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Dragonflies and Damselflies

Summer has arrived with the Dragonfly and Damselfly.

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One of the most recognizable orders of insect is the Odonata which encompasses both Dragonflies and Damselflies. There are some 5,500 identified North American species in the order and over 450 of these are found throughout the United States and Canada alone. Dragonflies are the more common of the two and both share many of the same physical characteristics and behaviors. Odonates are found near fresh water sources and are active on pleasant sunny days. Color patterns vary as do wing designs and lengths can run as long as 5 inches (as with the "Giant Darner"). Bulging eyes are set to the sides of the head and each contains thousands of honeycomb-shaped lenses providing excellent vision with moving targets. Six legs are utilized for grabbing pray or clasping onto reeds and plants. Wings are noticeably veined and appear as two pairs of straight appendages emanating from the spine. When at rest, Dragonflies will generally lay their wing pairs flat while Damselflies will typically hold their more elegant tear drop-shaped wings close together and away or above the body. Odonates are quick fliers that can seem to hover at times and they will even mate in mid-air (the male and female flying about in tandem). A single female can lay one egg or several and these deposits are generally found in or near water sources. Life cycles of Odonates are variable - some completing them in a single month while others cover years.

There are a total of 10 Dragonflies and Damselflies in the Insect Identification database. Entries are listed below in alphabetical order.
Black Saddlebags Skimmer
Adults can be found near lakes, ponds and streams. Males alternate between gliding and flapping wings when in flight. Adult...
Blue Dasher
Blue Dashers are one of the most abundant dragonflies in the U.S. and can be found near slow moving water sources, marshes an...
Blue-Eyed Darner
Highly noticeable thanks to their large size and have a beautiful blue and black coloring. Males exhibit some silver on their...
Blue-fronted Dancer
Dancers flight patterns are not straight-lined; this pond damsel appears to dance, or bounce, along its way. The Blue-fron...
Common Green Darner
Common Green Darners are beautiful dragonflies with transparent wings. They are large specimens that are common throughout No...
Common Whitetail Skimmer
This dragonfly usually hovers over standing or slow water. Females release their eggs into the water, near the shore, but di...
Eastern Pondhawk
Pondhawks get their name from their predatory behavior. They capture and consume other insects, ones even as large as themse...
Giant Darner
The Giant Darner is hailed as the largest example of dragonfly to be found in the United States of America. The beautiful cre...
Great Blue Skimmer
Brightly colored bodies are characterisic of the dragonflies in the Libellulidae family. Members are sometimes called King Sk...
Western Flying Adder
The Western Flying Adder is part of the very common summer flying insect generically grouped as "dragonflies". They appear qu...
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