The Dragonflies of Lesbos
By John Bowers – (2007)
92 pages; matt art paper, with 78 colour photos, 1 colour drawing, 1 map & 2 tables.
Soft Cover: 22.2cm x 11cm.
ISBN: 978-960-930703-1
Green Lesbos – Lesbos, Greece. (www.greenlesbos.com)
Lesbos Island, part of Greece, is home to some 43 species of Odonata and this small book covers them all. It is written in a simple format so anyone can understand it. The author and his family have spent quite some time there during visits and holidays over some years and he has presented his odonata accounts and knowledge of the islands dragonflies with us.
The introduction briefly covers what categorizes an insect, the order Odonata and a little about the ancient history of odonate fossil records, the differences between damsel and dragonflies and their life cycle ecology and the fact they are harmless to humans with explanations of the odonates structure.
The author also delves into the different habitats with good descriptions of those habitats where odonates occur including which species he has observed at each site and later in the book excellent directions are provided for any interested parties to visit those locations.
The volume of information and descriptions of the species vary from specie to specie but are written in very simple terms covering physical attributes and colour with some helpful identifying hints of a given species with no measurements provided. Observations of some species territorial and mating habits are also provided along with the distribution of all species on Lesbos only. The photos are generally quite good a few excellent, and a few not so good. The last page of the book is in fact an excellent full blown photo of a male Calopteryx virgo. The book closes with well-founded cries for help concerning the conservation issues on the island.
This is a good little book, with its light weight and smallish size makes it very useful for the field and makes a further contribution to the literature of the European odonates. The lack of distribution notes for each species outside of Lesbos is a bit of a pity, as all but 1 of the 43 species covered are found on other continents besides Europe. That aside, this is a good book and also an important book bringing to the reader’s attention not just an account of Lesbos odonate fauna but the very real and serious environmental concerns plaguing the island through reckless urbanization and thoughtless disposal of rubbish. Please support their cause and buy this and other books through their website as all proceeds from sales go back into Lesbos conservation projects.
Rod Rice
Principal Reviewer
Nature & Travel Books