Priority Species | Insects | Irish Damselfly
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Latin name: Coenagrion lunulatum
Family: Coenagrionidae
Description of the Irish Damselfly
The Irish Damselfly, also known as the ‘blue’ damselfly varies in colour depending on whether it is male or female. The males are mostly blue on the underside of their abdomen with sections of black marks along their backs.
Older adult males also have bright green sections on the underside of the head and thorax. The females are not as brightly coloured as the males and are much less distinctive. The females are mostly green all over with some blue and black markings on sections along the back.
The Irish damselfly life cycle lasts for about a year although most of this is spent as a young damselfly; once the adult matures it only lives for a few weeks.
The young Damselfly begins life as an egg attached to submerged stems of aquatic plants such as pondweed or water-lilies. The adult female lays her eggs this way to protect them from other predators although they are not protected from hungry fish! After a couple of weeks developing in the water the eggs will hatch and the young larvae will stay in the pond until the following spring. Here they will eat and grow and when they are ready to become adults they will begin the long climb up the stem of the plants ready to leave the water.
The young adults will then leave the water to look for food and a mate, although they will not travel very far from the water for the first few days. They will then return to the water’s edge when they are ready to mate and lay their own eggs. You can see the males and females perched on the leaves of plants around the water between May and August.
Size
Both adult male and female Irish damselflies grow to around 31 mm in length and the wings are nearly the same overall length as the body.
Historical Info
The Irish damselfly can be found near clean ponds and shallow lakes around Ireland, this includes wetlands, peat-lands and cut off bogs. Sites where they can be found around Ireland include Leitrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Armagh and Monaghan. The species was first discovered in Sligo in 1981, the first Northern Ireland population was found in 1984 at Watson’s Lough, County Fermanagh.
There are approx 35 colonies known in Northern Ireland with a total of around 80 colonies throughout Ireland. The largest colonies are found in Fermanagh and Tyrone, it is the North of Ireland where the largest populations have been recorded. There are scattered colonies throughout northern and eastern Europe however there have never been any recordings of the Irish damselfly in Britain.
The Irish Damselfly's Habitat
The Irish damselfly can be found near clean ponds and shallow lakes around Ireland, this includes wetlands, peat-lands and cut off bogs. Sites where they can be found around Ireland include Leitrim, Fermanagh, Tyrone, Armagh and Monaghan.
Diet
Young and adult Irish damselflies are predatory; this means that they mostly eat smaller insects and will sometimes feed on other smaller damselflies.
Threats to the Irish Damselfly
The Irish damselfly is seen as a rare and threatened species throughout its range. Although the species was only discovered in 1981 it has already started to decline and some colonies have even been lost, however there is potential for new colonies to be discovered. The Irish damselfly is seen as a rare and threatened species and the conservation of the Irish habitats is very important to the overall population quantities. Problems such as water quality, water levels, drainage and lack of legal protection all threaten the survival of the species.
