Gossamer Wings

Ohio’s Dragonflies & Damselflies

The Dragonfly Today I saw the dragonfly Come from the wells where he did lie An inner impulse rent the veil Of his old husk: from head to tail Came out clear plates of sapphire mail. He dried his wings: like gauze they grew Thro’ crofts and pastures wet with dew A living flash of light he flew. Alfred Lord Tennyson (1833)

Dragonflies & Damselflies • Order Odonata (“toothy ones”) • 6000 species worldwide • 470 U.S. and Canada species • 165 Ohio species: 116 dragonflies, 49 damselflies

forewing

hindwing

stigma

compound eyes

face

nodus

costa

abdominal sections S1 – S10

thorax

anal appendages

Dragonfly Anatomy (Rusty Snaketail)

Feature Dragonflies (Anisoptera) Damselflies (Zygoptera)

Eyes Touch or almost touch Widely separated

Body Stocky & larger Slender & smaller

Wing shape Hindwings broader than forewings

Forewings & hindwings similar

Wing position at rest

Wings held open at 90 degrees or facing forward

Wings held closed over body, or at 45 degrees

Nymphs Breathe through rectal gills

Breathe through caudal gills

Dragonflies vs. Damselflies

Attracting Dragonflies to Your Garden

• Food (insects) • Breeding Habitat (water)

Binoculars for Observing Insects • Desirable features include close focusing (6 feet or

less), a magnification of 7-10x, and waterproofing • An excellent mail-order source for binoculars is

Eagle Optics in Wisconsin (www.eagleoptics.com)

Eagle Optics Rangers 10x42, 21.6 oz, 5.2 feet, $299.99

Pentax Papilio 8.5x21, 10.2 oz, 1.6 feet, $136.00

Dragonfly Field Guides & Other Books - Curry, James R., Dragonflies of Indiana, Indiana Academy of Science, 2001. - Dubois, Bob, Damselflies of the North Woods, Kollath-Stensaas Publishing, 2005. - Dunkle, Sidney W., Dragonflies through Binoculars, Oxford University Press, 2000. - Glotzhober, Robert C. and David McShaffrey, The Dragonflies & Damselflies of

Ohio, Ohio Biological Survey, 2002. - Glotzhober, Robert C. and David McShaffrey, Common Dragonflies & Damselflies

of Ohio Field Guide, Ohio Division of Wildlife. - Lam, Ed, Damselflies of the Northeast, Biodiversity Books, 2004. - Mead, Kurt, Dragonflies of the North Woods, Kollath-Stensaas Publishing, 2003. - Mitchell, Forrest L. and James L. Lasswell, A Dazzle of Dragonflies, Texas A&M

University Press, 2005. - Nikula, Blair, Jackie Sones, Donald & Lillian Stokes, Stokes Beginners Guide to

Dragonflies & Damselflies, Little, Brown and Company, 2002. - Paulson, Dennis, Dragonflies & Damselflies of the West, Princeton University

Press, 2009. - Paulson, Dennis, Dragonflies & Damselflies of the East, Princeton University Press,

2011. - Rosche, Larry O., Judy M. Semroc and Linda K. Gilbert, Dragonflies and

Damselflies of Northeast Ohio, Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 2008. - Silsby, Jill, Dragonflies of the World, Smithsonian Institutional Press, 2001.

Elements of a Good Dragonfly Photograph

• An interesting subject • Sharp focus & adequate depth of field • Correct exposure • Accurate color • Complementary, uncluttered background • Excellent lighting • Strong composition

Dragonfly Photography Tips • Know your camera (operation, controls, settings) • Know your dragonflies (species, habitats) • Get close • Focus carefully, usually on the eyes • Background is critical • Consider using a ringlight or flash to obtain

consistent lighting • Learn compositional design principles

Get Close

“Macro” setting/button

• Extension rings • Close-up filters • Macro lenses

Common Errors When Composing Insect Photographs

• Insect is too small in frame • Insect is too centered in frame (OK if

insect fills the frame) • Insect is out of plane • Background is too

cluttered/sharp/light/dark • Insect is facing out of the frame

Learning More about Ohio’s Dragonflies & Damselflies

• Ohio Odonata Society (OOS) • Cleveland Museum of Natural History Field

Trips (Larry Rosche, Judy Semroc, Stan Stine)

• North American Butterfly Association (NABA) Summer Counts

• Metroparks/County Parks/Nature Center Programs

Ohio Odonata Society • Outgrowth of the Ohio Odonata Survey

(1990-1999) • Holds a 1-day meeting with presentations &

field trips each summer (July 18, 2015 at Cedar Bog, near Springfield)

• Publishes Ohio Dragonflier (PDF) quarterly • Membership is $5 per year • Website: http://www.marietta.edu/~odonata/

Time is for dragonflies and angels. The former live too little and the latter live too long. James Thurber

The Dragonfly You are made of almost nothing But of enough To be great eyes And diaphanous double wings; To be ceaseless movement, Unending hunger Grappling Love. Link between water and air, Earth repels you Light touches you only to shift into iridescence Upon your body and wings. Twice-born, predator, You split into the heat Swift beyond calculation or capture You dart into the shadow Which consumes you. You rocket into the day. But at last, when the wind flattens the grasses, For you, the design and purpose stop. And you fall With the other husks of summer. Louise Bogan (1961)