BBC (Broad Bodied Chasers)For those of you who aren't familiar with Chasers, take your average Dragonfly and give it steroids- they are the speedy, killing machines of the insect world and you can bet if a male visits a pond which is already occupied by another species, there is going to be trouble!
During the holidays I was lucky enough to encounter the mating and egg laying of the Broad Bodied Chaser by a secluded pond in Bushy Park on one very hot day. It all started as I was watching Damselflies on a pond. Suddenly a huge dragonfly pelted past, attacking and killing a Damselfly. I managed to ID it with my field guide as a BBC and watched it as it perched on a dead plant...
A few minutes later and a female emerged on scene, circling above the male. Without any hesitation, he pounced on her and... errr... did what he had to do.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiexfK21JBnp7h0kxyJ59_YdH0Y8Nfnf3kOcuCA2sJtoNPOzSjzDpxyiydttUcuCNgaDcNn0WiZFx0H49w2TheI09-wSrnDMYScc087YjGEdzkh5AbJZkzZobdXB9dq-qUkrP0xUr5UxCEq/s400/BBC+mating.jpg)
This entanglement lasted for a few seconds, after which the male went back to perching on his plant and the female flew away to a nearby stream- allowing me to creep up on her for some close-ups...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIY-IUVJWTo6LxDBEbzWP_1HvZXWURFhjKYsYu6ZqHIWk6WZOxr39TPe3_wWGciENap1fW8uj0gsQNsy1Avp9_D2EphOlzbmyNCcktd9WB-7QNyIiUw7AFGMYzumZSA5_T03XV5l25sTQp/s400/BBC+resting.jpg)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-v1eAR6mO19Tfkf-TCcC_a3Wv2GceVuGT69_CNYx3lFnYu70_CcJaojjH7ZmidXek0auUX5EfIT3ghpLUo9rynLBkZDZ-aMC8WATa5w7gXwyiOfUT0-ZxX8YVk3W15f89UkUEa0pO6dZg/s400/Female+BBC2.jpg)
Suddenly, without warning she flew back to the pond I'd previously watched her on and began to dip the water with her abdomen, releasing a single egg. She repeated this process several times and then left...
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4DHBF9IXq3invxcQ75aBhZHnM8chuzyYbHOI19x6ZDZsjp3OPG6qim__mLigGOFY9ypQIIk3oi-BJypLKSx27itkrNtFHhxJmS-Vel_W-8MJQ4qgzQxWE0kSiiqBK0TMjDL14rc-qlzkE/s400/Female+BBC.jpg)
So there you go... a small insight into the secret life of the brilliant Broad Bodied Chaser.