Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Damsels & Dragons

Basically, dragonflies rest with their wings open, and damselflies rest with their wings closed. (Unless they're spread-winged damselflies, in which case the wings are partially open.)


Male Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly (Calopteryx maculata).


Immature male White-tailed Skimmer (Plathemis lydia).


His close-up.

Thanks BugGuide.net and Gloria Mundi Press for the ID help.

6 comments:

robin andrea said...

Those are beauties. The wings on the white-tailed skimmer are so delicate. I love those close-ups. It is amazing how stunningly photogenic these damsels and dragons are.

Jenn said...

so gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

Nice shots.

And thanks, I've wondered how to easily distinguish between the two. Does the damsel always have the "eyeballs on the end of a stick" look?

Unknown said...

very cool. now i'll know how to tell them apart.

Rurality said...

Thanks y'all.

RD I'm thinking he might have been slow because of the cooler air... he let me pick up the pine needle and carry him all around! No such luck with the damselfly.

Jerry I think so, at least on the ones I've looked up.

You should see the gnats. They are the worse I've ever seen them! Just horrible. It's getting warmer but there is still lots more heat to come...

swamp4me said...

The "no-see-ums" are out in force in some places around here. I was helping with a salamander survey yesterday and the little biters were pestering us to death. Every inch of my clothing, with the exception of my hat, was treated with repellant so, of course, my head became no-see-um central! Too bad they are too small for the dragons and damsels to hunt!