HUNDREDS of a threatened species of damselfly have been reintroduced to a nature reserve as part of efforts to secure the insect’s future following pioneering work at Liverpool University.
The southern damselfly has seen numbers fall by almost a third (30%) in the UK since 1960, and is globally threatened.
The small iridescent-blue insect breeds primarily in heathland streams and has been hit by loss and fragmenta-tion of its habitat.
Some 500 southern damselflies have been released by Devon Wildlife Trust over the past week at Venn Ottery Nature Reserve, east Devon.
The project, funded by the British Dragonfly Society, was the brainchild of David Thompson, professor of conserv-ation biology at Liverpool Universi-ty’s school of biologi-cal sciences.
He said: “Southern damselflies are a very localised species and find it difficult to disperse to other sites, so reintroduc-tions of this kind are essential to help secure the future of the species.”
