There sure are alot of dragonflies out, I saw 3 different types when I was out near the woods this week
What kind of dragonflies are these?
- Thread starter LongIslandPiney
- Start date
That last shot is a really nice photo. I have a special fondness for dragon flies. They are big mosquito killers and neat fliers. When I was on vacation in Alaska, we drove down a road in the wilderness, and for nearly 60 miles we were never out of sight of dragonflies, skimming above the road and eating mosquitoes.
Those really are great pix! I'm all for anything which eats mosquitoes. The skeeters are really bad around here right now because of the recent heavy rain. I have a lot of bright blue dragonflies down by the creek at my place; very colorful. Thanks for posting those photos.
IDK what kind of dragonflies they are, but man are they pretty. That's an amazing shot- the 3rd picture. Great stuff!
Boyd, the bright blue ones may be damsel flies. Dragonfly wings are at right angles to the body (edit; while at rest), damsel files are swept up. Here's a good view:
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Dragon-Fly-and-Damsel-Fly-Posters_i331503_.htm
http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Dragon-Fly-and-Damsel-Fly-Posters_i331503_.htm
More neat info:
"Dragonflies are so aeronautically adept that they put nearly all other insects to shame. Only some (not all) true flies (Diptera) can match their speed and agility. Watching a highly animated dragonfly on a hot day can exhaust a person's eyes and neck. Trying to spot one through binoculars and then follow it is next to impossible. But watch a dragonfly hovering, and you'll see its wings in action. Talk about flight control. In an instant they can change direction or come to a stop and hover in mid air. And dragonflies have been clocked at over 30 miles per hour. No wonder dragonflies, when they are active, are almost impossible to capture."
Source: http://www.ulsterpublishing.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=351158
"Dragonflies are so aeronautically adept that they put nearly all other insects to shame. Only some (not all) true flies (Diptera) can match their speed and agility. Watching a highly animated dragonfly on a hot day can exhaust a person's eyes and neck. Trying to spot one through binoculars and then follow it is next to impossible. But watch a dragonfly hovering, and you'll see its wings in action. Talk about flight control. In an instant they can change direction or come to a stop and hover in mid air. And dragonflies have been clocked at over 30 miles per hour. No wonder dragonflies, when they are active, are almost impossible to capture."
Source: http://www.ulsterpublishing.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=351158
I, for one, did not know that some dragonflies "migrate."
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060812/bob8.asp
Some work has been does on this in Cape May County.
ebsi
http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060812/bob8.asp
Some work has been does on this in Cape May County.
ebsi
Air-dragons
I love dragonflies, like y'all, am amazed at their--well, their "life", so to speak---they are just so ALIVE--akin to watching swallows. When my friend Tom and I would go fishing, usually in the pines--Chatsworth Lake, Oswego Lake, wherever, we were almost always treated to their aerial acrobatics--like watching a P-51 Mustang take out a Messerschmidt---skeeters don't have a chance. Around midday, when fishing would slow down, we'd sit there in the canoe and watch them land on the ends of our fishing rods to take breaks, almost in imitation of our lull. All different colors and shapes, sometimes they'd bang into each other in mid-air and tussle and then take off in opposite directions. Always amusing and full of life. Just love 'em.
I love dragonflies, like y'all, am amazed at their--well, their "life", so to speak---they are just so ALIVE--akin to watching swallows. When my friend Tom and I would go fishing, usually in the pines--Chatsworth Lake, Oswego Lake, wherever, we were almost always treated to their aerial acrobatics--like watching a P-51 Mustang take out a Messerschmidt---skeeters don't have a chance. Around midday, when fishing would slow down, we'd sit there in the canoe and watch them land on the ends of our fishing rods to take breaks, almost in imitation of our lull. All different colors and shapes, sometimes they'd bang into each other in mid-air and tussle and then take off in opposite directions. Always amusing and full of life. Just love 'em.
Brings back one of the nearly useless tidbits of information that I learned in entomolgy at Rutgers circa 1979.
Dragonflies are in the family Isoptera. This means wings of equal length. Iso meaning equal and ptera, Latin for wing. (ie. pteradactyl )
Regular flies are in the diptera family meaning two wings.
Dragonflies predate regular flies because thay do not have the ability to fold their wings as flies can.
Actually this trggers another fonder memory.
There is a Simpsons episode where Homer gets a job running a monorail.
In training they tell him: Mono means one, rail means rail. :rofl:
Scott
Dragonflies are in the family Isoptera. This means wings of equal length. Iso meaning equal and ptera, Latin for wing. (ie. pteradactyl )
Regular flies are in the diptera family meaning two wings.
Dragonflies predate regular flies because thay do not have the ability to fold their wings as flies can.
Actually this trggers another fonder memory.
There is a Simpsons episode where Homer gets a job running a monorail.
In training they tell him: Mono means one, rail means rail. :rofl:
Scott
