Male. Taken at Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon, on June 28th 2019.
(1/640th sec at f11. Click image for larger version. © David Hastings)
Male. Taken at Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon, on June 14th 2014.
(1/100th sec at f11. Click image for larger version. © David Hastings)
Female. Taken at Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon, on June 15th 2019.
(1/160th sec at f13. Click image for larger version. © David Hastings)
Mating pair. Taken at Parsonage Moor, Oxon., on July 16th 2020.
(1/320th sec at f13. Click image for larger version. © David Hastings)

Description

Wingspan: 30 - 40 mm; body length: 27 - 31 mm

The smallest blue damselfly, which has a very restricted distribution in Britain. The male's S2 marking typically resembles a head bearing a winged helmet (the so-called 'Mercury mark'). S3-6 are seldom more than half black, and there is always some blue at the base of S7. The female is dark and nondescript.

Its main strongholds in the UK are the New Forest, Dartmoor, Anglesey and the Preseli mountains in south Wales.

The Southern Damselfly only occurs in very specialised habitats. Favoured watercourses are base-rich, shallow and narrow, with shallow peat or silt over gravel and slow to moderate flows. They can be acidic or alkaline.

Eggs are laid into soft-stemmed submerged plants, and hatch after 4-6 weeks. Larvae develop over two years. The flight period is June and July.

Adults only fly in sunshine. Their flight is weak and low, and they stay close to the breeding site and do not appear to disperse easily to colonise new areas.

This a Red Data Book species, and a licence is required to handle it.

Sightings

07-Jul-2023	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(13)
08-Jul-2022	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(25+)
17-Jun-2022	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(6m,3f)
24-Jun-2021	:	Cothill Fen, Oxon	(2m)
24-Jun-2021	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(12+m,6+f)
14-Jun-2021	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(3m)
16-Jul-2020	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(15m,4f)
10-Jul-2020	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(3m)
30-May-2020	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1ten)
29-May-2020	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(20+)
04-Jul-2019	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(5m)
28-Jun-2019	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(2m)
15-Jun-2019	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(2f)
12-Jul-2018	:	Cothill Fen, Oxon	(3m)
12-Jul-2018	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(9m,3f)
15-Jun-2018	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(6)
11-Jun-2018	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(3m,1f)
14-Jun-2017	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1m)
03-Jun-2017	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1m,1f)
09-Jul-2016	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1f)
28-Jun-2016	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1m)
12-Jul-2015	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(1m)
02-Jul-2015	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1m)
28-Jun-2014	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(2)
14-Jun-2014	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(6m,2f)
08-Jun-2014	:	Parsonage Moor, Oxon	(4m)
14-Jul-2013	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(2m)
14-Jul-2013	:	Cothill Fen, Oxon	(1m)
29-Jun-2013	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1f)
08-Jun-2013	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1m,1f)
30-Jun-2012	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1m)
16-Jul-2011	:	Crockford Stream, Hants	(1f)
11-Jul-2011	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1f)
26-Jun-2011	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon	(1m,1f)
30-Aug-2010	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon
21-Jun-2010	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon
12-Jun-2010	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon
05-Jun-2010	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon
30-May-2010	:	Dry Sandford Pit, Oxon