Thursday, July 16, 2015

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Dragonflies and Damselflies ... but first, a moth -- Virginia Ctenucha, a lovely creature that I've seen in several locations during recent perambulations ...

Virginia Ctenucha

Virginia Ctenucha
Next, a brief sampling of recent dragonflies ... Slaty Skimmer and Widow Skimmer ...

Slaty Skimmer

Widow Skimmer
 ... and a damselfly, the Ebony Jewelwing ...

Ebony Jewelwing
Closing out this post are three damselflies - which also illustrate the challenges of these almost imaginary insects.

The first is a Marsh Bluet - probably - since according to Lam's "Damselflies of the Northeast," this species is nearly identical to 3 other species and can only be reliably identified by examining the shape of male 's cerci - and that requires netting it, then using a magnifying glass.

Marsh Bluet (? probable or ? possible)

The next 2 can be identified in the field with binoculars or a camera and I am reasonably certain on the IDs: Northern Bluet and Aurora Damsel:

Northern Bluet
Aurora Damsel
Hope you can get outside and enjoy the wonders of the season.
 



3 comments:

CountryCityCindy said...

The moth looks like the one I photographed:
http://countrycitycindy.blogspot.com/2015/06/friday-snapshots-moth-identification.html

Nice pictures!

FAB said...

Hi Chris,
You have some very interesting Skimmers and the various blue damsels here in the UK also provide me with an ID challenge.

Bob Bushell said...

Nature is everywhere, I love your butterflies.

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