Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15862 in Books
• Published on: 1997-10
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

Still the best Dragonfly guide for use in Britain.
Although the price may seem a little steep for a book which is half the size as Dijkstra & Lewingtons Guide to the Dragonflies of Britain and Europe (and costs almost as much), this is still the book that I recommend to anyone who is just starting to take an interest in British Dragonflies.

All of the regular species, and most of the vagrants, that have been recorded in Britain are covered in the revised edition. (If you are thinking of buying a secondhand copy the 1st edition does not include the Small Red-eyed Damselfly, which was first recorded in Britain in 1999 and is now found at sites all over south-east England - and is still spreading).

Although the illustrations are the same as in the European Guide, each species is covered in slightly more detail with notes on 'Status & conservation' and 'Ecology and behaviour' included. Flight periods quoted refer to those recorded in Britain, rather than a broader period covering 'northern Europe' (or the whole of Europe), so give a more accurate indication of when each species is likely to be seen. The maps, although often slightly out of date because many species are gradually spreading northwards, are also more detailed as Britain is four times the size as in the European guide!

The book also includes brief descriptions of the life cycle of dragonflies, a key to the identification of larve, and a county by county round up of sites to visit (including OS grid references).

More than a field guide
The first thing that strike you is what an attractive and well-produced book this is. The illustrations and colour photos are of a very high quality; the maps are clear and the lay-out is pleasing and easy to follow. But does it do the job for which it was primarily designed--to enable an observer to identify the 38 species of Odonata that occur in Britain and Ireland regularly or as vagrants?
I write as someone with a long-term interest in birds who has only focused on dragon- and damselflies since recently constructing a garden pond. Within weeks of its completion various damselflies appeared on the aquatic vegetation, and a dragonfly (broad-bodied chaser) appeared in the garden. I also noticed two species of damselfly--the beautiful and the banded demoiselles--by a stream that runs through our part of Surrey. This book is certainly adequate for identifying the species seen--not that it necessarily makes identification easy; as with birds the differences between species are sometimes subtle and there is variability within species. The book also addresses the tricky identification of the larvae of the different dragonfly species.
Richard Lewington's illustrations are crisp and pleasing throughout.
As well as the identification section the book contains excellent introductory chapters on the life history of dragonflies (which I found fascinating), dragonfly habitats, distribution and their legal status. I was surprised to read, for example, that Steve Brooks advises capturing specimens for identification--not something that would be seen in a book on British birds.
If I have one quibble, it is that a larger type size for the body text would have been better for this 160-page book.
Kenneth Noble.

Excellent
Richard Lewington's plates are brilliant, sharp and accurate.
The maps and text for each species excellent, and the added bonus of the section on site details makes it even better than
the competion.