Dragonflies in the Mount Moreland Conservancy area

Dragonflies are plentiful within the Mount Moreland Conservancy, it is a sheer delight to watch these colourful creatures happily enjoying the Mount Moreland landscape.

There are approximately 750 species of dragonfly in Africa, with the greatest diversity in the tropics. South Africa is home to 158 species (90 ‘true' dragonflies, and 68 damsel flies). Dragonflies differ from damsel flies in being stouter and larger in shape, having eyes which are joined on the top of the head, and in having differently shaped fore and hind wings.

 
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Michael Samways is an entomologist at the University of Stellenbosch, and chair of the IUCN/SSC Invertebrate Conservation Subcommittee. As such, he is an expert on insect conservation, and is one of the scientists leading the charge to protect these often forgotten, but essential animals.

But conservation is rarely simple. As Dr. Samways explained, “South Africa has many rare and threatened endemic invertebrates. Among these are certain damsel flies and dragonflies that are globally threatened, principally by invasive alien trees; two such species are the Cape bluet and Ceres stream damsel. Both of these species were thought to be extinct: The Ceres stream damsel had not been seen since 1920, while the Cape bluet had not been recorded since 1962. However, in 2004, both species were found inhabiting a small pool of standing water in the western Cape.”

The area had recently been cleared of invasive alien trees, including eucalyptus. Samways added, “This is the first time that such a recovery has been demonstrated and is a very positive and exciting development showing that removal of invasive trees can result in recovery of some natural species that were on the brink of extinction.” Full story

Dragonflies are a key indicator of environmental health, red the link below to see what a positive result is achieved by removing alien and exotic vegetation. 

Impacts of invasive alien plants on Red-Listed South African dragonflies (Odonata)