A new dragonfly
Not something you can or even expect to see every day. In fact, this was the first time any of us had ever seen it happening!
On 25th May 2024 three members of the Field Club were along the track leading to the disused Glenleraig Hatchery buildings.
We were there for some refresher training on a citizen science project called ‘Riverfly Monitoring’ being run by Buglife. Our training was being delivered by Buglife Conservation Officer Rebecca Lewis.
Things were progressing well. Then Charlie Leeson suddenly noticed it!
The ‘it’ was a very recently emerged Golden-ringed Dragonfly, Cordulegaster boltonii. The new dragonfly was fully out of its larval skin by this point. Luckily the exuvia was still lodged in the tree stump beside this new adult. The adult would be in this location for several hours as it allowed its body and wings to dry and harden.
You can see the exuvia in several of the attached images. It is also possible to see the abdomen beginning to lengthen and straighten as time passed. There is slightly less than one hour between the first and last image here.
Golden-ringed Dragonfly is the largest dragonfly we get in Assynt and also the UK. Males can be 74mm in length and females 84mm.
Riverfly Project
The Riverfly Monitoring project involves sampling for and recording the larvae of Caddisflies, Stoneflies, Mayflies, etc. in the river. During the training we also ‘caught’ two dragon/damselfly larvae. One was very mature while the other looked very much younger. A photo of these two larvae is also attached. All larvae caught during sampling are returned to the river after being recorded.
The whole life cycle of dragonflies and damselflies is fascinating. Rather than trying to explain it all here this link will take you to the ‘Life Cycle And Biology’ page of the British Dragonfly Society website. They are better at it than me!
Words and photos David Haines
Postcript: Cheryl Smith sent us a photo of another Golden-ringed dragonfly near the River Kirkaig. This one was further on in the hardening and drying process after emerging, and we have included the photo as a useful addition to David’s photos of the earlier stages.