Ninety one species of dragonflies and damselflies (collectively called odonata) have been recorded in the Waterberg to date and they constitute a little over half of the species recorded in South Africa. These are listed below and a spreadsheet of this list can be downloaded here. Species that have been photographed in the Waterberg are marked by  and one can view the photographs of these by clicking on the species name. There are five that are red-listed nationally (but not globally) and these are highlighted in red. None of the Waterberg species are endemic to the region, nor indeed to South Africa, and most have ranges that extend widely across the African savanna belt. At a regional level, though, the Waterberg probably provides the major South African stronghold for all five red-listed species. For each species a brief comment on its relative abundance and preferred habitat in the Waterberg is given, and one can read more about the Waterberg species in a recent report that can be downloaded here.

Dragonflies and damselflies are conspicuous and charismatic aquatic insects that are often abundant along many of the Waterberg’s rivers. They provide useful indicators of the state of health of our rivers and a protocol for using odonata as such an index has been established. They are primarily summer creatures though, the flying adults emerging in the early part of summer, courting mates and breeding through the summer and then dying off or, in a few species, migrating away in winter. During the cold winter months they survive underwater as the larvae that provide the next summer’s cohort of adults.

Reference: Tarboton, W.R. & Tarboton, M. 2019. A guide to the dragonflies and damselflies of South Africa. Struik Nature: Cape Town
Samways, M.J. & Simaika, J.P. 2016. Manual of freshwater assessment or South Africa: Dragonfly biotic index. Suricata 2.