With its soft flight and dexterity of movement that exudes a sense of poise and yet elegant power, the dragonfly is one such totem spirit.

The humble dragonfly has captivated the imagination, holding the intrigue of humanity on every continent it inhabits. Folklore captures that a dragonfly carries the wisdom of adaptability, transformation, a new start. As a spirit animal with a kaleidoscope of color the dragonfly has come to symbolise enlightenment.

Culturally for those who follow this totem, when a dragonfly appears it is a celestial trigger to embrace joy, bringing about an added degree of happiness to one’s overall sense of being. Individuals who identify with this totem may be predisposed to delve deep into their inner emotions, shining their true colors.

Dragonflies begin their lives in and around water, an association that gives rise to the their unique lifecycle from an egg immersed in an aquatic environment to an intriguing larval phase, and adults that flit among the splash zones of cascading waterfalls.

The rare Alpine Red Spot Dragonfly has been recorded in Australia only 35 times since the 1950s and is listed as a vulnerable species in NSW. With its geographic distribution restricted to the mountainous spray surfaces within waterfalls up to 1800 metres above sea level, such a truly majestic species is incredibly elusive.

Very few humans have witnessed the magical dance of this mystical creature.

Such an occurrence recently took place here in our beautiful bush capital. The extraordinary Alpine Red Spot Dragonfly was spotted in the mountains of Namadgi National Park by a citizen scientist. This exciting sighting was verified by experts and recorded on the Canberra Nature Map.  

Concern for the dragonfly’s future plight within the Australian Alps national parks arises from its high degree of habitat specialisation and climate change, with its reduced precipitation coupled with the devastating impacts of increased fire intensities.

These mysterious creatures continue to speak to us, telling their stories of resilience, through the wonderful community resource that is Canberra Nature Map. As an online resource Canberra Nature Map provides a powerful social media platform to simply share these natural encounters, in doing so providing a valuable means to marvel at the incredible natural diversity that is a backdrop to our bush capital.

To discover more visit http://canberra.naturemapr.org/.