Dragons and Damsels

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Dragons and Damsels What are they really? Curator Emeritus of Entomology, Dr Rob Cannings The insect order Odonata (Greek for toothed jaws) contains the insects known in English as dragonflies. Two main groups live in BC. True dragonflies have hindwings broader than the forewings. When perched they hold their wings out away from the body. Damselflies are slimmer, often smaller and usually fly more slowly than dragonflies. At rest they usually hold their equal-sized wings together above the body. Western Forktail (Ischnura perparva) male. A common damselfly across southern BC. Photo: RBCM, G. Doerksen Dragonflies are some of the most ancient insects. They are far older than dinosaurs. Fossils of dragonfly ancestors are 300 to 350 million years old. Although they still have many primitive features, dragonflies are wonderfully adapted for their successful life as predators in the air. But, a dragonfly leads a double life – the immature stage, the larva, lives in water, camouflaged and mostly hidden. At this stage, before they can fly, its larva is an eager eater of small aquatic life. When it is time to mature, the larva emerges from the water and transforms into a flying adult. For thousands of years, dragonflies have caused superstitious fear in many people, even though they do not sting or bite humans. Maybe their boldness takes us aback, or their speed startles us. If you’ve never seen one, their strange appearance up close may seem fearsome. The English name dragonfly echoes the feelings these insects sometimes cause – they are the fanciful “devil’s darning needles” that sting venomously or sew up the lips. They are “snake doctors” with the power to bring dead snakes back to life. These legends and folktales are groundless – dragonflies are harmless to people. 1 ! .

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Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) Has an Andromorphic Female, and Another Suggestion to Modify the Terminology of Female Color Polymorphism in Odonata
International Journal of Odonatology 2 (1): 101-103, 1999. © 1999 Backhuys Publishers. 101 ISCHNURA PERPARVA MCLACHLAN (ZYGOPTERA: COENAGRIONIDAE) HAS AN ANDROMORPHIC FEMALE, AND ANOTHER SUGGESTION TO MODIFY THE TERMINOLOGY OF FEMALE COLOR POLYMORPHISM IN ODONATA DENNIS R. PAULSON Slater Museum of Natural History, University of Puget Sound, Tacoma, WA 98416 U.S.A.- Email: [email protected] This paper is dedicated to Philip S. Corbet on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Received 30 June 1998; revised 22 Februari 1999; accepted 22 March 1999 Key words: coloration, damselfly, /schnura perparva, Odonata, polymorphism, Zygoptera Polymorphism in lschnura perparva There is considerable theoretical interest in the polymorphism shown by females of some species ofOdonata (Johnson, 1975 Robertson, 1985 Hinnekint, 1987 Cordero, 1992; Fincke 1994). This polymorphism is especially conspicuous in many species of lschnura, in which it is correlated with other traits (Robinson & Allgeyer 1996). Robinson & Allgeyer (1996) and Westfall & May (1996) listed all 12 North American /schnura species as polymorphic, with the exception of /. demorsa, /. hastata, I. perparva, and /. posita, which were considered monomorphic. However, I recently examined all 235 female /. perparva in my collection and found two andromorphic individuals, along with 16 immature (orange) gynomorphic, 216 mature (pruinose ), and one clearly intermediate between the last two. The andromorphic females were collected in Washington state, from a pond 0.5 mi E Beverly, Grant Co., 5 August 1972, and a lake west of Lower Hampton Lake, Grant Co., 27 July 1973. The andromorphic females, both quite young, differ from my sample of gynomorphic immatures and the detailed description of the female by Kennedy (1915) in three ways, involving both color and pattern.
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Odonata: Coenagrionidae)
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