The aim of the British Dragonfly Society is to promote and encourage the study and conservation of dragonflies and their natural habitats, especially in the United Kingdom.
What's New
Latest changes include a call for entries for the British Wildlife Photography Awards (see below), notice of publication of Steve Cham's book on identification of larvae and exuviae of Damselflies (see the Shop page), announcement of the opening of the new Dragonfly Centre at Wicken Fen (see below), upcoming events for 2009 on the Diary page, some updates to the Shop page, a new section for Local Groups added to the Contacts page, a link for reporting unusual dragonfly observations has been added to the Hotnews page, an updated List of Recorders and the "Excel Species Recorder" accessed from the Recording pages, and the latest news and information on the Dragonflies in Focus project.
Our New Dragonfly Centre
The BDS and The Dragonfly Project are delighted to announce the grand opening of the Dragonfly Centre at the National Trust nature reserve at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. TV naturalist Chris Packham will cut the ribbon on Sunday 26th July at 2:30 p.m. Afterwards he will lead a guided walk and talk on Dragonflies. Admission to the fen boardwalk that afternoon will be free thanks to the generosity of the National Trust.
The aim of the Dragonfly Centre is to show people that dragonflies are fascinating, beautiful and in trouble, and that everyone can help.
The Centre will be based in a newly renovated cottage. Inside, amongst other items, we will have displays and interpretation material with information about dragonflies and the BDS. Outside, the cottage is surrounded by a garden which will contain a new pondcreated especially for us to our own design. We hope to open the centre as often as possible throughout the summer, and perhaps by appointment at other times.
Admission to the Centre will be free but there are admission charges for the National Trust Reserve.
British Wildlife Photography Awards
Members and visitors may be interested in submitting entries to the British Wildlife Photography Awards competition. This competition was established to celebrate and recognise the talents of photographers of all nationalities practicing in the UK, while at the same time, highlight the great wealth and diversity of the natural history in the United Kingdom. With a prize fund of up £15,000 and the overall winner receiving a cash prize of £5,000, the images receiving judges' commendations will form part of a series of nationwide exhibitions, including a premier launch and awards event. The exhibition will launch at Hoopers Gallery, London from 24th September 09 and tour several locations around the UK. The closing date for entries is 31st July 2009. See the British Wildlife Photography Awards website for more details.
New report on the threat of extinction faced by Odonata
A recent survey published in Biological Conservation concludes that, although many species of Odonata are at risk of extinction, the overall risk of extinction faced by insects is perhaps exaggerated. A summary of the conclusions can be found on this BBC Earth News page. Here is a link to the Biological Conservation abstract. The full article is not available to the general public without payment.
Dragonfly Week 2009
Dragonfly Week has moved! Make a note in your diaries that Dragonfly Week will run from 23rd - 31st May 2009. Keep an eye out for details of events in your area, or think about arranging your own - get in touch to chat about ideas.
From Waste to Wildlife
The BDS is supporting a sculpture competition organised by Gloucestershire County Council and the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust at the their Slimbridge reserve. The competition requires school children to make dragonfly sculptures from recycled materials and celebrates the dragonfly pond recently dug at the site. Judging will take place during National Dragonfly Week. For more information see the press release here. [Link opens in a new window. BDS is not responsible for content of external websites]
Our New Patron - Sir David Attenborough
The British Dragonfly Society warmly welcomes Sir David Attenborough OM CH FRS as Patron in its 25th anniversary year. Sir David has long been active in the conservation world and his distinguished career in natural history broadcasting has inspired a whole generation of environmentalists. From his first famous Zoo Quest series, through the memorable Life on Earth trilogy, to his most recent project, Life in Cold Blood, his programmes have raised awareness and increased understanding of our natural world. We are indeed most fortunate that he has kindly agreed to become our Patron.
The National Atlas Project
The National Dragonfly Atlas Project was launched in April 2008. The aim of this project is to update the known distribution of British dragonfly and damselfly species over the next 5 years, culminating in the publication of a new national atlas in 2013.
A new national atlas is urgently required. Climate change is contributing to increasingly earlier spring emergence and change in the range of a number of our species. In addition, new species are becoming established in Britain, as demonstrated by the recent rapid spread of Small Red-eyed Damselfly. We are living through a dynamic change in our dragonfly fauna and need to record this information, thereby providing evidence for future assessment of the impact climate change and other environmental factors are having on our dragonfly fauna.
To succeed in this ambitious project good national coverage is needed. The more volunteers that get involved, especially in the traditionally under-recorded areas of Scotland, Ireland and northern England, the more information on the status of our dragonfly and damselfly species can be gathered. This will not only allow the production of a high quality national atlas but also provide a good baseline of information that can be used for the future benefit of dragonfly conservation.
Find more details of this important new project and how you can help by visiting the National Atlas page.
The Key Site Project
The key site project aims to develop an agreed set of national criteria that may be applied to determine key dragonfly and damselfly sites throughout Britain.
This project will help to determine sites important for maintaining breeding populations of nationally or locally important, or a high diversity of damselfly and dragonfly species. By being based on information readily gathered using the RA83 recording card, it is hoped that this will promote the recording of evidence of breeding and abundance of dragonfly species and contribute towards increasing monitoring of species and identification of key sites throughout the country.
Find more details of this important new project and how you can help by visiting the Key Site Project page.
Exuviae - your help is requested
The BDS is in the process of setting up an exuviae collection that will be for use by the members. The idea is that there will be ten sets for each species, consisting of one male and one female of each species on the British List. A set (i.e. a male and a female) of each species can then be borrowed from the society, so for example you can check you exuviae against known examples. Some photos from the collection are now available on the species pages of the web site.
We are still building the exuvia collection so can I please ask you to collect exuviae that you come across during the summer especially for the following species and send them to David Goddard 30, Cliffe Hill Avenue, Stapleford, Nottingham, NG9 7HD.
Don't worry if I get more than is required for a particular species the exuviae will be kept as spares with the possibility of an exchange system being set up in the future. I also know that some of the species are migrants but the BDS has members abroad where these species breed.
| Beautiful Demoiselle | Calopteryx virgo |
| Banded Demoiselle | Calopteryx splendens |
| Scarce Emerald Damselfly | Lestes dryas |
| Southern Emerald Damselfly | Lestes barbarus |
| Willow Emerald | Chalcolestes viridis |
| Red-eyed Damselfly | Erythromma najas |
| Small Red-eyed Damselfly | Erythromma viridulum |
| Dainty Damselfly | Coenagrion scitulum |
| Northern Damselfly | Coenagrion hastulatum |
| Irish Damselfly | Coenagrion lunulatum |
| Norfolk Damselfly | Coenagrion armatum |
| Azure Damselfly | Coenagrion puella |
| Variable Damselfly | Coenagrion pulchellum |
| Common Blue Damselfly | Enallagma cyathigerum |
| Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly | Ischnura pumilio |
| Blue-tailed Damselfly | Ischnura elegans |
| Small Red Damselfly | Ceriagrion tenellum |
| Azure Hawker | Aeshna caerulea |
| Brown Hawker | Aeshna grandis |
| Southern Migrant Hawker | Aeshna affinis |
| Lesser Emperor | Anax parthenope |
| Green Darner | Anax junius |
| Vagrant Emperor | Hemianax ephippiger |
| Hairy Hawker | Brachytron pratense |
| Golden-ringed Dragonfly | Cordulegaster boltonii |
| Downy Emerald | Cordulia aenea |
| Brilliant Emerald | Somatochlora metallica |
| Northern Emerald | Somatochlora arctica |
| Orange-spotted Emerald | Oxygastra curtisii |
| Common Darter | Sympetrum striolatum |
| Highland Darter | Sympetrum nigrescens |
| Yellow-winged Darter | Sympetrum flaveolum |
| Ruddy Darter | Sympetrum sanguineum |
| Vagrant Darter | Sympetrum vulgatum |
| Banded Darter | Sympetrum pedemontanum |
| Scarlet Darter | Crocothemis erythraea |
| Globe Skimmer | Pantala flavescens |
Slides and Digital Images wanted for the BDS collection
The BDS has a collection of slides and digital images that are used in illustrated talks on conservation. We welcome additional photographs to illustrate species, habitat, behaviour etc. to help us with this task. A list of subjects that we would like to add or expand upon is given below. Of course please feel free to send any other slide or digital image you think would be of interest.
When you send them can you please supply the following information - Species, Date and place where taken and Name of photographer.
These should be sent to me at: David Goddard, 30 Cliffe Hill Avenue, Stapleford, Nottingham, NG9 7HD; email - david.goddard8@ntlworld.com.
Orange-spotted Emerald Oxygastra curtisii male and female
Northern Emerald Somatochlora arctica female
Vagrant Darter Sympetrum vulgatum female
Highland Darter Sympetrum nigrescens male and female
Scarce Emerald Damselfly Lestes dryas female
Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma najas female
Small Red Damselfly Ceriagrion tenellum female
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura pumilio female (normal form)
Northern Damselfly Coenagrion hastulatum female
Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum female
Irish Damselfly Coenagrion lunulatum female
Norfolk Damselfly Coenagrion armatum male and female
Dainty Damselfly Coenagrion scitulum male and female
Banded Darter Sympetrum pedemontanum male and female
Southern Migrant Hawker Aeshna affins male and female
Lesser Emperor Anax parthenope female
Green Darner Anax junius male and female
Vagrant Emperor Dragonfly Hemianax ephippiger female
Globe Skimmer Pantala flavescens male and female
Any teneral males or females
Any Dragonflies / damselflies in tandem
Any Dragonflies / damselflies in copulation
Any Dragonflies / damselflies ovipositing
Any Dragonflies / damselflies larvae
Any Dragonflies / damselflies emerging a sequence would be nice
Any Dragonflies / damselflies exuviae
Any Dragonflies / damselflies caught or being eaten
Any Dragonflies / damselflies feeding
Any Dragonflies / damselflies in mixed parings
Any Dragonflies / damselflies colour forms
Habitat shots
Field meetings
Site Awards
