Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated May 8, 2008
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of
salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
Nature's Helicopters
So often when out walking our sightings of wildlife involve just a flash of colour or a fleeting sound, and these treasured moments are stored in our minds forever. These are only overtaken when the flash of electric blue becomes that elusive kingfisher, or the metallic glittering green emerges as a dragonfly, Nature’s own helicopter.
It is one of the joys of summer to sit by a pool, or walk along a canal or river and watch the antics of dragonflies and damselflies, these jewels with enormous eyes and gossamer wings. Many people do not realise how important these ethereal creatures are to our wellbeing.
They have a voracious appetite for that nasty little insect that thrives in stagnant water and plagues the sweet-tasting among us as we enjoy the pleasures of summertime. Mosquitoes are a nightmare to many, carry disease, and are increasing in numbers and range with the changing climate. Of course, dragonflies and damselflies eat many other flying insects, too.
So it is a worry when surveys tell us that dragonflies and damselflies are decreasing in numbers, largely due to the loss of ponds, pools and lakes to irrigation or neglect. Over a million ponds have been lost in the last 100 years! Back in the 1990s, WWF set up a consortium or 23 organisations to restore some 1,000 ponds, and I was lucky enough to be involved with one of the ten ponds chosen as a blueprint. It was interesting work - hard, cold, wet and muddy a lot of the time, but well worthwhile. That pond and the surrounding nature reserve is now thriving, and you can read a bit about it in a previous column.
Dragonflies (order Odonata) are divided roughly into two distinct sub-orders, the Zygoptera or Damselflies and the Anisoptera or Dragonflies. The latter are further divided in to two groups - darters and hawkers. Darters have shorter, fatter bodies than hawkers, perching on vegetation and darting out to grab their prey. Hawkers are long and thin and swoop on their prey. Both types have a terrific turn of speed when catching prey.
I always thought they needed to be near water, so a couple of years ago I was quite surprised to encounter one hovering at the bottom of my garden, quite a way from the local river and pools. It was thin, and bright electric blue but unfortunately didn’t stay around long enough for me to identify it. I remember spending an afternoon at a nature reserve in Warwickshire which had an abundance of dragonflies and damselflies flitting around an area of slow flowing water which clearly suited them. They need clean water, some are suited to fast flowing, others to almost still water.
Damselflies are similar at first sight to dragonflies, but are more delicate and do not have such a powerful flight. They also fly closer to water. To tell them apart you need to see them at rest. Dragonfly wings are held out horizontally whereas damselfly wings stand up like butterfly wings. Dragonfly eyes are huge and bulbous and usually touch. Damselfly eyes are always separate. A dragonfly can see prey movement up to 15 metres away. Before so much had been learnt about them, their huge appetite led them to be called 'devil's darning needle' or 'horse stinger' because they would hang around horses, no doubt seeking the abundance of flies.
There are up to 30 species of dragonfly and up to 20 damselfly to be found in the UK and Ireland. Their names are often quite exotic, such as Azure Hawker or Golden-ringed Dragonfly. Over a period of 40 years or so we have lost three species of dragonfly, and many more are threatened with extinction, so it is important to try and reverse the loss of suitable habitat in addition to recording the whereabouts of those remaining.
In April this year, the British Dragonfly Society launched the 'Dragonflies in Focus' project in order to produce a National Dragonfly Atlas. They need as many volunteers as possible to record the presence of dragonflies and damselflies, particularly in northern England, Scotland and Ireland, areas which are traditionally under-recorded. If you would like to help, take a look at the National Atlas page.
There have been new arrivals settling in the UK such as the Small Red-eyed Damselfly, and a warm spring in 2007 produced many more reports of dragonflies and damselflies in April and early May. It remains to be seen what the rather cold, wet spring of 2008 brings.
The brilliant photographers among you might like to help by sending in photographs of any species you manage to capture in your lenses. You will need to send species, date and place of sighting and name of photographer with your photo by email, or you could get the postal address from their website.
Comprehensive names and families can be found on the BDS website. You can also find some very detailed and interesting information in the Pond Life entry. Just scroll down for dragonflies.
Even half a century ago there were many more ponds than now. Many have been filled in, or become polluted and neglected. Canals have also suffered, especially from chemical run-off from farmland, and the lack of fresh water has impacted hugely on dragonfly numbers.
As larvae, they exist largely under water for between several months to five years, according to species. As adults, they live for a mere month or so.
'Water features' and ponds have become quite popular in recent years, and it would help these beautiful creatures greatly if ponds were of a natural type, rather than ornamental. Should you attract such glittering visitors, you will be treated to quite a display, as males are very territorial, pursuing females and chasing away rivals. Their mating rituals are quite unique, too.
It is fascinating to learn that fossilised remains have been found, confirming that they were on this earth 300 million years ago. Surely that alone gives them the right to remain and not to be destroyed by such newcomers to this planet as mere humans. The next time we get bitten when walking the dog, gardening, camping or whatever, perhaps we should think of dragonflies and damselflies and remember that they are much more than a delight to the eye.
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