British Wildlife 36.3 December 2024

Dragonfly expansions- ten years on

Steve Cham provides an update on his article from 2014 Dragonfly expansion.  The last decade has seen developments such as the continued spread of Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Willow Emerald Damselfly. Similarly, there has been a wider establishment of the Norfolk Hawker across England and an increased prominence of new species such as the Southern Migrant Hawker and the Lesser Emperor.

In a previous article on dragonfly range expansions, a number of species were reported to be in the process of forming new breeding populations in Britain (Cham 2014). In particular, Small Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma viridulum and Willow Emerald Damselfly Chalcolestes viridis were both recent colonists and spreading across England. 

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