It is a very active late summer insect typical of heathland and moorland bog pools.

[2] Both sexes have black legs and pterostigmata and a very broad base to the hind wing.

The abdomen has small yellow marks on the side, that darken with age.

[3] This darter is restricted to acidic shallow pools, lake margins, and ditches in lowland heath and moorland bogs, usually with bog-mosses and rushes.

[4] The eggs hatch the following spring and the larvae develop very rapidly, emerging after as little as two months.

[5] Females tend to choose where to lay their eggs based on the appearance of the site.

In the British Isles, this dragonfly is very locally distributed in the lowlands, but more widespread in the north-west and in Ireland.

[3] The immature meadowhawk dragonflies feed on various organisms that can be found in aquatic environments.

Male dragonflies, on the other hand, possess copulatory organs that aid them during sperm competition.

Oppositely, females tend to be less active when near the water and prefer to be in areas with overgrown plants and grasses.

Female dragonflies typically only go to the water when they are in search of a mate or if they are laying their eggs.