365 Urban Species. #204: Blue Dasher

[urbpan]

Photo by cottonmanifesto Location: Muddy River, near Longwood Station.

Urban species # 204: Blue dasher Pachydiplax longipennis

Dragonflies exist with a very curious mixed public image. Happily, the great majority of enlightened people recognize them as important predators, waging an aerial assault on the mosquito hordes that plague us. A significant minority of people are still alarmed by their appearance, mistaking them for stinging wasps or worse. Dragonflies are unable, as well as disinclined, to attack humans. They do not suck blood but instead catch whole prey in midair. Their young are even more misunderstood. Covered with muck, wingless and drab, a dragonfly nymph is a frightening ogre. Yet in its element, it's as important as its adult form, if not more so. Dragonfly larvae are the prey of sunfish, frogs, turtles. and herons. In this way they form an important link between the smallest and largest animals in an urban pond environment.


The blue dasher is a common, medium-sized dragonfly, found throughout most of populated North America. Any still water, from a canal, to a pond, to any number of industrial sites, can harbor enough prey to sustain some amount of dragonflies. Their pale blue body color and huge, shining green eyes make the blue dashers an exciting species to encounter. Hobbyists, similar to (and often drawn from the ranks of) birders, perch on the banks of marsh water, binoculars in hand, watching the territorial behaviors of these attractive insects. Conservation organizations have begun including "odonates" (dragonflies and damselflies) as a top taxonomic group in their biodiversity surveys.

Comments

[badnoodles.livejournal.com]

You're missing a < to close the italics on /i>, so the whole post comes out italic.

One of the amusing things about dragon/damselfly nymphs is that the action by which they capture food is called the "gin trap reflex".

[octogirlie.livejournal.com]

longipennis

That can't possibly mean what it looks like, right?

[almeda.livejournal.com]

Long-winged, yes. :->

We always used to call this species of dragonfly 'Sikorskies' when I was a kid. Mainly because of their resemblance to the medical bot/mascot of the Marvel space-based superteam The Starjammers.

[hummingwolf.livejournal.com]

Anytime I went swimming with friends in Virginia, somebody would yell "dragonfly!" and we were all expected to dive underwater to keep from being attacked by the evil dragon. I am happy to know that that exercise was indeed as silly as I always thought it was, 'cos dragonflies are nifty.

[droserary.livejournal.com]

Beautiful photo, cottonmanifesto!

[cottonmanifesto.livejournal.com]

thanks!

[http://users.livejournal.com/purplebunnie_/]

People are afraid of dragonflys? That's just silly.

[octogirlie.livejournal.com]

Thanks. =)