Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Farcet Fen

A pair of ovispositing Small Red-eyed Damselfly, Farcet Fen.

Click the image above for a larger picture.

I knew it was only a matter of time before I found this species on the fen. Brian Stone found them in central Peterborough last year, but I don't know of ay other sites locally to have recorded them either last year or this year (not heard of any anywhere so far this year). Is this the first site to record this species in Hunts?

On the above record shot (taken at about 8+ metres range with my Panosonic FZ-30) note on the male the blue on the underside of segments 2, 3 and 8 of the abdomen and the tomato-red eyes (not the ruby-red of LRED). The female is the blue form and you can just make out that she has full off-yellow shoulder stripes.

Large Red-eyed Damselfly occurs out here too, but I have never recorded them from this location on the fen, so as asoon as I saw a red-eye in this area I knew I was on to something!

This species continues to spread west and north through England since its discovery in Britain in 1999 and is already as far north s Yorkshire.

In addition to this ovipositing pair there were three other males present.