#Migrant hawker

[dansnaturepictures]

29/10/24-Autumn colour including dogwood leaves, Red Admiral, Grey Squirrel and Greylag Goose on a bright lunch time walk at Lakeside Country Park today

Blackbird, Carrion Crow, Moorhen, Great Crested Grebe, Migrant Hawker, red clover, wet yarrow which looked nice, wild carrot seed heads and guelder rose berries were other highlights with Collared Dove, Woodpigeon, Feral Pigeon, Starling, House Sparrow, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Long-bodied Cellar spider and another spider good to see at home.

[ifelten]

Efterårs-mosaikguldsmed (Aeshna mixta)

Han.

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta)

Male.

[rcannon992]

Cast skins: evidence of rebirth

[b-blushes]

two different types of dragonflies in the garden around my pond!

[postmanpetecoluk]

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta) M by pete beard Via Flickr: #yovonespond #October

[herpsandbirds]

Hello, I found this beauty hanging around in a bush and she even let me close to photograph her! She is so gorgeous!

Found her in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany. Could you help identifying her?

Dragonfly ID - Germany:

Hello, yes, I think this is a Migrant Hawker Dragonfly (Aeshna mixta), family Aeshnidae.

Migrant hawker - Wikipedia

Aeshna mixta (Migrant Hawker) – Odo-nutters (odonata.org.uk)

[eyed-hawkmoth]

migrant hawker (aeshna mixta), male

[blood-darkened-moon]

Alfred, Alexia, and the Dragonfly

The infamous video of Alfred and Alexia torturing a dragonfly and feeding it to the ants can be found twice on Rockfort Island. The first time, you see it in the room with the Lugers and then again in Alfred’s office as the startup of his PC. Of course, it has a deeply person meaning to Alfred. We know about his obsession with his sister, and Alexia is in there as well. Maybe the video is the only one with her or the last one that was taken before her cryogenic sleep. It makes sense that Alfred would hold dear something like this. But is it just about Alexia, or is there more to it? After all, we even have to watch it twice.

The twins do not talk the entire time and barely interact during the video. The only noteworthy interaction happens during the last scene, in which Alfred and Alexia share a knowing gaze. The way they look at each other makes it clear that there is more to the whole scene than what meets the eye. It had a deeper meaning, which only they could understand. A secret they share with each other. Words are not necessary.

When I first played Code Veronica X, I assumed the video mainly existed to show the cruel and twisted nature of the twins, while it also foreshadowed what Alfred would become. But after replaying the game last year, I changed my opinion. The video isn’t about Alfred and Alexia’s general cruelty or torturing of defenseless creatures. The content represents something more personal to them - their revenge on Alexander.

It was never said when the video was recorded, but the twins aren’t small children anymore. Based only on their appearance, I would estimate them to be between 10 and 12 years old. Now, considering the content of the video, I think it was recorded after Alfred discovered the truth about their origin and after they came up with a revenge plan as the earliest possible date. However, it is more likely that they had already executed their plan some time before.

Let’s take a closer look. First of all, the visual language. The ants symbolize Alfred and Alexia. Alexia sees herself as an ant queen and refers to Alfred as a soldier ant. The dragonfly is Alexander. It is more obvious for Alexia’s third form, but Alexander’s mutated form resembles a dragonfly too. He has three appendages on his back, similarly arranged like three of four wings of a dragonfly. Additionally, these appendages are long and thin, like insect legs. In Darkside Chronicles, he even uses them to move around. Also, Alexander’s real legs are bound together with the rug, which makes his lower body look vaguely like the elongated abdomen of the insect. The belts even give it a segmented appearance.

The last similarity isn’t related to the real animal but to an item. To activate the self-destruct system, you have to assemble a dragonfly key. On the underside of this key is a prominent red jewel in the middle of its thorax, similar to Alexander’s exposed heart.

The dragonfly in the video is rather large. It has a blue abdomen with black markings and a yellow thorax. I tried to find out what dragonfly species we see there and found three possible candidates. One is the green hawker (Aeshna viridis), another is the southern migrant hawker (Aeshna affinis), and the last one is the emperor dragonfly (Anax imperator). (I’m not a dragonfly expert, though. Maybe there are other ones that fit better.)

The abdomens of the green hawker and southern migrant hawker are also blue, the thorax is yellowish-green, and they have black markings on their bodies. The emperor dragonfly has an apple-green thorax rather than a yellow one, but it would fit the other criteria. Other dragonfly species with a similar color palette have either more black markings, differently colored spots on the abdomen, a different body shape, or are too small. In all three cases, only the males have this coloration. The females are green or yellowish green instead of blue. Selecting a male dragonfly specifically could be another reference to Alexander. As for the emperor dragonfly and the southern migrant hawker, contrary to the green hawker, they also inhabit Great Britain, which delivers another connection to Alexander. And while Alexander is, of course, only an earl, not an emperor, an emperor dragonfly could still refer in a wider sense to his peer status.

From left to right: green hawker (male), southern migrant hawker (male), emperor dragonfly (male).

The general events of the video reflect what happened to Alexander. Only Alfred interacts with the dragonfly. He was also the one who initiated the revenge plot after discovering the truth about himself and Alexia, as well as the one who suffered subjectively more under his father. Alexia stays passive the whole time and only watches her brother, while in real life, she is the one who has carried out the experiments, not Alfred. However, even if she does not join her brother here, Alexia still contributes by providing an instrument to execute the allegorical revenge - her ants (and the virus in reality).

Instead of simply killing the insect, Alfred rips out its wings, making it incapable of flying away. Like the dragonfly, Alexander was still alive when he met his fate. The twins tranquilized their father before Alexia injected him with the virus, which caused his transformation. Afterward, Alexander’s confinement continued, and he was chained for years in agony, probably awaiting his death if he was still capable of having coherent thoughts.

The dragonfly’s death is not in vain. Feeding the insect to the ants serves a purpose. The ants can feast on it, and the colony can grow. Alexander’s life wasn’t wasted either. Alexia directed Alfred’s revenge plans from simply killing their father to using him for research purposes. Their “useless father” could contribute for once to Alexia’s research and the Ashford family. Even though the experiment was a failure, Alexia was still able to use the data she required from it for her benefit.

Why all the effort with the cryptic symbolism? Alexander was a terrible father. Probably not intentional, but this isn’t an excuse. He took the childhood of the twins for the sake of his own ambitions. He used Alexia to fulfill what he could not achieve and disregarded Alfred for not being as intelligent as his sister. Finding out that they were the result of a genetic experiment was the final straw, especially for Alfred. Their father then got what he deserved, according to them. Alfred hated Alexander with a passion. It must have been a great feeling to get rid of him, and to celebrate it, he (maybe Alexia too) wanted a keepsake. Direct photos or videos of their father were out of the question. Alfred even wrote in his diary that they have to be careful so that Harman (their butler) doesn’t discover what has happened to Alexander. The dragonfly video works well. It is cryptic enough that no one could understand its meaning without more background knowledge. People who see it randomly would assume it is a disturbing and slightly eerie home video. Alfred and Alexia, on the other hand, know exactly what it is about. It’s so important to Alfred because it does not only show Alexia but also their victory over Alexander. The insects are nothing more than involuntary actors. The real dragonfly and what is happening to it is secondary. The symbolic meaning behind the dragonfly’s death struggle holds significance.

Some notes as a closure that didn’t fit in the rest of the text: What makes the video so creepy, except for the circumstances you find it in, is the twins’ acting. Without them and out of context, the dragonfly video wouldn’t even be that unsettling if you consider some facts. The video was recorded in the Antarctic base. Dragonflies do not inhabit Antarctica. This means the dragonfly was bred there. The twins did not randomly catch it for the purpose of torture. What’s the purpose of breeding dragonflies? I assume it’s for (virus) research. We know that Umbrella performed experiments on other invertebrates. So, if dragonflies are bred in the lab anyway, why not use some as a protein source for the ants as well? More common insects for feeding ants would be mealworms and meal beetles, house crickets, flies and fly larvae, roaches, and plant lice, though. Also, dragonflies are predators and attack everything they can overpower, including other dragonflies. And unlike ants, they can fly. It makes sense to remove the wings first to prevent it from flying away or attacking the ants. Sure, ripping out its wings and not killing it first is still cruel, but at least the ants will take care of this soon.

[pogomcl]

Migrant Hawker, Aeshna mixta Canon 400D EF 100 2.8 f/ 11 1/320 iso: 800 Prague, Czech Republic 9/21/2009

[jaketeachesdeath]

Al saw a right ruckus at work the other day. It was a Dragonfly being taken down by a Wasp. As Al approached the Wasp shot off leaving a struggling Migrant Hawker flailing in the moss.

After 2 failed attempts at flying Al moved it to sit on a Rose bush out the way of the mower. Unfortunately around half hour later they found it dead.

10/08/23

[dansnaturepictures]

Ten of my favourite photos I took in October 2024 and month summary

The photos are of; fly agaric at Matley Wood in the New Forest, shaggy scalycaps at Lakeside Country Park, Kingfisher at Blashford Lakes, Speckled Wood, Migrant Hawker, Mottled shieldbugs and view at Lakeside, autumn leaves in Winchester and Michaelmas daisies and New Forest Pony at Lymington.

October was a fantastic month of fungi for me. In the peak season I treasured seeing many spectacular, gorgeous and fascinating species including fly agaric, devil's fingers, amethyst deceiver, yellow stagshorn, shaggy scalycap, candlesnuff fungi, bleeding fairy helmet, eyelash fungi, parasol, turkey tail, earthballs, panthercap, false death cap, sulphur tuft and waxcaps. It has also been nice to see slime mould including red raspberry slime mould at a few places and lichen and moss.

I had a brilliant birdwatching month too with some special species seen heading well into autumn. Key species seen were a fair few Kingfishers, Water Rail, Great White Egret, Greenshank, Avocet, Lapwing, Jack Snipe, Sanderling, Common Gull, Pochard, Gadwall, Pintail, Wigeon, Shoveler, Teal, Goosander, Brent Geese, Egyptian Geese, Little Grebe, Marsh Harriers, Siskin, Nuthatch, Great Spotted Woodpecker, Green Woodpecker, lots of Jays seen in their active time of year, notable Ravens at Lakeside and home, Dunnock, Blackcap at Lakeside, Cetti's Warbler, Wren and Long-tailed Tit. Turnstones and Ringed Plover seen well, Tufted Duck, Mute Swan, Moorhen, Coots and Greylag Geese at Lakeside, Jackdaw and Magpie seen a lot, Red Kite in Winchester, Sparrowhawk, Kestrel, Chaffinch, Grey Wagtail seen well and Pied Wagtail were also great to see. Glorious scenes came this month with the return of the Redwings a key bird of the autumn and winter, I was elated to see a Hen Harrier and I was thrilled to see the Winchester Peregrines and Lakeside Great Crested Grebes including their chicks a lot.

There were some nice butterflies to see still with lots of Speckled Woods especially at Lakeside, Red Admiral and Peacock and I was amazed to see a Hummingbird Hawk-moth in Winchester as well as other moths. Dragonflies and damselflies continued to shine this month with so many splendid views of Migrant Hawkers and Southern Hawker and Common Darters too. My first Willow Emerald Damselfly of the year was special to see at Fishlake Meadows. Other insects I enjoyed seeing this month were Mottled shieldbugs and other shieldbugs, wasps and hornets. It was good to see lots of spiders this month too including Long-bodied Cellar spider at home and snails and slugs. In terms of mammals I enjoyed seeing the also active Grey Squirrels a few times, Roe and Fallow Deers and New Forest Ponies.

Key flowers seen this month included Michaelmas daisies, forget-me-not, comfrey, lots of oxtongue, dandelion, tormentil, bell heather, common mallow, white deadnettle, stinging nettle, daisy, water mint, vervain, viper's-bugloss, horseweed, common and ivy-leaved toadflax, hogweed, yarrow, hedge woundwort, ragwort, gorse, dock, herb-Robert and wood avens which brought some wonderful colour as it quietened down for flowers. Wild carrot, teasel, hemp agrimony and spear thistle were among pretty seed heads enjoyed this month with cleavers enjoyed too. There was also a great display of berries this month again with rose hips, hawthorn berries, guelder rose berries, dogwood berries, nightshade berries and snowberries creating vibrant scenes.

And of course this month the splendour of autumn's colour was captivating and wholesome to observe. I also enjoyed taking in many great other vistas this month including coast, reedbed and general wetland, rivers and New Forest heaths and woodland. There were some special sky scenes observed this month too. Have a great November all.

[mbtimonologue]

Migrant Hawker Dragonfly at Minsmere

[localnaturalhistory]

There were lots of dragonflies about, including this male Migrant Hawker. This is the first time I have knowingly seen one in the UK - not that they are rare!

[helenanatour]

Seeking Culture and Identity in Local Essentialized (Mark this one, plz)

Singapore's essentialism emphasizes that it is a multicultural nation that encourages its citizens to respect and preserve local values and cultural traditions, while also supporting mutual respect and integration among all races. Singapore emphasizes people's identification with Singaporean culture and identity, but there is an essentialization problem in policy, language, race and culture.

The local essentialized of Singapore involves people's sense of identity and belonging to Singapore, which leads the country to become part of people's lives and shapes their behaviour and values. However, there might be some challenges in local essentialized. Due to made up of many different cultures and contexts in Singapore, it presents different cultural atmospheres and community characteristics that is difficult to form a common culture. In addition, a large number of migrant workers, new immigrants and local people here results in diverse races in Singapore. But some policy and institutional racialization persists. For example, preferential measures in racial policies, and racial classifications, may exacerbate divisions and identity issues between races. It also leads to a blurred sense of identity.

Although the local essentialized can strengthen the cohesiveness of people in Singapore, the lack of a common history and culture leads to blurred or split identity, and it is complicated to form a unified identity. Some racialized, hierarchical policies can also lead to disidentification with the state, leading to localism and exclusivity. This is harmful to developing multiculturalism which is contrary to promoting the concept of Singapore. Therefore, it is not desirable to blindly emphasize the local essence, but also respect and tolerate foreign culture and multiple races. 

Reference list:

National Heritage Board. (n.d.). The History and Evolution of Hawker Culture of Singapore. Www.roots.gov.sg. https://www.roots.gov.sg/stories-landing/stories/Serving-Up-a-Legacy

[blogynews]

"Shocking and Mysterious: Unsolved Murder Rocks Warangal's Railway Station Food Hub"

A 38-year-old individual running a food stall at the Warangal railway station was brutally murdered by a group of migrant hawkers at Shiva Nagar in Warangal during the early hours of Wednesday (August 30). According to the authorities, the victim, Nazeer, resided in Shiva Nagar and had a criminal record filed against him at the Mills Colony Police Station in Warangal. Nazeer was fatally attacked…

[blogynewz]

"Shocking and Mysterious: Unsolved Murder Rocks Warangal's Railway Station Food Hub"

A 38-year-old individual running a food stall at the Warangal railway station was brutally murdered by a group of migrant hawkers at Shiva Nagar in Warangal during the early hours of Wednesday (August 30). According to the authorities, the victim, Nazeer, resided in Shiva Nagar and had a criminal record filed against him at the Mills Colony Police Station in Warangal. Nazeer was fatally attacked…