The Brede Valley

INVERTEBRATES

The Brede Valley is particularly noted for the abundance of its dragonflies and damselflies. When at rest, these two groups of insects can be told apart by the position of their wings: damselflies fold them together, in line with their bodies, while dragonflies spread them out at right angles. To read more about them, go to our Surveys and Reviews section on Dragonflies and Damselflies.

Sharing the underwater world of these ditches with dragonfly larvae, there is a rich variety of other aquatic invertebrates. The government nature conservation agency, Natural England, has described this invertebrate assemblage in the Brede Valley as being of similar quality to that of grazing marsh SSSIs such as the Somerset and Gwent Levels. To read about some of the beetles and butterflies found in the Valley, take a look at Beetles and Butterflies - both included in our Surveys and Reviews section.