The Dragonflies of Europe

Richard Askew’s The Dragonflies of Europe was first published in 1988 and quickly established itself as one of the leading texts on European dragonflies. At this time there were 114 recognised European species of dragonflies and the core of the book was devoted to their identification. This was facilitated by the provision of keys to the adults and larvae along with a detailed description of each species. The descriptions were further supplemented with high quality line drawings of the morphological features necessary to distinguish each species. Each entry was completed with notes on distribution, full synonymy, distribution maps, biological characteristics and flight period. The provision of 29 superb colour plates illustrating most, but not all, of the species further aided identification. The inclusion of introductory chapters on dragonfly taxonomy, morphology, biology and ecology completed the text.