2 Types of Dragonflies in India: Red Groundling and Common Hawker

Spot a stocky, blood-red dragonfly hovering low over a pond, or a large brown hawker patrolling a marsh edge at dusk, and you are looking at body plans that repeat across thousands of species worldwide. Understanding the different types of dragonflies in India often starts by learning these global reference points before narrowing in on local look-alikes. Two such species, the red groundling and the common hawker, illustrate exactly how family-level traits like wing pattern, body build, and flight behavior separate one dragonfly group from another.

Neither species is a confirmed Indian resident, but both belong to the two families that dominate Indian Odonata checklists: Libellulidae and Aeshnidae. Looking closely at how each one is built, colored, and how it hunts gives a useful identification framework for anyone trying to sort out the dragonflies buzzing around a nearby wetland.

Red Groundling (Brachythemis lacustris)

The red groundling, known scientifically as Brachythemis lacustris, belongs to the family Libellulidae, the same family responsible for the majority of dragonfly diversity recorded across Indian wetland surveys. In one regional Indian odonate study, Libellulidae accounted for 63 percent of all species recorded, making it by far the most visible dragonfly family to any pond-side observer in the country.

Mature males are entirely red-bodied, with a build that sets them apart from most other skimmers. According to the Biodiversity and Development Institute, Brachythemis lacustris

The species

Physically, the red groundling

The

Pro Tip: When separating groundlings from similar red dragonflies in the field, check the base of the abdomen first. A squat, un-tapered waist points to a groundling, while a narrower, wasp-like taper usually signals a dropwing or darter instead.

Common Hawker

The common hawker carries the scientific name Aeshna juncea and represents the family Aeshnidae, a group that also has representatives across India’s Himalayan foothills and northern wetlands, though this particular species is a temperate specialist rather than a South Asian one.

Important Note: Both species profiled in this article are best documented outside India: the red groundling across more than two dozen African countries, and the common hawker across the Palearctic and northern North America. They are included here as identification benchmarks for the Libellulidae and Aeshnidae families that do occur widely in India, not as confirmed Indian residents.

Comparing the Two Species

Feature	Red Groundling	Common Hawker
Family	Libellulidae	Aeshnidae
Body Length	Up to 27 mm	Up to 74 mm
Native Range	Sub-Saharan Africa	Palearctic and northern North America
Typical Color	Bright red body, amber-based wings	Brown body with blue and yellow spotting
Habitat	Rivers, streams, standing water	Upland bogs, heathland pools and lakes
Flight Period	Warm months, region-dependent	June to early October

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