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Dragonfly & Dameseify.

Sheltered waters by the woodland are an ideal habitat for dragonflies and dameslflies which dart about among the vegetation landing on the water to lay their eggs. The dragonflies have whirring transparent wings and brilliantly coloured bodies. The two groups 'hawkers' and 'darters' feed on small insects by trapping them with their bristly legs and powerful jaws.

Damselflies are smaller and more delicate. At rest, damselflies may hold their wings up; dragonflies always spread them. Their two pairs of wings work independently of each other and enable them to hover and fly backwards. The rustling sound of their wings is quite audible when they buzz you to let you know you have encroached on their flight path. Because of their enormous eyes and powerful claspers, they are feared by some. The only being with good reason to fear them is their insect victims which are caught and devoured in flight and even before digestion has taken place using their huge eyes in search of more prey, giving a new meaning to moveable feasts!! The nymph dragonfly has its own interesting arsenal - when it senses dangers, it expels a spurt of water from its intestine which propels it away from the dangerzone. The dragon-fly is a 'Quality Mark' for purity; if it abandoned us it could be a signal of pollution. Though delicate, you may be surprised to know they have been known to complete a migration from North Africa to Ireland.

[The Rabbit] [The Badger] [Ivy] [Honeysuckle] [Moss] [Common Oak] [Pedunculate Oak] [Lichens] [Common Lime]
[The Hedgehog] [The Bramble] [The Chiffchaff] [The Frog Hopper] [Hawthorn] [Tree Roots]
[The Wood Mouse] [The Pigmy Shrew] [The Sycamore] [The Guelder Rose] [The Ash] [Gorse] [Hazel] [Tootworth]
[Goat Willow] [The Rowan] [Common White Beam] [Spindle] [Dog Rose] [The Blackthorn] [Birds] [Grasshoppers & Crickets] [Dragonfly & Damesify] [Feral Goat] [Silver Birch] [Pine Martin] [Fungi] [Lough Carra] [Brown Trout] [The Mute Swan]
[The Otter] [Limestone] [Holly] [The Fox] [The Mighty Oak] [Common Polypody] [Treecreeper] [The Irish Stoat]
[The Hornbeam] [Bats]