Dragonflies and damselflies of Ghana

Dragonflies of Ghana

Twelve days spent searching for the dragonflies of Ghana—Odonates of Ghana for my companions—mainly in the south, yielded a great harvest with several new species for the country. Our small team, assisted by a local guide, included our tour leader Phil Benstead (living in Sweden) and, in alphabetical order, Günther Fuchs (Austria), Chris Heaivelin (U.S.A.), Michael Post (Germany), and myself, Benoît Guillon.
This survey lasted about 12 days for some, between January 12th and 23rd, while others were fortunate enough to stay on for another week.
I photographed around 90 species, though this is a very rough figure, as several zygopterans have not even been assigned to a family, and some Libellulidae could not be identified down to the species level.

Explored Habitats and Climate

Southern Ghana (and Accra) is just a few degrees from the equator. From December to March, it is theoretically the dry season, but we experienced late-afternoon rains and thunderstorms almost every day, typical of a tropical climate. Temperatures ranged between 25°C at night and 37°C during the day.

In the forest, the tracks were sometimes hard to navigate (due to unseasonal rain) with deep puddles that attracted Libellulidae, some of which come to mature in the forest, waiting for the rainy season to breed.

We tried to survey a wide variety of habitats as we progressed, taking full advantage of opportunities along the roadsides, such as streams or temporary pools.

We spent a lot of time on forest tracks (former logging roads), venturing deeper in search of the streams and small rivers crossing or running alongside them.

Of course, we explored ponds and pools both in forested environments and along the roads in open areas. Unplanned sites—such as a small pond created by a stream passing under a national road—proved to be extraordinarily rich. One exceptional pond yielded Urothemis venata and many other species, while an ordinary river produced two new species for Ghana (marked with an "*"). Discoveries and surprises awaited us around every bend of the road, track, or trail…

List of Observed Dragonflies of Ghana

References and Bibliography

There is no recent official list of the dragonflies of Ghana—Odonates of Ghana; it is currently estimated that there are around 226 species (Dijkstra & Clausnitzer, 2006), with undoubtedly more remaining to be discovered… However, reference can be made to the following documents:
- Neill and Paulson, 2001 - An annotated list of Odonata collected in Ghana in 1997, a checklist of Ghana Odonata, and comments on West African Odonate Biodiversity and Biogeography - March 2001 - Odonatologica 30(1):67-86
- Dijkstra & Clausnitzer, 2006 - Thoughts from Africa: how can forest influence species composition, diversity and speciation in tropical Odonata? - International Symposium of Odonatology, Pontevedra (Spain), July 2005, pp. 127-151.
- Dijkstra, 2013 - A Rapid Biological Assessment of the Atewa Range Forest Reserve, Eastern Ghana:137-142. 2013 - Checklist of Odonata Recorded from Ghana - Conservation International.
- The ADDO website (African Dragonflies and Damselflies Online - Edited by and based on the work of leading expert K.-D.B. Dijkstra and his collaborators), unfortunately offline since 2024, but which can still be accessed reasonably well using a Web.archive.org link. It is an invaluable and indispensable resource, a true goldmine for references!

Books

• The Dragonflies of Southern Africa – E.C.G. Pinhey (1951)
• Klaas-Douwe B. Dijkstra & Viola Clausnitzer, 2014 - The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Eastern Africa - Handbook for all Odonata from Sudan to Zimbabwe – Studies in Afrotropical Zoology, vol. 298 – Tervuren: Royal Museum for Central Africa. Focused on East Africa, it indicates whether species are also present in West Africa.
• Dragonflies and Damselflies of Namibia – Frank Suhling and Andreas Martens, 2007.
• Dragonflies and Damselflies of South Africa – Michael J. Samways, 2008.
• A Field Guide to the Damselflies of South Africa – Warwick and Michèle Tarboton
• A Guide to the Dragonflies & Damselflies of South Africa – Warwick and Michèle Tarboton, 2015
  
  

Websites

A particularly interesting website compiling the research of two enthusiasts in South Africa, John Wilkinson & Rob Dickinson, which, although focused on species further south, shows detailed photographs, presents immature males and females, compares pronota, etc.
And of course, iNaturalist, which can be centered on Ghana.