Natural England

Natural England

Gardening with Wildlife in Mind

The Plant Press

© 2006-2008. Database provided and managed on behalf of Natural England by The Plant Press. Designed and implemented by Ideal Integration Ltd

 

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Dragonflies and damselflies

the common darterazure damselflythe four spotted chasercommon blue damselflyTop l to r: common blue damselfly, the four spotted chaser; bottom l to r: azure damselfly, the common darter
Top l to r: common blue damselfly, the four spotted chaser; bottom l to r: azure damselfly, the common darterTop l to r: common blue damselfly, the four spotted chaser; bottom l to r: azure damselfly, the common darter
© Top l to r: Dr Chris Gibson/English Nature, Robin Chittenden www.harlequinpictures.co.uk; bottom l to r: Robin Chittenden www.harlequinpictures.co.uk, English Nature

Although some dragonflies will range quite widely in search of prey, you can obviously increase your chances of attracting these beautiful and dramatic insects into your garden by building a pond - or indeed more than one if you have the space. The larvae of dragonflies and damselflies spend at least a year in water where they are fearsome predators of other invertebrates. Adult damselflies are rarely found very far from water but dragonflies (which hold their wings open when at rest and are stronger fliers) are a different matter. Both consume many other flying insects, especially smaller flies such as mosquitoes. Damselflies use abundant submerged vegetation such as Sparganium, pond sedges and Iris for egg-laying, depositing eggs in stems just below the water surface. They may be taken by various species of bird including the hobby, a small migratory falcon and a very rare visitor to gardens, flycatchers (spotted or pied) and the kestrel.

Plants

Arrowhead, Common water-crowfoot, Common water-starwort, Fringed water-lily, Frogbit, Lesser water-plantain, Rigid hornwort, Spiked water-milfoil, Water dock, Water-lily, Water-plantain, Water-violet, Whorled water-milfoil, Yellow iris

Prey

Corixa punctata, Culiseta annulata, Flies, Gatekeeper, Green lacewing, Green-veined white, Holly blue, Large skipper, Meadow brown, Non-biting midge, Platystoma seminationis, Silver y moth, Small copper, Small fish, Small skipper, Small white, Speckled wood, St Mark's fly, Tadpoles, Vapourer moth, Wall brown, Water invertebrates

Predators

Great crested newt, Great diving beetle, House sparrow, Kestrel, Pied flycatcher, Smooth newt, Spotted flycatcher

Dragonflies and damselflies

Azure damselfly, Blue-tailed damselfly, Common darter dragonfly, Four-spotted chaser dragonfly, Large red damselfly, Southern hawker dragonfly