What would the world be like without damselflies? Every summer I’d encounter them in the long grass of the lawn. Clasping a grass stem, they’d lift off at my approach and, like needles plied by invisible fingers, sew themselves away. Then I dug the garden pond, and now the chance meetings have become regular assignations.I could hardly believe it a fortnight ago when I spotted the first damselfly laying eggs in the pond. Since then, whenever the sun shines, these elegant insects appear. Their ancestors flew above dinosaurs in steamy ancient swamps; in fact, dragonfly fossils exist from the Permian period before dinosaurs; and here they are, little changed, just smaller, breeding in our back garden. Hunkering down by the pond with only thirsty sparrows, hungry newts and popping