Tomorrows Child

Ruby Tiger caterpillar, sunning itself on a tree stump today.

Spring is still neither here nor there, cold nights and warm days lead to a false impression that there should be flowers, insects, reptiles and amphibians all over the place, but in reality it is still too cold here. No doubt there are signs of a change with the year's first bumblebee today (a Queen Bombus lucorum). I've almost run out of patience in terms of invertebrates, so I decided to do a little pond dip, without wanting to cause to much disturbance. This was actually a lot less productive than I had hoped, but a by-product of deep upland pools, still partially frozen. The usual high number of palmate newt efts were likely in the deeper sections (with a more stable water temperature) beyond my reach. 

 Large Red Damselfly nymph, partially encrusted in debris. 

It was a really pleasant surprise to a number of large red damselfly nymphs. This is the first species within the region on the wing and it won't be long until these little beauties are turning into bright red aerial predators. Interestingly anecdotally they are also a species which tends to be more active in lower winter water temperatures compared to other species. This makes complete sense given their earlier flight time. 

Large Red Damselfly Nymph

Large red damselflies are one of Britain's most widespread species, reflective of the ability to breed in a wide range of water bodies including slow flowing and still water with brackish, acidic and calcareous water chemistry. Higher populations as expected occur in un-shaded, fish free, ponds with an abundance of marginal, submerged and emergent vegetation. The species typically emerges and remains close to the water's surface when it turns into an adult. Like other damselflies nymphs they are ferocious predators and feed on small invertebrates such as daphnia and chironomid midge larvae. Hopefully over the coming weeks we will be able to take a close look at a number of different species of nymphs. Large red damselfly nymphs are quite distinctive and have black markings on the abdominal projections (Caudal Lamellae), which are quite pointed. These are usually a black X shape but are highly variable. The squat abdomen, long wing sheaths and rectangular head are also quite distinctive together.  Hopefully it won't be long until we see some photographs of adults on here.