Coate's Wonderful Dragonfly Assemblage

THE DRAGONFLIES OF COATE WATER.

One of the reasons that Coate Water is designated a SSSI [Site of Special Scientific Interest] is its Odonata [dragonflies and damselflies] assemblage. To be regionally important a site must have at least 15 species of odonata; at the time Coate was notified it had those 15 - it now has 16. These are listed and illustrated below.

The most dragonfly interest is to be found at the south end of the main lake; the reserve lake, particularly the 'scrape' near the far hide; and various ponds around Coate such as the boating lake and the front pond [near the Coate roundabout]. The reason there are such a large number of species is due to the variety of aquatic habitats present around the Park. But - and this is an important but - these insects not only depend upon the wetland habitats within Coate Water for breeding and mating, they also need good scrubby floriferous habitat in the surrounding countryside. Why? Well, dragons and damsels although being beautiful flying jewels are also carnivores and the smaller flies, midges and other insects they prey upon are attracted to good nectar sources such as flowery meadows, and broad hedgerows with a wide variety of flowering and fruiting shrubs and trees. All these elements can be found in the landscape adjacent to Coate.

If all these habitats were to disappear ,and most of them would fall victim to any large scale development, this would seriously affect the population levels of many of the species and some may disappear altogether. This is one of the reasons why a broad buffer zone is required around the Park - to lessen the effects from the above.

Of course, there are lots of other reasons to argue for a large buffer zone, or to prevent any development at all. But, to my mind, this one is intrinsic to the whole point of Coate.

Steve Covey
[County Dragonfly Recorder]

Species List:

Damselflies
Banded Demoiselle
Emerald Damselfly
Large Red Damselfly
Red-eyed Damselfly [regionally important]
Azure Damselfly
Common Blue Damselfly
Blue-tailed Damselfly

Dragonflies
Migrant Hawker
Southern Hawker
Brown Hawker
Emperor Dragonfly
Four-spotted Chaser
Broad-bodied Chaser
Black-tailed Skimmer
Common Darter
Ruddy Darter [the most recent addition and also regionally important]

Dragonfly Gallery >>