Dragonfly Days Are Here

A Collection

Female Neon Skimmer Dragonfly — Neon Skimmer (*Libellula croceipennis*), female

“It probably won’t be long after you start observing odonates that you will want to photograph them.” —John Abbott, author of Dragonflies of Texas

Betsy Cross

As temps go up and peak bird watching season starts to wind down, don’t put those binoculars away just yet. Instead, consider focusing your binos and cameras on a smaller flyer, and think about taking up a companion hobby this summer—dragonfly watching.

Dragonfly Watcher

In October 2018, we published Hays County Master Naturalist Eva Frost’s Dragonflies on the Fly (republished here in September, 2022). I was inspired by the beauty of Eva’s photographs and intrigued by the science she shared. So during a June visit to Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in 2019, I hung out by a water feature and watched the dragonflies and damselflies—both are in the order Odonata. They were colorful, sassy, mesmerizing.

In Dragonflies of Texas - A Field Guide, Dr. John Abbott says, “It probably won’t be long after you start observing odonates that you will want to photograph them.” Sure enough. Now, as I walk the trails, rivers, and creeks in Hays County, I can’t resist the urge to chase a dragonfly around for its picture. Abbott also suggests that most dragonflies should be identifiable with binoculars. But as a new dragonfly watcher, I prefer to photograph them so I can study their identifying characteristics on the big screen at my desk. I’ve begun to drop my photos into a folder on my computer called “Dragonfly Collection.”

Male Widow Skimmer Dragonfly — Widow Skimmer (*Libellula luctuosa*), male
Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, Austin, Texas, June 15

There are 160 species of dragonflies in Texas, almost half of the 327 known species in North America. Abbott’s field guide groups them by family, with color-coded pages for each family and a 2-page layout for each species within the family—photos of males, juveniles, and females on the left, and species’ range, full page summaries, seasonality, and other details on the right.

In addition to Abbott’s field guide, I have relied heavily on assistance from Eva Frost and iNaturalist to help ID the photos in this collection.

There are seven families of dragonflies in Texas: (1) Petaltails, (2) Darners, (3) Clubtails, (4) Spiketails, (5) Cruisers, (6) Emeralds, and (7) Skimmers.

Skimmers make up the largest family of dragonflies, with over 100 species in North America. Abbott indicates that Skimmers are among the most common and conspicuous visitors to ponds and lakes. As it turns out, every species pictured in this collection falls into the Skimmer family.

Swift Setwing Dragonfly — Swift Setwing (*Dythemis velox*)
Jacob’s Well Natural Area, June 12

I find that some dragonflies are common in the uplands on the Jacob’s Well property in Wimberley, Texas, and on rare occasions even in my own backyard.

Female Widow Skimmer Dragonfly — Widow Skimmer (*Libellula luctuosa*), female
Jacob’s Well Natural Area, May 10

Male Common Whitetail Dragonfly — Common Whitetail (*Plathemis lydia*), male
Jacob’s Well Natural Area, June 13

…But eventually, all dragonflies “must find a body of water where they can find a mate and females can lay their eggs. Some species require specialized habitats, such as unpolluted springs and streams, while others can breed in a wide range of habitats. Some species require certain types of plants to be in abundance. Others have narrow tolerances for acidity, alkalinity, and dissolved oxygen.”

Jacob's Well Natural Areas attract some dragonflies and damselflies — Some dragonflies and damselflies are attracted to the springs and small water holes along the dry creek bed at Jacob’s Well Natural Area.

Male Great Blue Skimmer Dragonfly — Great Blue Skimmer (*Libellula vibrans*), male
Jacob’s Well Natural Area, July 14

Male Roseate Skimmer Dragonfly — Roseate Skimmer (*Orthemis discolor*), male
Jacob’s Well Natural Area, June 25

Male Neon Skimmer — Neon Skimmer (*Libellula croceipennis*), male
Jacob’s Well Natural Area, July 14

Other dragonflies tend to hang out in the Ashe juniper thickets and other wooded areas or patrolling over grasslands. What attracts them to these different eco-regions? Abbott tells us, “In general, there are many more males at a given body of water than females. This is because, in most species, females come to the water only to mate or lay eggs, while males congregate there, waiting for females.”

The next three photographs, each taken in wooded areas away from bodies of water, do seem to confirm this to be the case, as they are all females.

Female Wandering Glider Dragonfly — Wandering Glider (*Pantala flavescens*), female
Jacob’s Well Natural Area, North 40 Trail, May 4

Female Checkered Setwing Dragonfly — Checkered Setwing (*Dythemis fugax*), female
Jacob’s Well Natural Area, North 40 Trail, June 11

Female Red Saddlebags Dragonfly — Red Saddlebags (*Tramea onusta*), female
Purgatory Creek Natural Area, San Marcos, TX, May 31

“Dragonflies are a natural in summer if you want to photograph something beautiful.” —David Byer

Finally, the cool blues and greens found along slow moving creeks and lakes of Central Texas in late summer are bound to please your senses.

Male Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly — Eastern Pondhawk (*Erythemis simplicicollis*), male
Spring Lake, San Marcos, TX, August 31

Male and Female Eastern Pondhawk Dragonflies — Eastern Pondhawks (*Erythemis simplicicollis*) mating; male clasping the female’s head
Crescent Bend Nature Park, Cibilo Creek, September 1

The study of odonates is a fairly young field compared to other scientific pursuits. John Abbott indicates that the year 2000 was a pivotal year in the world of dragonfly and damselfly field guides in North America north of Mexico. The late Greg Lasley of Dripping Springs, Texas, who was a world class birder and nature photographer, shifted his focus and photography from birds to dragonflies and damselflies in 2000 as well. In his iNaturalist profile, he cheerfully admits to moving over to the “dark side” and refers to himself as a “Birder Gone Bad.”

Russell Roe reported in his April 2021 article An Eye for the Dragonfly for Texas Parks and Wildlife, that more and more people are joining the ranks of “dragonflyers” and that new state species are still being discovered. John Abbott tells Roe that “Texas is the best state in the U.S. to watch dragonflies and damselflies, and ‘hands down’ Texas has more species than any other state.”

I’m new to dragonfly watching, and with only 13 species under my belt, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do. If you haven’t found your way to becoming a dragonfly watcher yet, perhaps you might think about coming along on this ride too!

Dragonfly Watcher

Damselfly Collection—Just for Starters

About the Cover…

Appreciating Native Grasslands