A scarce chaser dragonfly found for the first time at the Kennet and Avon canal locks near Devizes, Wiltshire, is thought to be just one of the new species coming to Britain from Europe because of climate change.

Male Broad-bodied Chaser © BDS/ I. Hulme

Steve Covey, the county recorder for odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) said that as temperatures rise dragonflies are using habitats they had considered to be unsuitable.

“At Caen Hill I found young newly emerged scarce chasers, which indicates they are actually breeding there,” he said. “The ponds provide a suitable habitat as they receive flowing water.”

Times Online

Biological Records Centre