28 Nov 2014

28 Nov 14 - Insect Photospot4 - Dorset Damselflies

This is the second Dragonfly Photospot, covering the Damselflies & Demoiselles that are found in Dorset. The main aim is to give the readers an appreciation of the variety of species that can be seen in Dorset, rather than focusing on the identification. There are plenty more photos of these species as well as useful identification features in earlier Posts: just click on the Label links on the right hand side of the Blog.
Banded Demoiselle: Male. This is a common species on a number of the clean Dorset rivers. Throop Mill (23 June 14)
Banded Demoiselle: Female. White Mill, Sturminster Marshall (28 June 14)
Beautiful Demoiselle: Male. This is more of a heathland pond species. Rempstone Forest (3 Aug 14)
Emerald Damselfly: Male. Currently, this is the only Emerald Damselfly found in Dorset, but there are other species that have recently colonised Kent & East Anglia and hopefully in time, they will reach Dorset. Rempstone Forest (3 Aug 14)
Emerald Damselfly: Female. Rempstone Forest (3 Aug 14)
White-legged Damselfly: Male. Canford School Water Meadows (29 June 14)
White-legged Damselfly: Female. Canford School Water Meadows (29 June 14)
Red-eyed Damselfly: This species seems to really like resting on water lilies well away from the water's edge. Throop Mill (23 June 14)
Red-eyed Damselfly: Mating Pair. Throop Mill (23 June 14)
Small Red-eyed Damselfly: This species is less widespread than Red-eyed Damselfly in Dorset with the Weymouth area being one of the more reliable sites to see it. It is a species I have yet to photograph
Large Red Damselfly: East Holme Water Meadows (6 June 14)
Large Red Damselfly: Mating Pair. Brownsea (21 June 14)
Small Red Damselfly: This species is smaller & daintier than Large Red Damselfly and is a heathland specialist. Arne (11 July 14)
Blue-tailed Damselfly: This is the common Blue-tailed Damselfly species in Dorset. Bestwall (19 June 14)
Scarce Blue-tailed Damselfly: This is a rarer of the two Blue-tailed Damselfly species in Dorset with a limited number of sites. It likes good boggy conditions or habitats with open edges to water and doesn't seem to be much of a flier compared to its commoner relative (4 Aug 14)
Common Blue Damselfly: Male. White Mill, Sturminster Marshall (28 June 14)
Azure Damselfly: Arne (8 June 14)
Southern Damselfly: This is the scarce species of the three Blue Damselflies. The main features to separate the 3 Dorset Blue Damselflies can be found here (9 July 12)