A soaring success for ancient insects - Wicken Fen announced as new Dragonfly Hotspot - National Trust

Today (Sunday 30 June) Wicken Fen National Nature Reserve (NNR) in Cambridgeshire, cared for by the National Trust, will be designated the UK’s newest dragonfly hotspot, a title awarded by the British Dragonfly Society recognising years of conservation efforts to create ideal conditions for these ancient, winged insects to thrive.

The internationally important nature reserve which marked 125 years of being cared for by Trust in May, will join the cluster of only 23 other dragonfly hotspots across the UK and is also the first time the ‘hotspot’ designation has been awarded to the conservation charity.

Dragonfly hotspots are special places, carefully chosen by the British Dragonfly Society, because of their exemplary variety of dragonfly and damselfly species as well as providing easy access for visitors to enjoy them during the summer months with opportunities to learn about these insects descended from similar creatures that lived on earth even before the dinosaurs.

Dave Stanforth, Programming and Partnerships Officer for the National Trust at Wicken Fen said: “Dragonflies and damselflies are absolutely fascinating insects. Their ancestors existed more than 300 million years ago. They depend on water in all stages of their lifecycle and all need water bodies to breed. Eggs are laid by adults either directly into water or onto plant material on or at the water’s edge. At the larval stage most species spend between one to two years underwater before developed final-stage larvae climb out of the water onto vegetation for a final moult when the adult dragonfly or damselfly emerges. Adults will then rely on a watery habitat to provide food - hunting over or near water to feed on other small insects during their very short life-span which is typically one or two weeks, exceptionally six to eight weeks.”