DRAGONFLIES & THE DRY

Do large numbers of dragonflies herald the arrival of the Dry season in the Top End? To try to answer this question we ran a citizen project to collect information on dragonfly and damselfly numbers, with the help of Top End residents, from April to July this year. Our project took the form of a photo competition that anyone with a camera or smart device could participate in, and was supported by Territory NRM, the Identifly app team, (James Friend and Dora Kojenikov) and Darwin Photographic Professionals (Caroline Camilleri).

A total of 222 people participated in the project, with the submission of 2,265 images. From these images 1,202 dragonflies representing 33 species and 268 damselflies representing 12 species were identified.

And the answer to our question is YES… but only certain species, mainly the large-winged gliders, flutterers and emperors. Some species are always present, regardless of the season. You can read more about the project by downloading a copy of the final report from the Facebook page: Identifly App - Dragonflies & Damselflies of the Top End.

The following photographs illustrate some of the wonderful images submitted to the project. Top Enders are great citizen scientists and photographers!

1. Coastal Gliders (Macrodiplax cora) at Fannie Bay in May, image submitted by Krystle Keller. 2. A stunning photo of a Palemouth (Brachydiplax denticauda) on one of its favourite perches, image submitted by Gerald Enhrenbrandtner. 3. A Wandering Percher (Diplacodes bipunctata), perching on a handy shell, image submitted by David Webb. 4. A Rosy Skimmer (Orthetrum migratum), image submitted by Eamonn Mott. 5. A stunning close up, image submitted by Scott Murray. 6. The Painted Grasshawk (Neurothemis stigmatizans), which commonly dwells on vegetation and is present all year round, image submitted by David Webb. 7. The Graphic Flutter (Rhyothemis graphiptera), a competition winner, and probably one of the easiest dragonflies to identify, with its distinctive wing markings, image submitted by Gerald Enhrenbrandtner.