Fragile Forktail Damselfly
Location: Albany, NY
May 12, 2012 8:14 pm
I was just able to identify my bug as a Fragile Forktail Damselfly. I didn’t see any pictures of this species on your site, so thought you might like it. It’s supposed to be fairly common on the East coast.
Signature: Naomi
Fragile Forktail Damselfly
Hi Naomi,
Thank you so much for sending us your photograph of a Fragile Forktail Damselfly, Ischnura posita. According to BugGuide the Fragile Forktail Damselfly can be identified because of the “Pale shoulder stripes resemble exclamation points—true of both sexes.” The marks are clearly visible in your photograph.
¶ Posted 13 May 2012 § ‡ ° Male Flame Skimmer?
Location: Hawthorne, California
May 12, 2012 4:44 pm
Hi Daniel,
Well, the bugs are back! After two Anna’s hummingbird nests (same mother) in the front this year and more than a few Black Headed Grosbeaks in back (still visiting and most unusual for here) – Marty spotted this dragonfly on the cigar plants in back. I think I have it correctly identified as a male Flame Skimmer (Libellula saturata). The shot of it’s underside is a bit washed out because it was in such heavy shade. Can you please confirm? I know you just love dragonfly id requests!
Signature: Thanks, Anna
Flame Skimmer
Hi Anna,
We are thrilled to get a new submission from you. While we agree that this appears to be a Flame Skimmer, Libellula saturata, we are more inclined to identify it as a female. The BugGuide description on separating the sexes reads: “males bright orange with amber color in the wings covering half the width of the wing, out to the nodus, and all the way to the rear of the hind wing. Females paler but still with some amber at least on the leading edge of the wing.”
Flame Skimmer
Hi Daniel,
Thanks very much and yes, I do see the difference between the male and female. Should have known! Hope all is well with you. I’m glad to see the bugs back again. The front feels so empty now that I don’t have hummer nests & little blind, bald babies to photograph.
Anna
¶ Posted 13 May 2012 § ‡ ° dragonfly
Location: Maumelle, Arkansas
May 11, 2012 7:26 am
Hi Gentle teacher,
Last night this dragonfly was attracted to my porch light in Central Arkansas. This morning, he was on my back door, waiting for my camera. After a few minutes of pictures, his wings started moving, he washed his face and off he flew. What is he?
Signature: Martha
Possibly Swamp Darner
Hi Martha,
In our opinion, this looks like a Swamp Darner, Epiaeschna heros, or a closely related species. According to BugGuide: “An impressive dragonfly of southern wetlands.”
Head of a Swamp Darner
¶ Posted 11 May 2012 § ‡ ° Weird Mutant Dragonfly Hybrid in NC?
Location: Central North Carolina
April 10, 2012 5:04 pm
Dear Bugman,
Please identify this weird mutant dragonfly insect i found laying in my driveway in central NC. Thanks!
Sincerely,
Signature: K.King
Decapitated Dragonfly
Dear K.King,
This is a Dragonfly, and though it is not a mutant, it has been decapitated. We have posted a photo in the past of a decapitated Dragonfly, and the culprit was a European Hornet.
¶ Posted 10 April 2012 § ‡ ° Tagged: mysteries just wondering
Location: Vero Beach, FL
February 27, 2012 6:17 pm
I was down in florida last year and I got lucky and saw a few different kinds of things that no one that lived there knew what they were so I found your site and thought it would be cool to know what they were… I just kept running across interesting insects,etc..
Signature: Brandy Kay
Scarlet Skimmer
Dear Brandy,
WE believe your Dragonfly is a Scarlet Skimmer, Crocothemis servilia. According to BugGuide, the Scarlet Skimmer is a: “Native from southern Japan and China to northern Australia. Introduced accidentally to south Florida and to Oahu, Hawai’i” and “In the US, typically uses low-quality wetlands, either artificially constructed or highly degraded, where low dissolved oxygen, introduced fish, or other alterations make the habitat unsuitable for sensitive native species.” Your spider is an Orchard Spider and the beetle is an Eyed Elater.
¶ Posted 28 February 2012 § ‡ ° Moth Identification
Location: Oshkosh, WI
February 25, 2012 11:00 pm
Just wanted to say that I am a huge fan and addicted to the website. I’m not a big bug person, I prefer reptiles myself, but as bugs tend to be just as misunderstood I sincerely appreciate the work you do in educating the general public. I have here two mysteries I’d be very thankful if you helped to solve. The first is a picture I took while at work. I work at a large factory, which, unfortunately, is an uninhabitable place in hotter months unless the bay doors are open. This means that creatures often find themselves indoors without a way to get back out again. I fear this dragonfly was one of those creatures, and he was dead while still stuck to the wall. I have been unable to identify him: he is very dusty and I fear this may be a case of Unnecessary Carnage due to him not being discovered and saved sooner. Any ideas?
Later that same night, which was a very strange night full of oversized bugs, I heard my cat freaking out at our sliding glass window. Opening it, I was delighted to see such a huge moth, as I never get the honor. After watching it for a while, I was dismayed at how lethargic it seemed, on such a warm night. I didn’t want this to be another case of a beautiful bug living its last moments in my hands, so I put it somewhere more comfortable and turned off my porch light. In the morning it had gone, and I do not know whether it had reached the end of its life or moved on to better things. I prefer to believe the latter. I /think/ that it may be a Polyphemus Moth but for whatever reason could not find a photo with markings that were exactly what I’d witnessed. Do moths have much variation in color and pattern within the same species? Thanks in advance for any information~!
Pictures are taken in summer, Central Wisconsin. Apologies for the quality.
Signature: Jen
Polyphemus Moth
Dear Jen,
Indeed your moth is a Polyphemus Moth, and she is a lovely specimen. Polyphemus Moths make scrumptious morsels for many nocturnal predators including skunks, racoons and bats. We doubt the bats would be discouraged by the Polyphemus Moth’s defense mechanism, to mimic the cyclops Polyphemus when disturbed. The Polyphemus Moth often rests with its lower wings covered. Upon being poked, it will quickly reveal one oculus and appear to have been wakened from a sound sleep by an annoyance. When the second eye is revealed, destroying the cyclopian illusion, the entire illusory head of the imagined threat of a human sized head could scare a racoon or skunk, or maybe not, but it does work on birds. We will attempt to identify your Dragonfly later. Our first thought or guess would be a female Green Darner.
Dragonfly
You guys are great. Thanks so much. Very neat story about the origin of the name, I’m pretty amused by it!
Dragonfly in Central Florida
Location: Central Florida
February 6, 2012 11:28 am
I found this dragonfly (two photos of two different dragonflies that I believe are the same species) in Central Florida. I believe at least one is from Orlando Wetlands Park, just East of Orlando.
Signature: Scott
Unknown Dragonfly
Dear Scott,
The past two mornings we have looked at your lovely photographs and alas, since we needed to get to work, we hadn’t the time to attempt an identification. Long work hours have prohibited us from doing the research in the evenings. We have decided to just post your letter and photographs as an unidentified Dragonfly in the hopes one of our readers can take the time to identify the species. Dragonflies pose a particular challenge for our unscientifically trained staff.
Unknown Dragonfly
dragonfly
Location: Missouri River – Nebraska City, NE
February 1, 2012 4:46 pm
I took this photo on July 2nd, 2011 in Nebraska City, NE. the Missouri River was flooded and the dragonflies grew huge.
it was about 2” long and had a 4” wingspan.
any idea what species it is?
thanks!
Signature: Jake
Widow Skimmer, we believe
Hi Jake,
We often have a great deal of difficulty with the identification of Dragonflies to the species level, but we will do our best. We believe this closely resembles a Widow Skimmer, Libellula luctuosa, which we found pictured on BugGuide. The description on BugGuide is: “Mature males have a large basal area of brown on each of the four wings, and each wing also has a whitish area roughly at the middle. Their brown bodies become increasingly pruinose (whitish) as they get older. Females and immature males have the same brown wing bands as the mature males, but not the whitish areas. Wings usually have a brown tip. A dorsal view of the abdomen shows a brown band at center with a yellow stripe running along each side.” Since there are no white patches on the wings, we suspect this is most likely a female or an immature male.
¶ Posted 02 February 2012 § ‡ ° 
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