Flight patterns are usually related to hunting style. Other common names may reflect the distinctive flight: skimmers, pondhawks, dashers, gliders, and meadowhawks. Some are named for features of the specialized claspers used by males for copulation: petaltails, spiketails, baskettails, and snaketails. Some are so brilliantly colored that they warrant the names of gems: emeralds, jewelwings, amberwings, and rubyspots. Many popular names are enticement enough to want these living jewels in the garden. Dragonflies are said to eat their weight in mosquitoes, making them garden allies that any twilight gardener can appreciate! Adults are voracious predators, and eat just about any flying insect. Large, compound eyes combine with powerful mandibles to create efficient hunters, both as aquatic larvae (nymphs) and adults. Damselflies are slender, weak fliers, with wings generally held over the top of the body at rest a few, such as forktails (family Ishnurae) and spreadwings (family Lestidae), hold their wings open but not flat.ĭragonflies are ancient insects, having changed little since they flew around the dinosaurs, except in size: fossil dragonflies with wing spans of over two feet have been found-perhaps a bit large for the average garden! Although they have strong, serrated mandibles, dragonflies do not bite people unless roughly handled. Dragonflies (Anisoptera) are heavybodied, large, strong fliers, with wings held flat at rest-the “cargo plane” of the Odonata. Damselflies, their more fragile-appearing relatives, are less frequently found far from home along natural watercourses, but some species may be found in gardens with even small water features. We are fortunate in living close to the Laguna de Santa Rosa, but many dragonflies will fly a long distance from permanent water. Flame skimmer dragonfly ( Libellula saturata) Illustration: Craig Latker That is when we realized that one of the unexpected benefits of our tub, which we had sunk in the perennial border to accommodate a few aquatic plants and provide water for wildlife, would be a delightful new entertainment, easily viewed from our patio. Within minutes of filling the old cast-iron tub with water, we were watching the aerial antics of several cardinal meadowhawk dragonflies as they swooped and darted about the garden.
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