The White Faced Darter is a species of lowland peatbogs. It requires relatively deep, oligotrophic, acidic bog pools with considerable rafts of Sphagnum at the edges in which to breed. Larvae also occur among waterlogged Sphagnum in depressions devoid of standing water. The larvae live within the matrix of submerged and floating sphagnum and are confined to waters without fish. Away from its aquatic habitat it also requires scrub or woodland, which provides important roosting and feeding sites. In Britain the White-faced Darter is a rare dragonfly having declined, notably in England, in the last 35 years. It is the subject of Biodiversity Action Plans in Cheshire and Cumbria. In Britain the White-faced Darter is found at isolated sites from the Midlands to north Scotland and Chartley Moss is currently the most southerly distribution in the UK. Major strongholds for the species occur in the highlands of Scotland. The populations in both Inverness-shire and Ross-shire are particularly important.
