Caught this guy out this morning. What a beautiful blue he is!
What am I?
We call those Damselflies around here. They are pretty, aren't they?
Or she?
I wondered if that's what Damselflies were. I have seen several of them. I love all my little critters! I'm planning on researching how to attract more dragonflies, so I'll add damselflies to that list.
WOW look at those blue eyes! Very pretty! :-)
-Julie
I thought it was a dragonfly. Are damsel flies close relatives, or is it another name for dragonfly?
That is a beautiful insect and such a wonderful picture. I'm finally learning how to take closeups.
OH we had those last year and they are just starting to show up again. It is weird because when I water at night there is a blue one that I swear is following me! I love all the different colors.
Lotusblossum,
Dragonflies and Damselflies are close relatives, together making up the order Odonata. Dragonflies are mostly bigger with large eyes that touch or very nearly, while damselflies have smaller eyese quite well spread apart. In addition, most damselflies perch with their wings laid back along their bodies, while dragonflies all perch with their wings still spread at right angles to the body. You can see both of these features clearly in Konkreteblond's beautiful picture.
Some days I luck out and get that macro working right. I was so glad this picture came out so well! I just love his blue eyes too.
Kauai17, I was foliar feeding tonight and noticed a damselfly that I hadn't seen before. I wonder if spraying water attracts them? I'll pay attention in the future.
Where I am in Fort Lauderdale, the dragonflies appear when the mosquitoes appear. This is usually a day or so after heavy rains.
Thanks Kennedyh. I'm glad you made the differences clear. They are both beautiful and I enjoy seeing dragonflies around our ponds.
Here every morning the Mosquitoes go away when the Dragonflies emerge. The DF must dry their dew soaked wings before they can go on Mosquitoe hunts.
konkrete~
Since this thread is a "what am I", I have one for you. I'm in NJ)
It's about 2 1/2 inch wing spread. The top surface is a veltvety black for about 2 inches, then a trailing edge of two shades of blue circles then white.
]
The reverse is the same velvety black, with interspersed dark red (or brown) cicles, connected by the same color lines..
It's beautiful -- but I didn't have my camera.
flyboy, I really don't know. Did it have tails like a Swallowtail? I'm not sure what they have where you are. Here are some guesses:
Maybe a Red-spotted Purple?
http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/distr/lepid/bflyusa/pa/mor23.htm
I think a Spicebush is very dark, looking black with bluish white looking "circles". http://www.rlephoto.com/butterflies/swallowtail_sb01.html
Or it could be a Pipevine if it's really dark blue. http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/pipevine_swallowtail.htm
Or maybe a Mourning Cloak? Not sure if you meant the bottom was white or spots.
http://www.fcps.k12.va.us/StratfordLandingES/Ecology/mpages/mourning_cloak.htm
konkrete~
You've got it, by gosh you've got it
And it was your first guess. The red-spotted purple.
You know, I'm starting to watch these flutterbyes. With all my new red blossoms, he/she was sipping a drop of water.
Verrrry eeenteresting !!
Thank you.
We have a good many Skippers.
Lucky you guys, here in West San Fernando Valley (los angeles) I dont get many butterflies,,unless you count those horn worm butterlfies (ARGGH) "swat"!!
Ihave lots of flowers etc....some good ones early spring
Lots of hummingbirds though
sushi~
If you're not with the one you love, love the one you're with.
Konkrete Blond:
I think your Damselfly may be a Purple Bluet. There are thousands of varieties of Damselfly and they are a lot harder to distinguish from each other than Dragonflies (which are much harder to identify than Butterflies), IMHO. We have the same (or a VERY similar) creature here and a biologist friend of mine tentatively identified it (as I have) as "possibly a Purple Bluet."
Thanks Ed! I just love this little guy (or gal). I imagine that IDing these and Dragonflies is much harder than butterflies. They are much harder to see!
Seeing them isn't the hardest part. The Males look quite different from the females (in one case that I know of, with Dragonflies, the female is golden and the male is pink). Besides that, the adolescents look much different from the adults. In some cases you would have to catch them and examine them under magnification to make an ID.
But Skippers are difficult to ID also--someone told me that there are Skippers which can't be distinguished from their fellows without examining them INTERNALLY, if you can beleive that.
Well, I CAN believe it..lol...and it makes me feel better knowing it's not just me that can't really tell one Skipper from another. I hope I see a lot more dragonflies this year. I'd love to attract more of them to eat mosquitos!
KKB, I found a great nature photographer, Tom Murray, on line. He has lots of galleries of a wide variety of nature photos. He has varied interests and a wide range of locations, including Texas and Mexico. There are several galleries of damselfiles and dragonflies, including a section devoted to Texas, and of course several for Florida too. Give it a look-see. http://www.pbase.com/tmurray74
Art
Thanks Art! Those are some great pictures! I could sit all day looking...
Very cool!
Great link Art!
konkreteblond, what you have there in your picture is a female Common Whitetail. Just saw and photographed my first one yesterday. Got the male on June 28.
Attached is a picture of the male.
