Wiltshire Dragonflies: Identifying and Recording Wiltshire Species

Welcome to the Wiltshire Dragonfly web site!. The bright, jewel-like appearance of dragonflies on hot, languid summer days inevitably makes them one of our most popular insects. And yet there are still a great many gaps in our understanding of this fascinating

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order, including the detailed distribution of each species. On a national scale the broader distributional ranges are now quite well known and documented (Merritt et al. 1996), as are detailed distributions for some counties such as Surrey and Dorset. In Wiltshire, however, the fauna is poorly understood largely because it has not had the benefit of a long term, sustained recording effort.
. To contribute records, please look at Wiltshire Atlas (includes key sites) and County map pages to see the latest results and guidelines for recorders. See News for the latest list of species on the wing and a list of local activities and field meetings.

The WSBRC (Wiltshire and Swindon Biological Records Center) holds records covering the period 1963 to 1988. The bulk of these date from the 1980s when there was a joint initiative by the British Dragonfly Society (BDS) and the National Biological Records Centre at Monks Wood to produce a national distribution atlas (Merritt et al., 1996).

Since Steve Covey become county recorder in 1997 he has become the main source of new records for the county together with a growing network both of local observers making casual contributions, and of more formal recorders, often bird enthusiasts looking for additional interests during the “quiet” summer period. Increased interest in dragonflies has been stimulated recently by the publication of two excellent, truly portable, field guides (Brooks and Lewington, 1997 and Powell, 1999).

Thanks to those who helped make this website happen: Acknowledgements

Links to other related web-sites: Links

Species Summary:

Wiltshire currently has 31 recorded species and it is likely that the small red-eyed damselfly will colonise soon, taking the count to 32 species. By clicking on the links below further details can be found on the species:

Dragonflies:

Skimmers:
Black-tailed Skimmer (Orthetrum cancellatum)

Keeled Skimmer (Orthetrum coerulescens)

Hawkers:
Hairy Dragonfly (Brachytron pratense)

Downy Emerald (Cordulia aenea)

Club Tailed Dragonfly (Gomphus vulatissimus)

Emperor Dragonfly (Anax imperator)

Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope)

Golden Ringed Dragonfly (Cordulegaster boltonii)

Brown Hawker (Aeshna grandis)

Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea)

Common Hawker (Aeshna juncea)

Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta)

Damselflies:

Red Bodied Damselflies:

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula)

Small Red Damselfly (Ceriagrion tenellum)

Damselflies with White Legs:

White-legged Damselfly (Platycnemis pennipes)

Damselflies with Blue Tails:

Blue-tailed Damselfly (Ischnura elegans)

Scarce Blue Tailed Damselfly (Ischnura pumilio)

Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma najas)

Small Red-eyed Damselfly (Erythromma viridulum)

Blue Bodied Damselflies:

Azure Damselfly (Coenagrion puella)

Variable Damselfly (Coenagrion pulchellum)

Common Blue Damselfly (Enallagma cyathigerum)

Demoiselles:

Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo)

Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens)

Emerald Damselflies:

Emerald Damselfly (Lestes sponsa)

Darters:
Common Darter (Sympetrum striolatum)

Red Veined Darter (Sympetrum fonscolombii)

Ruddy Darter (Sympetrum sanguineum)

Black Darter (Sympetrum danea)

Chasers:
Scarce Chaser (Libellula fulva)

Four-spotted Chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata)

Broad-bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa)