With its chalk-white face and vibrant 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 menace of native extinction, however now conservationists are attempting to finish its inhabitants crash by introducing it right into a distant nook of Cumbria.
White-faced darters are being fastidiously transported to the South Solway Mosses nationwide nature reserve, the place mossy swimming pools have been created for the bugs to get pleasure from. 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 lavatory 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 fastidiously amassing small quantities of sphagnum moss containing dragonfly larvae and transporting it in buckets to new areas on the reserve, within the hope of accelerating abundance.
Mhairi Maclauchlan, RSPB Cumbria’s coastal reserves supervisor, mentioned: “It’s extremely rewarding to know we’ve got created the fitting circumstances for white-faced darter, and we’re delighted to hold on the legacy and successes of the opposite initiatives in Cumbria.
“By fastidiously restoring the wetland habitat and guaranteeing the fitting stability 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 might 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 secure inhabitants will be established. Native dragonfly specialists will assist with the surveys to gauge success, and guests will hopefully have the ability to see the invertebrate on the wing as early as Could 2026.
Eleanor Colver, the British Dragonfly Society’s conservation officer, mentioned: “The white-faced darter is one in all our rarest dragonflies and the BDS is dedicated to stabilising the British inhabitants. Sadly, as a result of habitat loss and local weather change, the species can’t be reintroduced to its extra southerly historic breeding websites in England. Nonetheless, the cooler local weather of the Solway coast and the wholesome peat lavatory 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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