Female Black Darter Sympetrum danae

Photo © Martin Hind

The British Dragonfly Society is about to begin work on a new UK Odonata Distribution Atlas.  It will be the third UK Atlas to be produced, the first two being published in 1983 and 1995.  To make this new atlas as comprehensive as possible we would like to ask all those who see any Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) when out and about to send their records in to the Scottish recorder (see contact details below). 

There is massive scope for getting new records for the 10km squares found in Scotland. If you have a look at the map on the right, you will see the "black holes" where there are either no records ever of Odonata in that square, or no records since 1990, or fewer than 3 records. Surprisingly there are quite large, accessible areas of Scotland that are included. A combination of being easy to identify (as adults) and locate (at waterbodies) does mean that it would be relatively easy for volunteers to fill in most of the gaps.

Even for the squares with post 1990 records, over 90% have under 100 records with the majority with under 20 records, so all records are important. If you fancy pioneering recording in a 10km square then that would be excellent. Information on the presence of adults would be great but any information on breeding would be even better. If you would like to improve your ID skills then come along on one of British Dragonfly Society Field Trips that are run annually.

If you have any records that you haven't submitted to the national recorder then please do dust these down and send them in. We will also be approaching conservation organisations to see if we can uncover any records hidden in their files.

This atlas is not simply collecting information for the sake of it, but a very good opportunity to capture the existing distribution of the species found in Scotland, so that any future changes in distribution can be compared against a comprehensive baseline. Some distributions have already changed with the Common Darter expanding its range northwards since the 1980's and in the last few years the Emperor Dragonfly breeding in southern Scotland and no doubt other species will expand their range northwards.

For up to date information (records up to 2006) on Odonata distribution in Scotland go to NBN Gateway.

For information on how to compile and submit records see The Dragonfly Society website.

To send records to the Scottish Dragonfly Recorder, email .

If you would like a list of the 10km squares on the map in Figure 1, email .

If you would like to be kept up to date with the Atlas progress, then email .