Common Name	Scientific Name	Local Distribution	National Distribution and Status	Sussex Status	Local Flight Times
Southern Hawker	Aeshna cyanea	Near Brooklands, Waterworks Road, Adur Levels. Lancing Beach. Occasional. Regular.	Very common in southern England and Wales, more local elsewhere	Frequent (sometimes very frequent) and widespread
Common Hawker	Aeshna juncea	Not recorded	Common. Western England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland	Not recorded
Migrant Hawker	Aeshna mixta	Adur Levels Common and gregarious in September and October	Common and increasing its range. Southern England, south coast of Wales	Widespread, especially in the east, boosted by immigration
Emperor Dragonfly	Anax imperator	Widespread. Variable occurrence, Lancing Ring dewpond. Annington Sewer, Woods Mill	Widespread in southern England and southern Wales	Occasional (sometimes frequent) and widespread
Hairy Dragonfly	Brachytron pratense	On the list for the species recorded at the Paddocks, Lancing. Probable at Cuckoo's Corner.	Uncommon but increasing its range. Local populations in southern mainland Britain but widely distributed in central Ireland	Rather localised including the Adur, near Cuckoo's Corner
Banded Demoiselle	Calopteryx splendens	Recorded and photographed by Allen Pollard at Shermanbury Waterworks Road	Common. Most of England, Wales and Ireland	Locally frequent north of the downs Occurs at Annington Sewer and seen in Old Shoreham
Beautiful Demoiselle	Calopteryx virgo	On the Waterworks Road and confirmed by Sussex Wildlife Trust	Locally common. Mostly found west of a line between Liverpool and Folkestone and in southern Ireland	Widespread, except the downs and south coast
Azure Damselfly	Coenagrion puella	Cokeham Reed Beds. Shermanbury. On the list for the species recorded at the Paddocks, Lancing. Common on the Adur Levels	Very common throughout the British Isles except the northern half of Scotland	Commonest species in Sussex. Everywhere	May  to
Variable Damselfly	Coenagrion pulchellum	Not recorded	Scattered and uncommon in mainland Britain but widespread and common in Ireland	Scarce, except Pevensey
Common Blue Damselfly	Enallagma cyathigerum	Shermanbury Cokeham Lancing Shoreham	Abundant throughout the British Isles	Common  ID difficulties in recording prevalence
Blue-tailed Damselfly	Ischnura elegans	Common and widespread including gardens	Abundant throughout the British Isles	Second commonest species. Widespread	mid June to
Emerald Damselfly	Lestes sponsa	Not recorded	Locally common throughout Britain and Ireland	Scattered across the county with a marked preference for sandstone and more acid waters, but including brackish sites
Broad-bodied Chaser	Libellula depressa	Lancing Ring dewpond. Mill Hill Larkfield Paddocks Shoreham	Widespread and common throughout southern England and Wales	Widespread and frequent
Scarce Chaser	Libellula fulva	Bines Bridge area Shermanbury and the upper Adur	Scarce	Sporadic, Arun and Adur only
Black-tailed Skimmer	Orthetrum cancellatum	Not recorded Probable on the upper Adur	Fairly common. Southern England, parts of Wales and Ireland	Locally occurs
Keeled Skimmer	Orthetrum coerulescens	Not recorded	Locally common. Patchy distribution, mainly western Britain and Ireland	Rare, even on Ashdown Forest, the only place where it has been recorded
White-legged Damselfly	Platycnemis pennipes	Bines Bridge area Shermanbury and the upper Adur	Uncommon	High and low Weald, mid-Adur and upper Arun
Large Red Damselfly	Pyrrhosoma nymphula	Cokeham Reed Beds. Shermanbury Lancing, Shoreham gardens. Adur Levels, streamside	Widespread and common in Britain and Ireland	Frequent to Common everywhere with water
Red-veined Darter	Sympetrum fonscolombi	Larkfield Paddocks One record	Vagrant immigrant	Not recorded
Ruddy Darter	Sympetrum sanguineum	Cokeham Reed Beds The Paddocks, Lancing Saltings Field, Botolphs Adur Levels streamside	Resident in south-east England and central Ireland but increasing its range	Locally frequent
Common Darter	Sympetrum striolatum	Common and widespread	Abundant in England, Wales and Ireland. Less common in Scotland	Common and widespread. Commonest dragonfly	Start of July to
Red-eyed Damselfly	Erythromma najas			Locally occurs, mostly in the east
Small Red-eyed Damselfly	Erythromma  viridulum			Rare. Since 2000
Small Red Damselfly	Ceriagrion tenellum			Ashdown Forest only
Brown Hawker	Aeshna grandis			Common (? prevalence), but absent near the main coastal urban area around Shoreham and Brighton	One recorded by Brenda Collins  on 30 August 2004, in Lancing
Club-tailed Dragonfly	Gomphus vulgatissimus			Rare, Arun only
Golden-ringed Dragonfly	Cordulegaster boltonii			Scarce, Weald only
Downy Emerald Dragonfly	Cordulia aenea			Prefers acidic waters, so not on the downs. Widespread but scarce
Brilliant Emerald Dragonfly	Somatochlora metallica			Locally occurs on High Weald, Rare on Low weald, absent elsewhere
Four-spotted Chaser	Libella quadrimaculata			Patchy distribution on the Weald, rare elsewhere. Absent near the main coastal urban area around Shoreham and Brighton
Black Darter	Sympetrum danae			Rare, Ashurst Forest and around Midhurst
Southern Migrant Hawker	Aeshna affinis	Vagrant Adur Levels

The national distribution and status information was mostly compiled by the British Dragonfly Society

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PS: Some of the species links no longer work, click on British Dragonfly Society

 
The recommendation for dragonfly books are under review and enquiry. A good book should included the nymphs. Not all of them do. 
 
 

Azure Damselfly, Coenagrion puella

Blue-tailed Damselfly, Ischnura elegans

Dragonflies land and perch with wings outstretched and damselflies perch with folded wings.
 

Common Darter
Sympetrum striolatum

 

Adur Dragonflies 2006

Adur Dragonflies 2007
 

Local Flight Times

UK Dragonflies (Yahoo Group)

Online Dragonfly Key

Cheshire Damsels and Dragonflies 2007

Etymology of Dragonfly scientific names
 
 

Local Wildlife & Geological Links  (SE England)

Adur Biodiversity Insect Links
Adur Valley Nature Notes 2005
Allen Pollard's Then & Now web pages for Shermanbury
Anatomy of Dragonflies
British Dragonfly Society
British Marine Life Study Society
Bungalow Town
Butterflies of Adur
Chesil Beach
CMS 2000   Coastal Management for Sustainability
Coastal Flora List & Links
Cornwall (Geomorphology, Eclipse etc.)
Dragonflies and Damselflies (photographs)
Dragonflies and Damselflies (more photographs)
Dragonflies of Ireland
Dragonflies of the Hampshire & Surrey Borders
Dungeness, Kent, England
European Dragonflies Picture Gallery
Freshwater Habitats of the Lower Adur Valley
Friends of the Earth SSSI Navigator
Geology of the Dorset Coast
National Trust: Orford Ness
Longshore Drift
Orford Ness:  Coastal Ecology of a Shingle Bank (excellent references)
Ralph Hollins Nature Pages  (Chichester Harbour area)
Rye Harbour Nature Reserve
Seashore Page (BMLSS)
Shermanbury (Allen Pollard's Then & Now web pages)
Shingle Discussion Group
Shoreham (History of)
Sussex Bat Group
Sussex Downs Smart Group
Sussex Wildlife Trust
Trees (British) External site
UK Dragonflies Yahoo Group