Clubtail dragonfly is back
The elusive Gomphus vulgatissimus is back at Arundel Wetland Centre. Boat driver Simon Wotton spotted and photographed a male clubtail dragonfly last Saturday along the Wetland Discovery Boat Safari. David Chelmick, President of the British Dragonfly Society and a Fellow of Royal Entomological Society believes the club-tailed dragonfly is breeding at WWT Arundel Wetland Centre. This dragonfly’s life cycle is 2-3 years from egg to adult, which is why the sightings are three years apart. I saw and photographed the dragonfly in June of 2014. Before that a clubtail dragonfly was seen and photographed on the reserve in 2011.
The common clubtail dragonfly only breeds on 5 rivers in the UK – one of these is the Arun River. The scrapes and ditches at Arundel Wetland Centre only outflow to the Arun River so it is very exciting to find the dragonflies on the reserve. Club-tails emerge yellow in colour and turn green as they mature, including their eyes. This medium sized dragonfly is easily identified by its club shaped tail and distinctly separate eyes. The eyes of most dragonflies meet on top of their head.
The hot weather has many species of dragonfly currently active on the reserve including black-tailed skimmers, the short, flat broad-bodied chasers and brown hawkers with their bronze wings glinting in the sun. I saw my first southern hawker of the season on Sunday. These large dragonflies will fly close to people and will circle the boats during the Wetlands Discovery Boat Safari. The males are bright green with pale blue segments near the end of their tails.
Butterflies out this week include ringlets, tortoiseshell, red admirals and peacocks. The meadow browns are abundant and having a good year here. The Big Butterfly Count begins this Fri 14 July. This annual count help assess the health of our environment by using butterflies as indicators and its easy for anyone to get involved. We are handing out Big Butterfly Spotters sheets to help you with your count. Spend 15 minutes is a sunny spot and count what you see.
