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Damsels and Dragons, a photo diary [1]

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Date: 2022-07-14  

Dragonflies spread their wings and look like an airplane, minus the props.

I seemed to want to catch them with this expression. I’m not sure what’s happening here. I think it has opened its mouth and that’s the odd thing in its face. I have pictures where “now you see it, now you don’t” so I know it isn’t a static expression.

We think of purple martins as good consumers of lots of mosquitoes, but actually mosquitoes make up a very small portion of their diet. Primarily, they eat dragonflies. Other birds that eat dragonflies are bluebirds and swallows.

Don’t feel sorry for these insects, though. Where butterflies and moths and skippers eat nectar from the flowers, dragonflies and damselflies eat other insects, including butterflies.

First, a notice. This diary contains pictures of insects, so if you are phobic, you can choose not to read further. There is nothing gross happening in the pictures; they are all just sitting still and posing nicely. Regrets and apologies to those who were expecting the pretty artwork of Michelewln. In my last Street Prophets diary, I identified the different butterflies and moths. People seem to ask all the time, “What kind is that?” Not so much with these insects. Although I find them to be as pretty as butterflies, people usually just use the generic “dragonfly” and feel that’s enough identification. So there are a lot of pictures and information but not much on the individual species.

Dragonflies spread their wings and look like an airplane, minus the props.

I seemed to want to catch them with this expression. I’m not sure what’s happening here. I think it has opened its mouth and that’s the odd thing in its face. I have pictures where “now you see it, now you don’t” so I know it isn’t a static expression.

We think of purple martins as good consumers of lots of mosquitoes, but actually mosquitoes make up a very small portion of their diet. Primarily, they eat dragonflies. Other birds that eat dragonflies are bluebirds and swallows.

Don’t feel sorry for these insects, though. Where butterflies and moths and skippers eat nectar from the flowers, dragonflies and damselflies eat other insects, including butterflies.

Dragonflies hold their bodies parallel to the stem or surface they are resting on.

When my grandson was very young, he wanted to help. That meant he wanted to help random people in the park who misidentified damselflies as dragonflies. He understands now that it isn’t necessary to be that “helpful.” But I can share this with you. Dragons, of course, are robust. So are the bodies of dragonflies. They hold their wings out and look like an airplane. Damsels, even when not in distress, are generally smaller than dragons. Damselflies have bodies that are about as thin as a cat’s whisker. And they hold their wings in the “praying hands” way.

Damselflies often hold their bodies out when at rest.

And more dragonflies.

The male and female of some species might not look at all alike. This blue male is the same species as the green female below but is much smaller. He has that mouth-open thing happening, too.

The thread is now open.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/14/2109768/-Damsels-and-Dragons-a-photo-diary

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