Great news- we finally have the first recorded sightings of Small Red-eyed Damselfly Erythromma viridulum in Shropshire! We’ve been expecting this species for about 4 or 5 years as it expanded it’s range across from the East. Bob Pugh saw these first individuals (that I am aware of) on 24th July at Stokesay Castle near Craven Arms. The extra ‘bleeding’ blue colour on the sides of segments 2,3 and 8 is visible and so too is the complete antehumeral stripe of the female- usually incomplete or broken in Red-eyed Damselfly.
Bob also took some lovely in flight shots of male and female Black-tailed Skimmer shown below.
