In the frosty cold of an early December morning I went for my first stroll round Hodbarrow after being away for two months. It was evident, looking at the silent frozen ponds, just how much rain had fallen in my absence. Places where I’d easily walked two months ago were now flooded and frozen over and the abundant insect life was now over for this year.
Even with all the wet weather the dragonflies and insects have flourished on the reserve with a few minor ‘hiccups’ when the weather was particularly bad. A total of fourteen species of damselflies and dragonflies have been recorded on the reserve this year, most of them definitely breeding on the ponds.
Four-Spotted Chaser emerging from its larva
One very special experience was watching a four-spotted chaser dragonfly emerging from its larva. The process took about four hours, during which time it was totally vulnerable to its enemies – mostly birds. Seeing a brown hawker was good too, as the species is starting to move north. There were plenty of migrant hawkers as well. I counted eight different males and two different females around one pond at the beginning of October.
Male Migrant Hawker
There were other insects that could be found with careful inspection of the vegetation. There were at least three varieties of shield bugs and some interesting flies, wasps and beetles. Hopefully next spring will be drier and warmer and the insects can get a good start in 2013!
Chris Lloyd-Rogers (Volunteer)