This book is the culmination of over 20 years of dragonfly recording in Bedfordshire by the author. It is lavishly illustrated with colour photographs of dragonflies, their habitats, and their behaviour. For readers new to dragonflies the book has a brief introduction and overview of dragonfly anatomy and the emergence sequence from larva to adult as well as observations on predators, parasites and prey. The history of dragonfly recording in Bedfordshire is described and there are sections on habitat and conservation.
The author pioneers the use of colour 1km dot distribution maps to more accurately portray both adult distribution and abundance. The national distribution is also illustrated with 10km dot maps. Histograms are used to illustrate the flight periods of each the county's species, and are superimposed on the national flight period.
The species accounts cover all of the species breeding in Bedfordshire and also migrants and those with historic records. These are frequently illustrated with colour photographs of interesting behaviour and supplemented with local observations.