Taiwan’s largest and only protected dragonfly species has returned to the creeks around Taipei City on the back of efforts to improve urban ecology, the local government said Aug. 10.
Anotogaster sieboldii can be found in the city’s Dagou, Neigou, Sifen, Xiaokeng and Yangming creeks, years after disappearing from the area.
Taipei is home to half of the 150 species of Odonata carnivorous insects in Taiwan, including the most common Orthetrum triangular and the spectacular Rhyothemis regia regia. But A. sieboldii is particularly sensitive to pollution.
Huang Tian-jin, head of landslide prevention at the Geotechnical Engineering Office at the city’s Public Works Department, said careful, eco-friendly restoration of the waterways in the surrounding hillsides was behind the success story.
“We paved the waterways, river banks and walkways with the original stones found on the spot,” Huang said. “We also installed artificial fish shelters in riverbeds to help safeguard endangered species.”
The good news about the jumbo insects was uncovered during an ecological survey Huang’s office sponsored in March.
An A. sieboldii can grow to more than 11 centimeters long, with a wingspan of 13 centimeters. They have huge blue eyes and distinctive yellow markings. Their larvae can take as long as five years to reach maturity, molting up to 10 times and growing to 5 centimeters in length, big enough to prey upon tadpoles and small fish. (SSC-SDH)
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