Emerald Damselfly

Lestes sponsa

(Hansemann, 1823)

National assessment

Unassessed

Local assessment

Declining

Associated assemblage

lakes and pits and slow flowing waters 3 other species in this assemblage

Statistics

Occurrences

1,404 since 2000 2,385 all time

Occupied 1 km squares

198 since 2000 319 all time

Earliest occurrence

1900

Latest occurrence

2024

Distribution

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Occurrence since 1950

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This chart should not be relied upon for an indication of species status as variations in recording effort can heavily affect the count of occurrences and occupied 1km squares.

Data sources

Local species recorders

Biological Records Centre. iRecord (CC-BY). Licenced under CC-BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.

British Dragonfly Society Recording Scheme. Dragonfly records from the British Dragonfly Society Recording Scheme. Licenced under CC-BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0.

Buglife.

Environment Agency.

Environment Agency. Biosys Extract - Central, East, North Lincolnshire and Welland Sub-catchments 2005-2015 (INVERT). Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Environment Agency. Biosys Extract - Fenland Natural Area 1990-2011. Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Environment Agency. Biosys Extract - North Lincolnshire Sub-catchment 1985-2012. Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Environment Agency. Freshwater river macroinvertebrate surveys (Biosys). Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Lapwings Consultants.

Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union.

Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

Natural England. Invertebrate Common Standards Monitoring and ISIS Test Data. Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Natural Resources Wales. Welsh Invertebrate Database (WID). Licenced under OGL http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3.

Cite this page

GLNP (2025). Lestes sponsa (Hansemann, 1823) species profile, in Greater Lincolnshire Nature Partnership (ed.) Greater Lincolnshire species data bank. Available at: http://glincsson.glnp.org.uk/view?taxon_list_item_key=NBNORG0000008974 (Accessed 08 November 2025).