A dragonfly that has not been seen in B.C. for 40 years is just one of the discoveries made by citizen scientists over the summer, as part of a major effort to catalogue the province’s plants and animals.

The rare Grappletail Dragonfly was spotted during a hike in July in Davis Lake Provincial Park near Mission. This dragonfly is ‘red-listed’ on the B.C. Conservation Data Centre’s list, which means many believed the species had gone extinct.

But thanks to a local resident out on a hike, B.C.’s scientists now know that a small swarm of the dragonfly exists in this part of the province.

With many people spending more time outdoors due to the COVID – 19 pandemic, the BC Parks Foundation launched B.C.’s Big Nature Challenge in which the public is encouraged to help log and identify plants, animals, insects and fungi. So far, almost one million photos have been uploaded.