Editing Strumpshaw Fen RSPB reserve (section)

===Insects===
[[File:Swallowtail Butterfly RSPB Strumpshaw Fen Norfolk - geograph.org.uk - 599384.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Swallowtail ''Papilio machaon brittanicus'' photographed at Strumpshaw Fen.]]
Its Fen provides one of the few breeding sites in [[Great Britain]] for the [[Papilio machaon|swallowtail]]. The [[subspecies]] found at Strumpshaw, ''Papilio machaon brittanicus'', is endemic to the Fens of Norfolk and Suffolk in the UK.<ref>[http://www.lba.uk.com/BUTTERFLES_B21I3U.aspx Lepidoptera Breeders Association]</ref> It is slightly smaller and more heavily marked in black than subspecies ''machaon'' and ''gorganus'' which are widespread throughout mainland Europe. It nearly always lays its eggs on milk parsley (''[[Peucedanum palustre]]'') in contrast to its European cousin that will select most [[umbellifer]]s. Swallowtail can be seen from late May to mid-July and often again in mid-August to September. It is the largest resident British butterfly at 8 to 10&nbsp;cm wingspan.

In early spring and summer the reserve is the habitat of 23 species of dragonfly, including the rare [[Norfolk hawker]] which is protected under Schedule 5 of the [[Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981]], and listed in the British Red Data Books on Insects as Category 1 ([[Endangered species|endangered]]).

Another important dragon fly is the [[scarce chaser]] (''Libellula fulva'').{{clear}}