Male.
Both sexes have a yellow costa and green eyes.
The male's abdomen is slightly waisted at s3 and
swollen around s6-s9.
The female is probably the dragonfly with the longest
body in the UK. It also has a long needle-shaped ovipositor.
Superficially the sexes are similar although the female's abdomen is thicker
and straighter than the male's.
slightly immature female
ovipositing
The tip of the abdomen is repeatedly dipped
into the water to lay eggs. In this photo it looks
as though she may have plunged a bit too far!
