David
Element
Wildlife
Photography
and Digital
Video Images
____________Dragonflies
and Damselflies 1

CLUB-TAILED
DRAGONFLY RED-VEINED
DARTER YELLOW-WINGED
DARTER
Gomphus
vulgatissimus(f) Sympetrum
fonscolombei (m) Sympetrum
flaveolum (m)
LARGE RED
DAMSELFLY
BROWN HAWKER
BANDED DEMOISELLE
Pyrrhosoma nymphula (m)
Aeshna
grandis (f)
Calopteryx splendens (f)

BLACK DARTER
Sympetrum danae (m)

SCARCE
CHASER
MIGRANT HAWKER
Libellula
fulva (f)
Aeshna mixta (m)
- The above is a random
selection of species and includes a mixture of still and
mini-DV images. Further illustrations and information
about these dragonflies have been provided on other pages
with the exception of:
- the Yellow-winged
Darter, 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
south east 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 of 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.
- The Brown Hawker,
a common large brown insect with fairly indistinct blue
and yellow markings most evident in the male and an amber
tint to the wings. These dragonflies are confined to the
southern half of Britain where they may be observed
almost ceaselessly patrolling. They are fiendishly
difficult to approach for photography and the best
opportunities are often presented by ovipositing females
(as shown). The flight period is later than that of the
similar Norfolk Hawker (see Dragonflies
and Damselflies 3 and 5) with little or no overlap in
July.
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 are currently available from Richard
Lewington at: rlewington@btopenworld.com. A catalogue will be
provided by the artist on request.
- '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.
- AN EXCELLENT AND HIGHLY
INFORMATIVE OVERVIEW OF THE CURRENT STATUS OF BRITISH
DRAGONFLIES WRITTEN BY DR PETER G. SUTTON HAS BEEN
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
- www.dragonflysoc.org.uk IS THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE BRITISH
DRAGONFLY SOCIETY. THIS SITE PROVIDES DETAILED
INFORMATION ABOUT THE BIOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF THE FULL
RANGE OF BRITISH DRAGONFLY SPECIES.
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 2
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 3
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 4
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 5
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 6
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 7
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 8
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 9
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 10
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 11
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 12
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 13
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 14
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 15
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 16
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 17
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 18
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 19
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 20
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 21
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 22
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 23
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 24
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 25
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 26
-> Dragonflies and Damselflies 27
-> Dragonflies
and Damselflies 28
-> Index,
Common Names
-> Index,
Scientific Names
-> Site
Index
-> Home
© David
Element.