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Forest district can raise endangered dragonfly

The Forest Preserve District of DuPage County has received $69,733 in federal funding to raise federally endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly larvae at its Urban Stream Research Center at Blackwell Forest Preserve near Warrenville.

The district will raise the rare dragonflies from larvae to adults and then release them at select breeding sites in the Chicago area.

The program will minimize the risks associated with transporting larvae long distances between rearing and release sites and allow for faster reaction times as larvae near emergence as adults, according to Erik Neidy, district director of natural resources.

Less than 1 percent of Hine's emerald dragonfly eggs develop into larvae, and the species is known to exist in only six locations worldwide, one being the Des Plaines River Valley in northeastern Illinois. The Illinois population is in the most danger of imminent extinction because it is in a rapidly developing urban area.

"There is an immediate need to augment the Illinois population of Hine's emerald dragonfly," Neidy said. "The Urban Stream Research Center is an ideal environment for captive rearing of these larvae."

The four-year program will be done in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Genoa National Fish Hatchery and the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly Working Group.

"We're thrilled to be able to be part of this collaborative effort to restore area populations of the Hine's emerald dragonfly," said Forest Preserve District Commissioner Al Murphy, District 6.

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