Familiar Bluet. Photo by Bryan Henson
What better to do on a hot day than to look for dragonflies? Dragonflies love the heat and sun. At Morven Park on June 21, our group found 10 species of Odonata (called odes for short), the order that includes dragonflies and damselflies. Our finds included the uncommon Southern Spreadwing and the very common, but beautiful Blue Dasher. At Claude Moore Park on June 22, we found 17 species of odes. In the parking lot, we found Carolina Saddlebags perched and chasing one another. Along the first pond, we found a nice mix of dragonflies including Spangled Skimmer, Eastern Amberwing and Unicorn Clubtail. The vernal pool added several Great Blue Skimmers to our sightings for the day. Despite the heat, we enjoyed the beauty of these wonderful insects while discussing their biology, life cycle and identification.
Two Southern Spreadwings.
Photo by Bryan Henson.
Species List (in no particular order)
Damselflies
Fragile Forktail
Citrine Forktail
Skimming Bluet
Southern Spreadwing
Eastern Forktail
Familiar Bluet
Dragonflies
Eastern Amberwing
Blue Dasher
Common Whitetail
Eastern Pondhawk
Unicorn Clubtail
Widow Skimmer
Slaty Skimmer
Spangled Skimmer
Carolina Saddlebags
Black Saddlebags
Prince Baskettail
Wandering Glider
Great Blue Skimmer
Common Green Darner
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