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now appears to be confined to three waterways in
South Essex only: The Lea Valley, The Chelmer/
Blackwater canal, and The River Roding. It
appears to be in reasonably good numbers in two
of these localities, but only just hanging on
in very small numbers along the Chelmer/Black-
water. It remains one of our most vulnerable
species.
Several other Essex species are probably worthy
of mention. The Fourspotted Chaser (Libellula
quadrimaculata) is nationally a fairly common
species, but in Essex it occurs in only a few
widely scattered sites throughout the south and
east of the county (usually in flooded sand-and-
gravel pits). Since my 1982 report the locally
very scarce Demoiselle Agrion (Calopteryx virgo)
has been recorded along further stretches of its
stronghold, the Roman River, as well as one of
its tributaries, and on three other sites in
south and central Essex. Its close relative,
the Banded Agrion (Calopteryx splendens) has,
by contrast, now been recorded on the slower-
moving reaches of almost all river systems in
Essex (the exceptions are the Granta, in the
extreme north west of the county, and the Beam,
the Ingrebourne and the Mar Dyke in the south -
any offers?). Finally, there is the most
encouraging news of all. This concerns the
magnificent scarce Lestes damselfly (Lestes dryas).
This was always a scarce species, with its
main national strongholds in our county. After
a prolonged decline, it appeared to have become
nationally extinct in the early 1970s. Then,
after more than ten years without records, a
strong colony was found by Roger G. Payne and
Kate Rowland in south-east Essex on 23 June 1983.
In the same year another colony was discovered
in Kent, and yet another, this time in north east
Essex, was discovered by a small group of recorders