damselflies
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Rambur’s Forktail
I’ve spotted another Brooklyn damselfly species, bringing my NYC list up to nine species. This is a male Rambur’s Forktail (Ischnura ramburii). Approximately 1.25″ long. He was flitting about the edge of Green-Wood’s Sylvan Water among a fair number of Familiar Bluets.This is a pair of Familiars (Enallagma civile) in the mating grip: the male…
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Orange Bluet
Most of the bluet damselflies are, you guessed it, blue, but this one bucks the trend. Sort of: this is a mature male, but when he was younger, he had blue markings instead of these orange ones. Enallagma signatum.
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Seaside Dragonlet
This is a female Seaside Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax berenice), spotted recently on Plumb Beach. This is the only American species of dragonfly that breeds in salt water, in this case probably the saltwater marsh tucked behind the beach. To be honest, I couldn’t see any of the handsome orange and black patterning on the abdomen and…
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Damsel
Actually, it’s the tiny fly (?) this male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum) has just devoured who was the subject in distress. You can see a tiny-wing leftover.
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Bugs At Last!
You’ve been waiting patiently all winter long for some serious insect life to liven things up. This was the week! Two color variations of the Spotted Lady Beetle (Coleomegilla maculata).These are in the Coccinellidae family of ladybugs, but clearly not the usual rounded shape of the classic VW. Sure are spotty, though: another common name…
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Orange Is the New Bluet
A male Orange Bluet (Enallagma signatum) in the afternoon sun.
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Eastern Forktail
A male Eastern Forktail (Ischnura verticalis) showing off the characteristic and unique solid green shoulder markings and blue on segments 8 and 9. An inch long; you really have to get close to see the jewel-llike details. And, oh, look, an exuvia I didn’t even notice in the background when I took this picture.
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Fragile Forktails
A mature female Ischnura posita. An immature female. Inch-long damsels, these. Eat more mosquitos, ladies! A mature male. The exclamation mark on the shoulder is tell-tale for this species, but it can fade with age.
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Damsels & Dragons
The Blue-fronted Dancer (Argia apicalis). One and half inches long, found along the Bronx River and further away on woodland paths. I’m getting better at distinguished these wee things, which means getting closer with lens of varying sorts. This is a male. Species IDs include the black hair-line markings on the thorax and the blue…
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Freshwater
I was enjoying the life above the Duckweed (Lemnaceae) recently, marveling that I’ve never seen so many Eastern Amberwings (Perithemis tenera).There were also a few Blue Dashers (Pachydiplax longipennis), making more Blue Dashers.A damselfly of unknown provenance was depositing eggs. And then, along the edge of the lake, some disturbance from below. There was an…
Backyard and Beyond 