Thursday 19 May 2011

Odonata (4): Largely Damselflies and Dragonflies, WWT Llanelli

News update ... my sincere thanks to Mark Hipkin (see his Comment below) for his help with identification. I have revised my post accordingly, so please look out for the 'update' signs as you read! 

A familiar sight at this time of year at WWT Llanelli ...
Update: above ... Azure Damselfly (mating pair)
Update: Common Blue Damselfly - female (great camouflage).

I love the detail of the wing ...
Update: above and below - Azure Damselfly ... mating pair


Male Scorpion Fly Panorpa communis
You will see a Scorpion Fly here (if you scroll down).

Large Red Damselfly

Dragonfly detail ... [Update: Four Spotted Chaser]

Update: Four Spotted Chaser ...

,,, coming in to land.

Update: above and below - male Hairy Dragonfly ...


Do take a look at ...
I am a novice when it comes to Odonata identification, so any information on (or correction of!) my ID attempts etc. would be appreciated ...

5 comments:

Randy Emmitt said...

Caroline,

Wow what a splendid collection of odonate photos! I liked the damselfly photos the most, so clean and crisp. Keep up the learning these insects. I know a fair bit about our eastern US odes myself.

Crafty Green Poet said...

what amazing photos, such a lovely selection of damsels and dragons! Not to mention the scorpion fly!

vc41 dragonfly said...

Hi Caroline,

Thanks for the email. I followed your link and it was well worth it. The photos are very good indeed. I can shed some light on the identity of the subjects from the photos
1) Azure Damselfly (mating Pair)
2) Common Blue Damselfly (female)
3&4) Azure Damselfly (mating pair)
5) Scopion Fly
6,7&8) Four-spotted Chaser
9&10) Hairy Dragonfly (male)
The genus can appear quite daunting at first with lots of stuff appearing the same. There is lots of variation in each species also and this can complicate things somewhat. However, as you are able to take very good images of the dargonflies and damselflies it will provide you with a very good means of getting to know the key features. The FSC produce quite cheap identification sheets which can help anyone get started.

Glo said...

What amazingly clear and detailed photos. Thanks for sharing them and for the identification info.

J said...

I great selection of dragon- and damselfly images, Caroline. Must make the effort to get over there myself.