Sea Club Rush (Bolboschoenus maritimus)
Why start a paper about damselflies with a plant? Because if you study Lestids then you will soon realise just how important this plant is. Two lestids are associated almost exclusively with it and all the others are very closely linked.
The stem of the plant is triquetrous (triangular) with a dense inflorescense. This vigorous densely growing plant can go up to a metre in height. In spring its growth transforms a marsh. The picture below shows this transformation. early May (left) one month later (right)
Why start a paper about damselflies with a plant? Because if you study Lestids then you will soon realise just how important this plant is. Two lestids are associated almost exclusively with it and all the others are very closely linked.
The stem of the plant is triquetrous (triangular) with a dense inflorescense. This vigorous densely growing plant can go up to a metre in height. In spring its growth transforms a marsh. The picture below shows this transformation. early May (left) one month later (right)
This rapid growth very much accords with the emergence of the adult lestids. Best place to find exuviae is on the dead stems but emerging too early would leave the adults very exposed. Emergence is timed close to the growth of the new stems so that the mature adults have plenty of shelter from predators