Yesterday I made my third attempt (since 2012) to find the rarest dragonfly in western Norway, the Large White-faced Darter Leucorrhinia pectoralis. It is a redlisted and protected species in Norway, and is distributed only in coastal southeastern and southern Norway. The population in Hordaland is way out of this range, as shown by this map.
This pond and marsh produced ten different species of damsel- and dragonflies 29 June 2014.
An eldorado for both Odonata fans and species.
An eldorado for both Odonata fans and species.
This beautiful and pristine site holds the only recorded White-faced Darters in western Norway, and the westernmost in the World. There were not any records post 2011, but I suppose few people have searched for them since then. Yesterday was perfect for watching dragonflies and damselflies. I visited the site in the afternoon, and the Odonata's flew in numbers.
The species list below includes both Beautiful Demoiselle and Golden-ringed Dragonfly (both are rare in western Norway). They were seen about in a slow floating stream a kilometer away from the Darter-site.
- Large White-faced Darter Leucorrhinia pectoralis (stor torvlibelle)
- White-faced Darter Leucorrhinia dubia (liten torvlibelle)
- Golden-ringed Dragonfly Cordulegaster boltonii (kongeøyenstikker)
- Brown Hawker Aeshna grandis (brun øyenstikker)
- Common Darter Sympetrum striolatum (rødbrun høstlibelle)
- Black Darter Sympetrum danae (svart høstlibelle)
- Four-spotted Chaser Libellula quadrimaculata (firflekklibelle)
- Brilliant Emerald Somatochlora metallica (vanlig metalløyenstikker)
- Large Red Damselfly Pyrrhosoma nymphula (rød vannymfe)
- Beautiful Demoiselle Calopteryx virgo (blåvingevannymfe)
- Emerald Damselfly Lestes sponsa (vanlig metallvannymfe)
- Northern Blue Damselfly Enallagma cyathigerum (stor blåvannymfe)
An uncertain future
What will the future bring for the Large White-facedDarter population in Hordaland county? This
male was photographed 29 June 2014.
The authorities have decided to build a brand new high-speed E-road straight through this unique area. The Darter did actually delay the project a bit because of its presence. They found a way out of it: building a bridge! The developers seem happy, but I fear the worst. The future existence of one of the most rare insect species in western Norway is at stake. Lets cross our fingers for this small population of Large White-faced Darters, and hope they can cope with thousands of cars driving through every day.
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