Checklist for the United Kingdom: Great Britain; scientific names
Below is a checklist of the 54 dragonfly and damselfly species for the area United Kingdom: Great Britain. It's based on Dijkstra, Schröter & Lewington's Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Britain and Europe (2020), on the Atlas of the European Dragonflies and Damselflies (Boudot & Kalkman (eds.), 2015), and - in a handful of cases - on new area records. Please click here if you would like to see the list below with the English common names.
The list below is sorted alphabetically on the species' scientific names. Clicking on a species name in the list allows you to then cycle through the entire checklist for the area United Kingdom: Great Britain by using the Previous (<==) and Next (==>) buttons at the bottom of each page. If you would prefer to see it sorted as per our overall checklist, please click here.
Note: if you believe a species is missing from the checklist below, please do email us at with the new information, together with the relevant source(s) and references. If we agree that the new information is indeed valid, we will update the checklist as soon as possible.
Please click on a species name below to see our 20 photographs of that species.
| # | Scientific name |
|---|
| 1 | Aeshna affinis Vander Linden, 1820   |
| 2 | Aeshna caerulea (Ström, 1783)  |
| 3 | Aeshna cyanea (Müller, 1764)  |
| 4 | Aeshna grandis (Linnaeus, 1758)  |
| 5 | Aeshna isoceles (Müller, 1767)  |
| 6 | Aeshna juncea (Linnaeus, 1758)  |
| 7 | Aeshna mixta Latreille, 1805  |
| 8 | Anax ephippiger (Burmeister, 1839)  |
| 9 | Anax imperator Leach, 1815  |
| 10 | Anax parthenope (Selys, 1839)  |
| 11 | Brachytron pratense (Müller, 1764)  |
| 12 | Calopteryx splendens (Harris, 1780)  |
| 13 | Calopteryx virgo (Linnaeus, 1758)  |
| 14 | Ceriagrion tenellum (de Villers, 1789)  |
| 15 | Chalcolestes viridis (Vander Linden, 1825)  |
| 16 | Coenagrion armatum (Charpentier, 1840)  |
| 17 | Coenagrion hastulatum (Charpentier, 1825)  |
| 18 | Coenagrion mercuriale (Charpentier, 1840)  |
| 19 | Coenagrion puella (Linnaeus, 1758)  |
| 20 | Coenagrion pulchellum (Vander Linden, 1825)  |
| 21 | Coenagrion scitulum (Rambur, 1842)  |
| 22 | Cordulegaster boltonii (Donovan, 1807)  |
| 23 | Cordulia aenea (Linnaeus, 1758)  |
| 24 | Crocothemis erythraea (Brullé, 1832)  |
| 25 | Enallagma cyathigerum (Charpentier, 1840)  |
| 26 | Erythromma najas (Hansemann, 1823)  |
| 27 | Erythromma viridulum (Charpentier, 1840)  |
| 28 | Gomphus vulgatissimus (Linnaeus, 1758)  |
| 29 | Ischnura elegans (Vander Linden, 1820)  |
| 30 | Ischnura pumilio (Charpentier, 1825)  |
| 31 | Lestes barbarus (Fabricius, 1798)  |
| 32 | Lestes dryas Kirby, 1890  |
| 33 | Lestes sponsa (Hansemann, 1823)  |
| 34 | Lestes virens (Charpentier, 1825)  |
| 35 | Leucorrhinia dubia (Vander Linden, 1825)  |
| 36 | Libellula depressa Linnaeus, 1758  |
| 37 | Libellula fulva Müller, 1764  |
| 38 | Libellula quadrimaculata Linnaeus, 1758  |
| 39 | Orthetrum cancellatum (Linnaeus, 1758)  |
| 40 | Orthetrum coerulescens (Fabricius, 1798)  |
| 41 | Oxygastra curtisii (Dale, 1834)  |
| 42 | Platycnemis pennipes (Pallas, 1771)  |
| 43 | Pyrrhosoma nymphula (Sulzer, 1776)  |
| 44 | Somatochlora arctica (Zetterstedt, 1840)  |
| 45 | Somatochlora metallica (Vander Linden, 1825)  |
| 46 | Stylurus flavipes (Charpentier, 1825)  |
| 47 | Sympecma fusca (Vander Linden, 1820)  |
| 48 | Sympetrum danae (Sulzer, 1776)  |
| 49 | Sympetrum flaveolum (Linnaeus, 1758)  |
| 50 | Sympetrum fonscolombii (Selys, 1840)  |
| 51 | Sympetrum pedemontanum (Müller in Allioni, 1766)  |
| 52 | Sympetrum sanguineum (Müller, 1764)  |
| 53 | Sympetrum striolatum (Charpentier, 1840)  |
| 54 | Sympetrum vulgatum (Linnaeus, 1758)  |