List of Odonata Species of Great Britain - New Species Since 1990

New Species Since 1990

After a period in which the British Odonata list has been relatively static, since 1990, many new species have been found and some have gone on to become regular breeding species. In chronological order of their first record, these new species are:

• Scarlet Dragonfly, first recorded at Hayle Kimbro Pool, The Lizard, Cornwall on 7 August 1995 (Jones 1996 ), with a small number of further records at scattered locations throughout Britain
• Banded Darter, recorded just once to date, near Tredegar, Monmouthshire on 16 August 1995, although a darter seen on 29 July 2003 at Hickling Broad, Norfolk, which had dark bands on its wings, may have been this species
• Lesser Emperor, first recorded at Cinderford, in the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire on 13 June 1996 (Phillips 1997a, 1997b ) and now occurring annually; breeding evidence was found at Hayle Kimbro Pool (Jones 2000 ) and also at Bake Fishing Lakes, Cornwall (Pellow 2000 ) in 1999, and the species appears to be resident at Dungeness, Kent
• Green Darner, first recorded at Penlee Battery, Cornwall on 9 September 1998 – the first record for Europe (Pellow 1999a, 1999b ), with several other records in South West England that autumn, but none since to date
• Small Red-eyed Damselfly, first recorded in Essex on 17 July 1999 (Dewick and Gerussi 2000 ) – now a well-established breeding species across much of southern England
• Southern Emerald Damselfly, first recorded at Winterton Dunes, Norfolk on 30 July 2002 (Nobes 2003 ); in 2003 & 2004, the species was again seen here and at Sandwich Bay, Kent (Forrest 2005 ), but there have been no subsequent sightings at either location.

Many British Odonata enthusiasts expect further species to be added to the list in the near future. The list below is up to date as of the end of the 2005 breeding season.