Lunch for a dragonfly – an ignominious end for Britain’s biggest butterfly

The demise of the freshly emerged swallowtail makes me ponder all butterflies' chances of survival

Last week, I witnessed a wondrous and slightly horrifying spectacle of nature.

I was admiring a swallowtail, Britain's largest native butterfly, as it jinked over a waterway on the Norfolk Broads. Suddenly, an emperor dragonfly cruised in and grabbed the butterfly. There was a mid-air tussle for five seconds, before the iridescent blue dragonfly dropped into the reed bed with its prize.