family of rockers on a small segment they are in contact. Antennae subtle, thin and short. The mouth apparatus is gnawing with well-developed powerful jaws. Larvae are stocky, with a rounded head and large eyes. They grow to 45-55 mm. The brown body is covered with chitinous shell. Larvae have gills for breathing underwater.

Sexual dimorphism

The female differs from the male in the golden coloring of the wings. Their abdomen is blue or green, covered with reddish-brown spots. Male wing plates not stained. The abdomen is blue; a wide, broken black stripe runs longitudinally from above.

Habitat

The habitat of dragonflies covers a large territory. It is found throughout Africa and most of Europe, in Southwest and Central Asia. Patrolman is found in the countries of Scandinavia, Great Britain. In Russia, it lives in the south of the European part. The insect settles in reservoirs located in the forest. Selects lakes with still or low-current water.

Lifestyle

Representatives of the dragonfly order lead an amphibious lifestyle - their eggs and larvae develop in water, and adults live on land. Dragonflies are aerial predators without food specialization. The sentinel emperor has an individual way of hunting. From legs with long spikes in flight, he folds a trap basket, which captures the prey. Predators exterminate harmful insects - mosquitoes, flies and horseflies, this is their main diet. Dragonflies also catch butterflies, caddis flies. They are active during the day, prefer warm sunny weather.

Information. Dragonflies are great flyers, they travel tens and hundreds of kilometers in search of a new home.

Dragonflies are insects with incomplete transformation; they go through three stages of development: an egg, a nymph, and an adult. Years of insects from mid-June to October. They lead a solitary lifestyle, with individuals of the opposite sex intersect only when mating. Representatives of the rocker family are ardent individualists. The coastal section of the reservoir and the nearby meadow are divided into sections up to 100 m away. Each aggressively guards their own hunting grounds. Only females are allowed to cross the border. The life expectancy of adults is 4 weeks. Adults can fly away in search of prey several kilometers from the reservoir. Patrolmen are hunters of the upper tier, they fly at an altitude of 2-10 m. Small prey is eaten on the fly, large prey refers to the resting place.

Interesting fact. With a large number of prey, dragonflies are collected in hunting flocks of up to 20 individuals.

Larva - a predator in a pond

Offspring live in stagnant water, preferably in shallow, overgrown ponds. The larva is no less active predator than the adult dragonfly. She swims along the bottom of the reservoir and attacks any prey less than herself. The food is small crustaceans - daphnia, amphipods. The adult larva is able to attack fry of fish and tadpoles.

Attention. The adult dragonfly larva will grow to 60 mm; it harms fisheries by damaging fry.

The larva has weak limbs; therefore, it prefers to sit on stones or plants most of the time. The method of hunting is a quick throw on the victim from an ambush. In the process of swimming, the larva uses the principle of jet propulsion.

Propagation Features

Male dragonflies do not differ in gentle courtship. They capture the female’s head with special devices on the abdomen, and hold it until the spermatophore is in the genital opening. The ovipositor of females is formed by four stylets, there is a genital damper. After fertilization, they lay elongated beige eggs on the underwater parts of plants. In the clutch there are 250-500 eggs. The incubation period is about 4 weeks. With decreasing temperature, it lengthens. Eggs are the most vulnerable period of development. Many die from weather and eaten by predators.

Interesting fact. Males patrol the territory of the reservoir so that other dragonflies do not lay eggs, creating competition for their offspring.

The larva develops within 1-2 years, its maturation depends on the temperature and illumination of the reservoir. It runs 7-11 links, in the southern regions of Russia the latter falls on May, in areas located to the north, in the middle of June. The adult larva leaves the pond and climbs onto the plants, where transformation into the imago takes place. The insect dries until the skin bursts and an adult dragonfly appears. It takes up to 6 hours to spread the wings and harden the chitin cover. All this time the watchman is hiding in the thickets of coastal plants.

Reasons for species reduction

In North Africa and partly in Western Europe, this species of dragonflies is not threatened by a reduction in population. In the Russian Federation, the situation is more complicated, the normal number of dragonflies is noted only in the Caucasus, Stavropol and Krasnodar Territory. In the northern regions, their numbers are falling sharply.

Interesting fact. The image of the sentinel emperor is put on a coin of the Central Bank of Russia with a face value of 2 rubles.

The emperor watchman sharply reacts to chemical contaminants entering water bodies. The insect lives only in clear lakes and ponds. In areas with a large number of residents and industrial facilities, water pollution occurs regularly. This was the main reason for the sharp decline in the insect population. Dragonfly watchman-emperor is listed in the Red Book of Russia as a shrinking species.