In this month’s Gosforth Nature Reserve Journal, NHSN naturalist, Christopher Wren, turns his attention to the damselflies- shimmering jewels of the wetlands and fleeting symbols of summer.
Gosforth Nature Reserve is now home to eight species of damselfly, including the most northerly UK records of two recently arrived species, Small Red-eyed Damselfly and Willow Emerald Damselfly, both of which are on the wing now. Damselflies are smaller and more numerous than their larger cousins, dragonflies. They have long slender abdomens and usually rest with their wings along the body. The eight species we have are:
Large Red Damselfly
This is always the first to emerge, in late April, and is easy to identify as we don’t have any other red damselflies. Its season is now over.
Blue-tailed Damselfly
Numerous with a long flight season – there may be a few still flying now. Males are black with bright blue on the thorax and the “tail” (really S8, the eighth abdominal segment). Females come in many different colour forms, including blue, green, brown, violet, pink and orange, and they don’t always have a blue tail.
Azure Damselfly
The most numerous blue damselfly in the reserve. The male is mostly blue with characteristic markings if seen close up. The female is black and green (or sometimes black and blue!).
Common Blue Damselfly
Slightly larger and chunkier than the Azure Damselfly. The male is very blue and the female is usually green and black, both with broad shoulder stripes.
Emerald Damselfly
Until recently this was our only green damselfly. The male is green and powder blue and the female green and gold, both turning bronzy with age. They usually sit with their wings outstretched.
Banded Demoiselle
An occasional visitor with one or two sightings each year. This is an inhabitant of running water so we only see an occasional dispersing male. Unmistakeable.
Small Red-eyed Damselfly
A recent colonist which first appeared in Essex in 1999 and has spread across the country since. It first moved north of the Tyne in August last year and at the time of writing Gosforth Nature Reserve has the most northerly record. Both sexes are black and blue with orange-red eyes. It is usually seen sitting on floating vegetation.
Willow Emerald Damselfly
Another recent colonist, first arriving in Suffolk, probably in 2007. It has already colonised much of England and Gosforth Nature Reserve again has the most northerly UK record. The first record was a single male in 2022 with breeding pairs in 2024. Both sexes are green with pale wing spots and are longer and more slender than the more common Emerald Damselfly. They also usually sit with their wings outstretched.
The female Willow Emerald Damselfly lays her eggs in the bark of willow stems overhanging the water. The photo shows the scars in the bark.
There are 20 species of damselfly in this country, more in the south than the north. The changing climate may mean we will see more species moving north in the next few years.