David Element
Wildlife Photography and Digital Video Images
_______________________________________________Dragonflies
and Damselflies 1
SCARCE CHASER Libellula fulva (f) BLACK DARTER Sympetrum danae (m)
MIGRANT HAWKER Aeshna mixta (m) LARGE RED DAMSELFLY Pyrrhosoma nymphula (m)
COMMON BLUE DAMSELFLY Enallagma cyathigerum (f) BROWN HAWKER Aeshna grandis (f)
YELLOW-WINGED DARTER Sympetrum flaveolum (m) BANDED DEMOISELLE Calopteryx splendens (m)
- The above is a random selection
of species. Further illustrations and information about these and other dragonflies
have been provided on other pages apart from the Yellow-winged Darter Sympetrum flaveolum,
an uncommon migrant to Britain, distinguished by yellow clouding of the
basal area of the wings. The example shown was photographed on Wimbledon
Common, London, during a significant migration from the southeast during
1995. Such migrations are sporadic and dependent upon prevailing wind
assistance. These overspills may also be associated with a population
explosion within the normal breeding range. There were several interesting
observations to be made about the isolated population of about 60 insects
seen at Wimbledon Common. Firstly, the males outnumbered the females by a
ratio of approximately 59:1. These odds clearly tipped the balance against
establishing a breeding colony and indeed this species continues to defy
most expectations of breeding in Britain (for reasons which are poorly
understood). Certainly, there are colonies breeding at more northerly
latitudes in Europe. Although one female was seen ovipositing there was no
evidence of breeding success and this may have simply been due to drought
conditions which persisted at the site (a dried-up gravel pit). Another
observation was that the numbers of dragonflies fell from the initial peak
of 60 at a steady rate until just one individual remained after a period
of sixty days. One further point of note was the short daily flight period
between 11:00 and 15:00 hours. In addition, the insects did not adopt the
text-book position when at rest - typically they are described as hanging
from low vegetation. All the insects at Wimbledon Common came to rest on
vegetation at or very close to ground level and this was presumed to be
associated with thermoregulation.
RECOMMENDED
REFERENCES:
- 'The Dragonflies
of Europe', R. R. Askew, Harley Books, 1988. ISBN 0 946589 10
0
- 'The Dragonflies
of Great Britain and Ireland', Cyril O. Hammond FRES, Harley
Books, 1983. ISBN 0 946589 00 3
- 'Field Guide to
the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Great Britain and Ireland', Steve Brooks,
British Wildlife Publishing, 1997. ISBN 0 9531399 0 5: http://www.britishwildlife.com/html/books.html. Signed proof
prints from this book may still be available from Richard Lewington at: rlewington@btopenworld.com. A catalogue
will be provided by the artist on request.
- 'Field Guide to
the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe', General Editor
Klaas-Douwe B Dijkstra, with artwork by Richard
Lewington, British Wildlife Publishing , 2006,
ISBN 0-9531399-4-8. Although there is some inevitable overlap with the
book above for the British species this tremendous new work is very highly
recommended for anyone with an interest in European wildlife.
- 'Dragonflies'
The New Naturalist Library 106, Philip S. Corbet & Stephen J.
Brooks with colour photographs by Robert Thompson, Collins 2008. Hardback
ISBN: 978-0-00-71568-4; Paperback 978-0-00-715169-1. A first rate and very
nicely illustrated addition to this famous series.
- 'Dragonflies and
Damselflies of Britain and Northern Europe', Bob Gibbons,
Country Life Books, 1986. ISBN 0 600 333 787 (Hardcover); ISBN 0 600 333
410 (Softcover)
- 'Dragonflies of
Surrey',
Peter Follett, Surrey Wildlife Trust, 1996. ISBN 0 9526065 1 8 - see: http://www.surreywildlifetrust.co.uk/ for further
information about the Surrey
Wildlife Atlas series.
- 'British
Wildlife', British Wildlife Publishing, ISSN 0958-0956
contains regular dragonfly reports: http://www.britishwildlife.com/
- An excellent and highly
informative overview of the (then) current status
of British dragonflies written by Dr, Peter G. Sutton was published in 'The Bulletin of the Amateur
Entomologists' Society' VOL 62, No. 447 APRIL 2003. ISSN
0266-836X. http://www.theas.org, E-mail: aes@theaes.org
RECOMMENDED
WEBSITES
- 'DRAGONFLYIRELAND'
is
a superbly informative and well-illustrated website for the dragonfly
specialist. This site contains many useful references and links: http://www.dragonflyireland.fsnet.co.uk/index.htm
- http://www.dragonflysoc.org.uk is the official
web site of the British Dragonfly Society. This site provides detailed
information about the biology and ecology of the full range of British
dragonfly species.
- http://naturefg.com/wonders/dragonflies.htm connects to a
beautifully presented on-line gallery of 120 images entitled 'Wonders of Dragonfly World'.
This international photographic exhibition has been set up by Dragiša Savic: dragita@neobee.net from the Fruska Gora National Park
and there are contributions from a range of expert photographers from
around the World.
- http://www.odenews.org/imLibellulidae.htm provides
information about New World dragonflies.
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72
-> Species Index, Common Names
-> Species Index, Scientific Names
-> Site Index
-> Home