Dragonfly migration

Even though most people have seen a dragonfly, and even though they have inspired poetry as well as advanced technology, very few know that they migrate. There are about 5500 dragonfly and damselfly species in the world, and of these, around 110 are migratory. In Europe, we have 30 migratory species, but extremely little is known about the distance they travel, how regular the movement is, where the major flyways are drawn, the biomass that is translocated and how populations are linked because of this movement. Some species that migrate to Europe come from as far away as Africa and Asia, linking all the continents of the old world. One of these long-distance dragonfly migrants is the globe skimmer, another is the vagrant emperor (Hemianax ephippiger). In this sub-project of Ecosystems In The Sky, I aim to map the migratory behavoiur of these two species, and some of our more common European ones, like the migrant hawker (Aeshna mixta) and four-spotted chaser (Libellula quadrimaculata), using isotopic analysis of museum specimen as well as extensive field work in Latvia, Spain, Sweden, Italy and the UK.