This fabulous picture of Dubai taken by my wife, Chris, from our Emirates flight, sums up this region; surreal cities amongst endless apparently desolate and spectacular landscapes. In June 2013, Chris and I  visited Wadi Wurayah National Park with Jacky Judas and Huw Roberts and we found Urothemis thomasi which was a new species to the region. Looking at my exuviae from the trip later in the year, I found a large spineless Libellulid. To cut a long story very short Richard Seidenbusch eventually worked out that it was a Urothemis and, therefore, the larvae of U. thomasi.

U. thomasi is a very rare species and, thanks to the Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund, I was able to carry out survey work in UAE and Oman with Philippe Lambret and Jean-Pierre Boudot. From this and from other information I have been able to produce a Guide to the exuviae of the Arabian peninsular and will soon be available..

Why just exuviae and not the adults? They can be easily collected and need no special storage and, most important, they will give a true picture of the breeding populations.