Dragonflies Damselflies
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Hunters on the Wing Loudoun Wildlife & Walk along a marsh or pond and you will likely Dragonflies see dragonflies and damselflies, also known as Conservancy odonates, darting out to catch a fly or patrolling Damselflies their territory. With their complex eyes, they are of Loudoun County able to detect the slightest movement. Because of People and Wildlife this, these predators are terrific hunters that con - sume huge numbers of insects that we consider Thrive Together Checklist pests. Dragonflies and damselflies spend the majority of Loudoun Wildlife Conservancy their lives –months or even years –living underwater inspires, motivates and engages people to in their egg and larval (nymph) stages, eating protect, preserve and restore wildlife habitat aquatic insects such as mosquito larvae as well as in Loudoun County, Virginia. We offer other creatures such as tadpoles. With their final educational programs and field trips, metamorphosis, they climb from the water to a stick citizen-science opportunities, habitat or rock and emerge as the aerial adults with which restoration projects, and we are familiar. As adults, most odonates live for 4 conservation advocacy. to 6 weeks, and while a few species migrate south in the winter, most die at the end of the season. Membership with benefits available Meanwhile their eggs and larvae live on in ponds for a donation of $25 or more. and streams. Their future is tied to the health and abundance of our watery habitats. By keeping streams and waterways free of pollutants and by minimizing the use of herbicides, fertilizers and pes - ticides that find their way into our waters, we can help protect the breeding and hunting grounds of these amazing creatures. However, this is only part of the solution. Wetlands themselves need to be protected. At present, the majority of the wetlands in Loudoun County have not been delineated, and the buffers and other land management practices required for wetlands protection are not in place. All of us need to play a role in saving dragonflies, www.loudounwildlife.org damselflies and other wetland animals by protecting P.O. Box 1892 their habitats in our own yards and by encouraging Leesburg, VA 20177 our local government to do the same for the county. Special thanks to Andy Rabin, Kevin Munroe, Larry Meade, Join us for our dragonfly and damselfly and Marc Sagan for providing the majority of the dragonfly flight patterns for this publication. Other sources include Ab - walks throughout the summer months. bott, J.C. 2006. OdonataCentral: An online resource for the See our website for schedule. Odonata of North America. Austin, Texas. Available at Loudoun Wildlife www.odonatacentral.com. (Accessed: January 16, 2017) www.loudounwildlife.org Cover photo by Nicole Hamilton: Calico Pennant. Publication: Version 3, March 2017. Flight and species data Conservancy current as of 1/16/2017. www.loudounwildlife.org Checklist of Dragonflies & Damselflies of Loudoun County Notes: DRAGONFLIES Spring Summer Fall Spring Summer Fall DARNERS MAM J J A S ON SKIMMERS, continued MAM J J A S ON _____________________________________ ____ Shadow Darner l ____ Common Whitetail ll lll ll ____ Common Green Darner ll lll ll ____ Needham’s Skimmer ll _____________________________________ ____ Comet Darner ll ____ Twelve-spotted Skimmer lllll ____ Springtime Darner ll ____ Painted Skimmer lll ____ Fawn Darner ll ____ Great Blue Skimmer lll l _____________________________________ ____ Swamp Darner lll ____ Blue Dasher lll l ____ Taper-tailed Darner l ____ Wandering Glider lll l _____________________________________ ____ Spot-winged Glider llll CLUBTAILS MAM J J A S ON ____ Eastern Amberwing lll ll ____ Unicorn Clubtail l ____ Blue-faced Meadowhawk _____________________________________ ____ Black-shouldered Spinyleg lll l ____ Ruby Meadowhawk l ____ Eastern Ringtail lll ____ Band-winged Meadowhawk ll ____ Lancet Clubtail l _____________________________________ ____ Autumn Meadowhawk lll lll ____ Ashy Clubtail l ____ Carolina Saddlebags ll ____ Spine-crowned Clubtail l ____ Black Saddlebags lllll _____________________________________ ____ Cobra Clubtail lll ____ Red Saddlebags l ____ Dragonhunter lll l ____ St. Croix Snaketail l _____________________________________ DAMSELFLIES ____ Common Sanddragon ll BROAD-WINGED DAMSELS MAM J J A S ON ____ Russet-tipped Clubtail ll l ____ Ebony Jewelwing lll _____________________________________ ____ Elusive Clubtail ____ American Rubyspot llllll ____ Arrow Clubtail l SPREADWINGS MAM J J A S ON _____________________________________ SPIKETAILS MAM J J A S ON ____ Slender Spreadwing ll ____ Brown Spiketail l ____ Swamp Spreadwing l ____ Arrowhead Spiketail l _____________________________________ ____ Southern Spreadwing l CRUISERS MAM J J A S ON POND DAMSELS MAM J J A S ON ll _____________________________________ ____ Stream Cruiser l ____ Eastern Red Damsel ll l ____ Swift River Cruiser llllll ____ Blue-fronted Dancer MAM J J A S ON lll l EMERALDS ____ Variable Dancer _____________________________________ l llllll ____ American Emerald ____ Powdered Dancer ll l ll l ____ Common Baskettail ____ Blue-ringed Dancer _____________________________________ lll ll ____ Prince Baskettail ____ Blue-tipped Dancer l ll ____ Umber Shadowdragon ____ Dusky Dancer ll lll ____ Mocha Emerald ____ Azure Bluet _____________________________________ lll l SKIMMERS MAM J J A S ON ____ Double-striped Bluet lll ll lll l ____ Familiar Bluet ____ Calico Pennant _____________________________________ llll lll ____ Stream Bluet ____ Halloween Pennant lll l ____ Skimming Bluet ____ Banded Pennant lll _____________________________________ llllll ____ Orange Bluet ____ Common Pondhawk ll lll ____ Slender Bluet ____ Spangled Skimmer lllll ____ Blue Corporal l ____ Citrine Forktail Note: This checklist is in its third edition. We plan to update it ____ Fragile Forktail ll lll l ____ Bar-winged Skimmer l as more data on species and flight periods is gathered. Help ____ Eastern Forktail ll lll l ____ Slaty Skimmer lll document more of our local species. Please send sightings and ____ Sphagnum Sprite l photographs to [email protected]. ____ Widow Skimmer lll l ____ Sedge Sprite l.