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Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Australian Top End

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Dragonflies and the Dry Competition

Dragonflies, with their variety of colours, behaviours and incredible flying skills are eminently watchable. They are also a distinctive part of the tropical biodiversity that distinguishes Darwin from all other Australian capitals. Top Enders will tell you that the appearance of large numbers of dragonflies heralds the end of the Wet season. However, we have little scientific data to support this theory. This project aims to collect dragonfly information through a photo competition that anyone with a camera or smart device can participate in.

Use this form to submit your dragonfly and damselflies photos to the competition. It is important to tell us the date and the location of your photo. This information will help us understand how dragonfly numbers change from the Wet to the Dry. It will also tell us where Darwin’s most important dragonfly locations are.

The competition will run for four months from April to July. There will be a monthly prize for the best photo ($500) and another for one for an entry drawn at random from the submitted photos ($250). You can enter as many photos as you like but you need to use a separate form for each photo. At the end of the project we will produce a timeline showing the numbers of dragonflies and damselflies recorded every day over the four month period. We will also produce a map showing the locations of Darwin’s dragonfly hotspots.

Get it on Google Play

The Identifly app allows you to identify species of dragonflies and damselflies by colour. The app includes photos and descriptions of distinguishing features to help you tell species apart.

Available for free download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.