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Dragonflies
are quick to colonise new
ponds, and are usually present in all
good wildlife ponds, feeding voraciously
on other small pond animals. 34 species
have been recorded in Britain, but the
first dragonflies to come to a new garden
pond, are likely to be the Common Darter
or the Broad-bodied Chaser. If you look
amongst underwater plants you may also
find the larvae of Emperor Dragonflies, and
in shady, silty and overgrown ponds, Brown
and Southern Hawker dragonflies.
Damselflies
–
Damselflies are related to
dragonflies, and ponds are an important
habitat for them too.
A good wildlife pond will nearly always
have damselflies, and they quickly colonise
new ponds. You will often see two or three
common species, such as the Large Red
Damselfly, the Azure Damselfly or the
Blue-tailed Damselfly. Like dragonflies,
damselflies are predators feeding on any
small pond animals they can catch.
Adults damselflies lay their eggs on grasses,
the stems of garden plants trailing in the
water and fallen leaves – so don’t pull
these out if you want to encourage them.
Water beetles
–
Water beetles are one
of the most diverse groups of freshwater
animals with around 250 species in Britain.
You are most likely to find one of the
commonest water beetles, the Common
Black Diving Beetle,
Agabus bipustulatus
,
but in a good wildlife pond there should
be lots of different kinds of water beetle.
Don’t forget to look out for their larvae too,
these ferocious predators live on the pond
bottom and look a bit like alderfly larvae
but with big and powerful jaws.
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