This video is a short film on dragonflies and damselflies, showing the entire life-cycle.
From Wildlife Extra:
Migrant dragonflies and damselflies colonising southern England
Damselflies colonise East Anglia & migrant dragonflies benefit from our late summer
September 2012. Recent warm, sunny weather appears to have benefitted several migrant dragonflies and damselflies in Southern England, according to the British Dragonfly Society (BDS).
During late-August and September (2012) the BDS received sightings’ reports of Lesser Emperor, Southern Migrant Hawker, Migrant Hawker and Red-veined Darter dragonflies, as well as for two unusual Emerald damselflies – the Southern and Willow Emeralds.
Lesser Emperor – First seen in UK in 1996
The Lesser Emperor, a smaller relative of the more common Emperor Dragonfly, was first discovered in the UK only as recently as 1996. Although still very rare, it has now become an annual migrant to UK shores, one which has even managed to breed successfully on occasion at sites in Cornwall and Kent. Within the last few weeks the species has been recorded in Hampshire, Kent, East Sussex and Suffolk, with egg-laying being reported from some of these sites.
In Kent and Essex there have been several recent sightings of a rare Mediterranean migrant – the Southern Migrant Hawker. This dragonfly is becoming a more frequent visitor to our shores and is perhaps a potential new colonist to Southern England; indeed many (or even all?) of this year’s individuals could well be the offspring of dragonflies that arrived in the area during an influx noted in 2010.
Over in Hampshire, Berkshire and Gloucestershire, a dragonfly more at home in the rice paddies of Southern Europe has also been spotted. The Red-veined Darter is a once rare, but now fairly regular migrant to our shores which recently has also managed to breed successfully in Southern England – although it does not yet appear to be established here.
In addition to these migrant dragonflies, two species of Emerald damselflies appear to be new colonisers to the UK. The Southern Emerald Damselfly occurs across the English Channel in France. It breeds in temporary pools in sand-dunes and coastal marshes and would appear to be about to colonise here. It has thus within recent weeks been sighted in Norfolk and Kent, at sites where it has also been seen in the recent past.
A relative of the Southern Emerald, the Willow Emerald Damselfly is a recent colonist within the last four years, and has during September (2012) been recorded in Bedfordshire, Essex, Kent, Norfolk and Suffolk.
President of the BDS, Dr Pam Taylor says, “These are exciting times for dragonflies in the UK, with many new Continental species starting to appear in our region; it is thought that these range expansions may be linked to on-going climatic change. Despite the poor weather seen in the early part of this summer, clearly the overall trends are still being maintained.”
July 2013. An area of habitat for the rare Southern Damselfly has been saved thanks to the combined effort of several conservation organisations, the landowner and local farmers. The endangered Southern Damselfly is at risk of extinction in this part of the Preseli Special Areas of Conservation (SAC) in Pembrokeshire which is one of its traditional strongholds in Europe. Projects like this that maintain its habitat are vital for the species survival in the area: here.
Related articles
- Peeking Damsel (photomiser.com)
- Rare dragonfly comeback in England (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
- A Damselfly (therousedbear.wordpress.com)
- Irish Spring More Butterflies and Dragonflies (nhillgarth.com)
- I believe I can fly (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com)
- East Anglia: Research reveals the impact of climate change on our wildlife (eadt.co.uk)
- Wild in the City: When skies open, where do flying insects go? (thestar.com)
- First damselfly of spring (michaelqpowell.wordpress.com)
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