Can I sneak in a dragonfly?

Captured this photo earlier today.
Common Whitetail (Libellula lydia)

Nice shot Mz Munchie

thanks Donna.. considering it was taken from the office.. glad I took the screen down. LOL

oh I want to take out the dining room screen so bad but the window is just to big

I just love dragonflies! I took one tonight of a Damselfly.

I really need to get a book about these so I can learn what kind I have. I love learning new stuff!

great capture.

The book that I have is Dragonflies through Binoculars, A field guide to dragonflies of North America.. written by Sidney W. Dunkle, published by Oxford University Press.

That's exactly the book I had in mind! I think I'll do a search online at the library right now.

Oh--I want to share a dragonfly pic too! Here is a Neon Skimmer. He was guarding my little aboveground corner pond a few weeks ago. Hubby and I call him 'Spark'. He and his lady friends and progeny populate our backyard ponds every summer.

The Dunkle book is a great field guide, but my favorite coffee table dragonfly book full of gorgeous dragonfly pictures is 'A Dazzle of Dragonflies.' I am biased and just a little partial to it because, well, my hubby is one of the authors. ;-)

Here's 'Spark' from the side. He was VERY tolerant and patient with me as I snapped his pics. I just love it when you can see these creatures up close and personal. They are so interesting and beautiful.

Edited to add: Did you know that some dragonflies are fuzzy? Can you see the fuzz on Spark's thorax and on his head behind his eyes? Isn't that a neat bit of knowledge?

This message was edited Jul 17, 2006 5:27 PM

LOL.. yes, I did know. Nice capture! I think "Spark" needs to shave his legs though

He's very cool! I have seen the red ones but not at my house. I have the ones with white on their back and wings and the ones with brown squares on their wings.

I'm waiting for the library to transfer that book to my library, then I can ID them! I just looked for your husband's book but it's not in the catalog for any of our libraries.

I didn't know they were fuzzy. I didn't know they had sharp horns on their backs either! Is that what that is on his back?!

hill5422... when I went searching for a dragonfly book several years ago they were so few to non-existent. I find dragon and damsel flies as equally beautiful and as fascinating as the other things that visit my garden. So, if I buy your hubby's book can I get it autographed?

cool beans Hill. I will have to get it. I haven't replaced my dragonfly books yet

Here is a great link for dragonfly and damselfly pictures to help id.
http://www.greglasley.net/dragonnoramerix.html

Thanks Sheila! Lurking around? ;) Do you have a lot of dragonflies since you have a pond?

Thanks, Sheila. Greg Lasley has some awesome pics on his website, doesn't he? Here's another I like a lot. ;-)

http://www.dragonflies.org/

MzMunchken--absolutely! Autograph seekers are always welcome, lol, with or without a book in hand.

Paige--are the dragonflies you are seeing like the Common Whitetail that MzMunchken posted at the first of the thread or are they something else? I am sorry to hear that the book is not in your library, but it has only been in print since April of 2005. Maybe the librarian needs to hear from you that you would sure like to see it in their collection! I'll ask hubby how that works. Yes, the sharp 'horns' on Spark's back are the fuzz I am referring to. I'm sure it has some fancy schmancy scientific dragonfly anatomical name, but I don't know it. Would have to ask hubby about that also.

Donna--I highly recommend the book, lol. What dragonfly books were you looking to replace?

I'm not real "with it" tonight...lol... Yes, I have the same dragonfly as MzM's. I guess I have an ID now. lol

And my bad on the red dragonfly too. I saw the right wing but to my eyes it looked like a spike sticking out of it's back! I see now that it's just the way I was seeing the wing.

It's a good thing I don't have nightmares! lol

lol, Paige, I went back and looked and Spark's far wing DOES look like a spike sticking out of his back! I guess we were both out of it! Hey--let's be real mature and blame it on the perspective of the picture. Yeah, that's it--it's the picture's fault, lol.

Here is a Roseate Skimmer (male). These are just gorgeous!

and I believe that this is the female Roseate Skimmer.. (hill.. help me out here)

LOL, MzMunchken, you confuse me with my husband. He is the dragonfly expert in the family. However, he taught me how to do research and find answers, so I offer this link to a known female Roseate for comparison:

http://www.dragonflies.org/of_fs.htm

In my rather unprofessional opinion, I would say that you do have a female Roseate Skimmer. I love the beauty of the male Roseate Skimmer. Many have freaked upon seeing a pinkish dragonfly for the first time, and notably, I was one of them.

One of my favorite dragonflies is the Blue-eyed Darner:

http://www.dragonflies.org/amul_6mt.htm

Hill.. I'll have to agree with your unprofessional opinion. ;-) after looking at the link you provided. Those scanned images of live dragonflies are the absolute best! The clarity of detail is outstanding. Handsome guy your Blue-eyed Darner

What is the difference between a damsel and a dragonfly?

I love the Roseatte Skimmer! I want one! I can't wait for my book to get here.

Hill I had Dragonflies through binoculars and another one I forget the name. I am going to order the one your husband co-authored. Looks like that maybe the only one I need. those scans are incredible. Do you know of any great Moth books. All the ones I have been able to replace are pretty crappy or cost 150 dollars or more. I am not real impressed with Petersons First Guide to Butterflies and Moths, Moths of the Eastern U.S., Moths by Michael Majerus, and Butterflies and Moths by Mitchell. They all give you a couple of good colored pages and the rest is black and white or just word descriptions. I had Moths Nighttime Jewels of your back Yard and Floridas Fabulous Butterflies which had a few good Moths in it and a few more but none worth replacing for a few pics. I have done really good replacing my books finding used books on Amazon for half price or less and most are brand new. I even went out on a limb and ordered one used book for 50 dollars and it turned out to be only in fair condition, from 1950's and reads like a refrence book. Boy was I mad. Thought I was getting a really good book according to description. You have to be a scientist to understand it lol

found a picture of a Blue Dasher that I took last year. you can really see its "hairs" on this macro shot

tropicalkaren.. in answer to your question (please correct me, the rest of you) is that it (damselfly) is a sub-order of dragonflies. Much like an eagle and a hummingbird are the same grouping but the difference is pretty evident.

Thanks, Mz.

Just ordered your hubbies book Hill and did replace Florida's Fabulous Butterflies and Moths since I found it used for 5.86 ;-)

This little guy/gal, was just begging for me to take a pic. John

LOL carrjohn.. showing off for you wasn't it!

LOL! That is hilarious! I've seen them in some funny positions but not like that! Y'all are making me want to run outside and take pics. It's actually only 97 outside right now. I should go out before it gets to the predicted 102+!

Eagles and hummers are in the same family??

Birds KK ;-)

May I chip in here? This guy came visiting this morning and, after much digging around I think I've IDed him as a Widow Skimmer. Am I right? He was pretty large, around 5ins from wing tip to wing tip.

Another shot of the same chap

I'm not as dumb as I was starting to think then! :) lol

Great shots okus! Love it's eyes!

Hi all, I apologize for losing track of this thread (it IS MzMunchken's BTW). I was out of town last week with (horrors) no internet access. Didn't want to leave the impression that I was blatantly ignoring any questions directed at me.

carrjohn--Your dfly is in the obelisk position in your pic. If I recall correctly what hubby has shared with me, it is not really known or proven WHY the dflys do that, but it is BELIEVED that it helps them keep cooler when they are in that position because minimal body surface is exposed to direct sunlight. In hubby's words--they orient their body away from the sun so as to present a very limited profile/silhouette for the sun to hit directly, thus keeping their body temp lower.

Okus--Hubby has confirmed that your dfly is a male Widow Skimmer. Good ID job!!

Donna--Hubby recommends the moth book: A Field Guide to Moths of Eastern North America. Here is a link to it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1884549217/sr=1-1/qid=1154034200/ref=pd_bbs_1/102-3721709-1300135?ie=UTF8&s=books


Kenya

have it Kenya lol. It is to scientific for me. Like what is a ST line and a costal patch. See that tells me nothing as far as trying to identify something. I am just a hobbiest and want lots of good detailed pics to look at to help me make a identification. The pics are small and most are black and white

Love the dragonflies. Their wings are so delicate, like stained glass.

Joan

Hey who invited you?