Vanishing VII (Southern Damselfly)

Holly Downing

This hand-colored mezzotint is from a series of prints Holly Downing has been doing featuring vanishing species, in this case, invertebrates. Each impression is printed in black and then hand-colored by the artist. There may be slight variations between impressions.

According to Downing, the stunning Southern Damselfly is considered threatened in Europe and the United Kingdom. It habituated in heathlands and water meadows in continental flood plains. The sharp decline in the species’ numbers is due to the removal of grazing animals that maintain the open nature of the species’ breeding sites, drainage due to agriculture and forestry, and nutrient runoff from nearby agricultural activities.