Wednesday, 22 June 2011

The Dainty Damselfly.....

....an interesting diversion from birds.

Banded Demoiselle. Linda Gilhespy. 

The delicate Dainty Damselfly (DD) was found on Monday at a site in Kent. The species was washed away from its single pond in East Anglia during the severe floods in the winter of 1952/3. It is believed these insects were blown on the wind from France or Belgium where they have become more common, thought to be relate to climate change. The DD has been documented in the Netherlands for the first time, and specimens have also been found in Jersey.

There are 17 species of Damselflies in the UK, one - the Red-eyed Damselfly - first appeared in 1999 and now breeds across tracts of south-east England, but experts said last year 'whether the DD can form a stable breeding population once again is as yet unclear, they may be able to breed from egg through to adult in one year', this has been the case and the DD has once again been found to have emerged at the site in Kent and creating some excellent insect news.

No photographs found of the Dainty Damselfly which wouldn't violate the copyright laws, but an excellent one of the Banded Demoiselle is at the top of the post with thanks to Linda Gilhespy  

If you have found an interest in the satellite tagged Cuckoos an Update is here.

2 comments:

  1. Soon be Conder time again Pete, don't fret, you may even see me there soon!

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  2. Looking forward to the event in your comment at the end Phil....Honest!

    ReplyDelete