Damselflies
Damselflies are the cousins of dragonflies and ponds are important habitats for them too: more species live in ponds than rivers, and some of the most endangered damselflies live in acid ponds in special places on heathland and in bogs.
- Southern Damselfly at Cothill Fen, Oxfordshire. Photo copyright Alan S.L. Leung.
Description/identification
A good wildlife pond will nearly always have damselflies, often including two or three common species such as the Large Red Damselfly and the Azure Damselfly.
Like dragonflies, damselflies are predators feeding on any small pond animals they can catch.
Damselflies quickly colonise new ponds. Large Red Damselflies can live in the tiniest garden ponds of no more than a square metre. The adults lay their eggs in trailing grasses and fallen leaves – so don’t pull these out if you want to encourage these animals. Other damselflies need underwater water plants as their main habitat.