With its chalk-white face and brilliant flame-coloured markings, the white-faced darter dragonfly is a particular sight because it flutters round England’s peat bogs.
The uncommon dragonfly, which breeds in mossy swimming pools, is at risk of native extinction, however now conservationists try to finish its inhabitants crash by introducing it right into a distant nook of Cumbria.
White-faced darters are being rigorously transported to the South Solway Mosses nationwide nature reserve, the place mossy swimming pools have been created for the bugs to take pleasure in. They thrive in bogs, breeding in acidic swimming pools containing sphagnum moss, and roost and feed in woodlands.
The dragonfly inhabitants has steeply declined due to destruction of its peatland habitat, together with drainage of the wetland and grazing from intensive agriculture. Its bathroom pool breeding websites have been drying out within the more and more scorching, dry summers which were made extra common by local weather breakdown.
Conservationists are rigorously gathering small quantities of sphagnum moss containing dragonfly larvae and transporting it in buckets to new places on the reserve, within the hope of accelerating abundance.
Mhairi Maclauchlan, RSPB Cumbria’s coastal reserves supervisor, stated: “It’s extremely rewarding to know now we have created the proper circumstances for white-faced darter, and we’re delighted to hold on the legacy and successes of the opposite tasks in Cumbria.
“By rigorously restoring the wetland habitat and making certain the proper steadiness of sphagnum-rich swimming pools, we’re hopeful that these dragonflies will set up themselves right here. If this 12 months’s translocation is profitable, we may see adults rising subsequent spring and we hope to see this space alive with this species of dragonfly within the coming years.”
The dragonfly reintroductions will happen in April and August, persevering with for as much as 5 years to make sure a steady inhabitants could be established. Native dragonfly specialists will assist with the surveys to gauge success, and guests will hopefully be capable of see the invertebrate on the wing as early as Might 2026.
Eleanor Colver, the British Dragonfly Society’s conservation officer, stated: “The white-faced darter is considered one of our rarest dragonflies and the BDS is dedicated to stabilising the British inhabitants. Sadly, attributable to habitat loss and local weather change, the species can’t be reintroduced to its extra southerly historic breeding websites in England. Nevertheless, the cooler local weather of the Solway coast and the wholesome peat bathroom of Campfield Marsh present excellent circumstances for the species to thrive.”
This article by Helena Horton was first printed by The Guardian on 22 April 2025. Lead Picture: White-faced Darter – male (© David Morris).
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