Dragonflies and Damselflies

List of the Dragon, and Damselflies recorded on Stourbridge Common, Ditton Meadows and on the Cam between the cattle grid at Riverside and Ditton Fields between 2005 and 2010

This wonderful list was put together by Jeff Stenning, Freelance Wildlife Consultant, email:  jeffstenning@hotmail.co.uk

Banded Demoiselle Calopterix splendens - common along the river where suitable vegetation occurs but also in some ditches eg east end of Stourbridge Common alongside horse paddock

Emerald Damselfly Lestes sponsa - surprisingly only a female recorded in main ditch east of cycle/footpath on Ditton Meadows; probably commoner

Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula - common in the ditches and generally the first species on the wing, in April

Azure Damselfly Coenagrion puella - common in the ditches and more sparingly along the river

Variable Damselfly Coenagrion pulchellum - a more localised British species with a few individuals identified in the Ditton Meadows ditches

Common Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum – common to abundant along the river with fewer in the ditches

Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma najas - common along the river wherever there are lilies

Small Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma viridulum – colonised Britain in 1999 and first identified on the river in 2007 where it is commoner on and  around lilies west of the railway bridge

Hairy Dragonfly Brachytron pratense – another more localised British species with a small but readily observed population in the Ditton Fields ditches; generally the second species on the wing, in May

Migrant Hawker Aeshna mixta - colonised Britain as a breeding species during the ’70s and now at times in swarms from late summer to (in mild autumns) early November; seen almost anywhere with good numbers breeding in the Ditton Fields ditches

Southern Hawker Aeshna cyanea - Hawks smaller insects along hedgerows on Ditton Fields and amongst the trees along the river and near and around the play area on Stourbridge Common

Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis - Commoner than Southern Hawker and not nearly as abundant as Migrant Hawker; like the latter found in a range of habitats

Emperor Dragonfly Anax imperator - several territories along the river and in the Ditton Fields ditches, where the males patrol up and down the territory, often clashing with males of the previous four species

Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata - common in the Ditton Fields ditches, less so along the river

Scarce Chaser Libellula fulva - last of the three more localised species, currently expanding it’s range, west- and southward in East Anglia from the Fens and Broads; two territorial males recorded on the Ditton Fields riverbank

Broad-bodied Chaser Libellula depressa – Female or teneral (immature) male flying from the Water Street side of the river onto Stourbridge Common on 10th June 2010

Black-tailed Skimmer Orthetrum canellatum -  quite common along the Stourbridge Common and Ditton Fields riverbank and in the larger ditches, usually associated with a bare area of mud or gravel where the territorial males ‘bask’

Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum - abundant in all habitats from mid-summer

Ruddy Darter Sympetrum sanguineum – common in the Ditton Fields ditches and less so along the river

Blue-tailed Damselfly Ischnura elegans - common along the ditches and river.