Emerse yourself in the world of Damselflies and Dragonflies

The world of dragonflies and damselflies is fascinating.  The Learning Zone takes you through the life of Dragonflies and tests your knowledge of this ancient species of insect.

Dragonflies of Britian
There are about 45 species of dragonfly and damselfly recorded in Britain however only 38 of these regularly breed. Of the remaining, three are occasional migrants (the Yellow-winged, Red-viened and Vagrant Darters. There are even ice-age relics such as the Azure Hawker and the Northern Emerald. Sadly, neither of these two species occur in Derbyshire. Climatic warming has almost ceratinly encouraged the northward re-distribution of the Common Darter, Brown Hawker and Emperor Dragonfly, all of which appear to be extending their range. Add 7 more species if we include the Channel Islands.

All dragonflies and damselflies are vunerable to natural and man-made disasters.  Flooding can wipe out colonies and of course there is the ever present threat of pollution.  At the time of wrting (2003) ten species are reported as being vunerable and have restricted breeding sites.

We have divided this area of the site in to areas that relect stages in the development of the dragonfly.  The menu to the left illustrates the different zones. In addition we have also included video files for reference.