Eastern Pondhawk, we think
Location: Amherstview, Ontario
November 15, 2010 9:16 pm
We found this beautiful dragonfly on our apartment outside wall. We have never seen a dragonfly this big before. We thought you could use another picture for your website.
Signature: big fans of What’s That Bug, Tyler (9 yrs) and Brennen (7 yrs)
Green Darner
Dear Tyler and Brennen,
Thanks so much for sending us your Dragonfly photos, but this is not an Eastern Pondhawk. It is a Green Darner which you can verify by comparing your photo to images posted to BugGuide. According to BugGuide, the Green Darner, Anax junius: “Females oviposit in aquatic vegetation, eggs laid beneath the water surface. Larvae probably take several years to mature. Mature larva crawls up an emergent plant before adult emerges. Adults migrate north in Spring, these do breed in Canada. In the Fall the adults may form swarms and migrate south.“
Thank you so much, you made my children’s day!
¶ Posted 16 November 2010 § ‡ ° Strange bug
Exuvia of a Dragonfly Naiad
Strange bug
Location: Singapore
November 11, 2010 11:29 pm
Dear Mr Bug Man,
I have sent in a previous request but was not sure if it went through. I apologize if this is a duplicate. I live in the tropical island of Singapore. I was strolling around the nature reserve photographing flowers and came across this bug. I didn’t think much about it until I saw it’s head which was mammal like. I thought it was a cicada of sorts but the head really threw me off. Would appreciate if you could help me identify this insect.
Thanks
Signature: Wei
Exuvia of a Dragonfly Naiad
Hi Wei,
We are really running late for work, and we want to post your letter without doing any research except to link to a page with a photo of an adult Peanut Headed Bug, Fulgora laternaria, because we cannot imagine that this is anything else. We will research this later. In the meantime, perhaps one of our readers will have some contribution.
Exuvia of a Dragonfly Naiad
Ed. Note: Thanks to our readership who looked at this more closely than we did when we posted it. Several readers pointed out that this is the exuvia of a Dragonfly Naiad.
Hi Daniel,
Thanks for the reply especially with your busy schedule. I did go through a rather extensive search through the web and found nothing that even closely resembling this insect. I did come across the peanut headed bug but the detailed description does not fit too closely. As per the close up photos I sent to you it almost seems like the head has some sort of jaw almost like a cow skull. Perhaps it is something only found in this region. Am really curious.
¶ Posted 12 November 2010 § ‡ ° Hi again…
I don’t usually shoot bugs (frogs are my primary prey — but dragons and damsels hang around the frog pond and so are fair game). Your “Bug Love” link reminded me that I have two dragon/damsel X-rated photos that might be of interest… although I realize that everyone shoots pictures of these photogenic guys. If there are any pictures in my small dragonfly collection that would be of interest, please feel free to grab them or ask for better resolution. The only question I have … is it surprising to see a red dragonfly mating with a blue one? (It’s the 5th picture down on the page… I’m tempted to give it the politically-flavored title “Red meets Blue”).
The “Damsel fly Valentine” is further down the page … the typical heart-shaped union.
Regards,
Suzanne
Dragon/damsel page is at:
http://frog-shots.com/Dragonflies.html
Whitefaced Meadowhawks Mating
Hi Suzanne,
You did not indicate a location for this photograph, so we are guessing it is also Westford Massachusetts, the location given for your Robin photograph. Many Dragonflies exhibit sexual dimorphism, where the males and females appear quite different, even to the extent that they do not look like the same species. We believe this mating pair are Whtiefaced Meadowhawks, Sympetrum obtrusum. BugGuide has a photo of a mating pair for comparison purposes.
¶ Posted 11 October 2010 § ‡ ° Tagged: bug love Dragonflies mating?
Location: Kansas
October 5, 2010 10:35 pm
I took this picture about a month ago thinking the dragonflies were just pretty. But, as I looked closer it seems like they might be mating? Any ideas?
Signature: Mary
Mating Green Darners
Dear Mary,
Your photo of Green Darners assuming or retaining the mating position is stunning. We cropped it to maintain the reflection in the water even though the Dragonflies appear a bit smaller because of that aesthetic decision. You can read more about Green Darners on bugGuide.
Thanks so much for helping me learn more about dragonflies. I had no idea how they procreated. Very cool that you posted my picture as well. I spent about an hour on your site last night just reading about spiders. So much fun.
Take care,
Mary
3
¶ Posted 06 October 2010 § ‡ ° Tagged: bug love Aquatic insect or larva
Location: Los Angeles, CA
September 23, 2010 8:44 pm
I found this bug hidden in the water under a thick carpet of water lettuce in my pond. It appears to be fully aquatic at this time, but I see four future wings that are probably not all that useful in water.
The pond was visited many times by a red dragonfly. This guy is a bit stubby but I wonder if it’s one if its brood. Surprised it survived (so far) the voracious mosquito fish that live in there.
Thank you!
Signature: Laurentiu
Naiad of a Big Red Skimmer
Dear Laurentiu,
This is certainly a Dragonfly Naiad, and since you saw a red Dragonfly visit your pond, we feel confident identifying your Naiad as that of a Big Red Skimmer, Libellula saturata, based on an excellent drawing by T. Ross that illustrates Charles Hogue’s excellent book Insects of the Los Angeles Basin, a must have for anyone living in Los Angeles. You can buy it at the Museum of Natural History gift store. BugGuide does not recognize the name common name used by Hogue for Libellula saturata and the species is called the Flame Skimmer. In honor of one of the best contemporary insect book authors, we will adhere to Hogue’s terminology.
¶ Posted 24 September 2010 § ‡ ° Please identify this insect!
Location: Ontario, Canada
September 16, 2010 9:37 pm
We took this beautiful photo of what insect?
Signature: bugged-eyed
Ebony Jewelwing
Dear bugged-eyed,
We believe your Damselfly is an Ebony Jewelwing.
¶ Posted 17 September 2010 § ‡ ° Dragonfly
Location: Zimbabwe, Kariba
September 13, 2010 7:55 am
Hi, I saw this dragonfly in Zimbabwe at lake Kariba and would love to know the name.
Signature: Chelsea
Common Tigertail Dragonfly
Hi Chelsea,
We will post your image of a Dragonfly from Zimbabwe in the hopes that our readership will be able to assist in the identification.
Update:
Moments after posting, we received a comment that this is a Common Tigertail. The Greg Lasley Nature Photography website indicates: “The Common Thorntail (Ceratogomphus pictus) is a widespread dragonfly found throughout South Africa. Its range extends northward to the Congo and Zambia.”
”
¶ Posted 13 September 2010 § ‡ ° Eastern Pondhawk?
Location: Western Massachusetts
September 8, 2010 1:39 pm
This big fella (gal?) was having a long sunbath in my garden on a warm August day. It was probably 3” -4” inches long. And look at that ”one-eyed” marking on it’s head – pretty neat! After searching your site and BugGuide, it looks to be an Eastern Pondhawk. Any clarification would be appreciated. Thanks for your tireless efforts.
Signature: Lynn Bee
Green Darner
Hi Lynn,
Your Dragonfly is actually a Green Darner. You can compare your photo to this nearly exact match on bugGuide.
Thanks Daniel,
I guess I should have gone further into BugGuide or “green dragonflies” than I did. Your identification of my green darner is much appreciated. The 35 or more pix I took of that ham have graced my homepage and everything else I could put him/her on for a year….yep, it took that long to get those photos loaded and tagged, lol. Thanks again so very much,
Lynn Bee
¶ Posted 09 September 2010 § ‡ ° 
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