Leijpark013

@leijpark013 · 27 Mar 2022

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Leijpark013 Brown red heathelibel

Published by Thierry P. Dinjens · 20 March at 18:00 ·
In the Leijpark we found a fairly large dragonfly: the Bruinrode heidelibel. It is this dragonfly that usually when a new pond or pool has been dug out somewhere, comes first to take a look. We call this a pioneer species. The big advantage of new puddles is the fact that there is not much vegetation in it yet. Leaves on the water and soil usually don't come until autumn, and aquatic plants need some time to settle in new pools or ponds. Precisely where nature is newly developed, there we find the Brownred heathable. In the muddy soil, the larvae hunt small bugs such as mosquito larvae. Mosquitoes also prefer to lay their eggs in still water. Just put a bucket of water outside in the summer and do nothing more about it. Within a few weeks, the entire bucket will be full of mosquito larvae! It is this prey that the Brownred heathelibel is looking for.
A young dragonfly must first 'color'. This means that a young dragonfly does not yet have the colors of a fully adult specimen. This sometimes makes it difficult to distinguish a heathable (and they are quite a few) from peers. This (see photo) has black legs with a yellow stripe and no hanging mustache (black spot that connects the eyes) and so this is the Brownred heathelibel which, contrary to its name suggests, occurs in many more places than the heath.
The largest group of dragonflies, to which the Brownred heathelibel belongs, is indicated by the name glazenmakers. The origin of this lies in the craft glass making. In the past, far before the arrival of the car in our parts, people did a lot by hand and on foot. A cart was a luxury that not everyone could afford. A glass maker was called by customers when a window was killed. The phone was already there in 1881, in 1937 only the first highway was installed in our country. The glass maker often had to go to his customers on foot and in doing so he carried a framework full of smaller and larger windows on his back. A tough job where, of course, the greatest caution was needed. We actually only know double glass from after the Second World War; before that everything was just glass and this was much more fragile.
The sight of a glassmaker with a frame full of diamonds on its back has a comparison with the wings of the large dragonflies, which resemble such frames. Hence the name: glass maker.
We are undoubtedly still going to see the Bruinrode heidelibel often in the Leijpark. Fortunately for us, these dragonflies are well approached and therefore easily photographed. They are typical dragonflies of spring and autumn. In the summer, we can expect other, less approachable dragonflies. So first spot this one. At the pond, where the water is low and does not flow due to wind or undercurrent, you are most likely. And now hope that there are no hornets (big wasps eating dragonflies) around, because then it starts thunder in the glasses.

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