Dragonfly Pictures

Dragonflies: Libellulidae Four-spotted Pennant Red-tailed Pennant Double-ringed Pennant Scarlet Skimmer Black Setwing Eastern Pondhawk Great Pondhawk Pin-tailed Pondhawk Western Pondhawk Band-winged Dragonlet Little Blue Dragonlet Seaside Dragonlet Chalk-fronted Corporal Dot-tailed Whiteface Hudsonian Whiteface Red-waisted Whiteface Four-spotted Skimmer Eight-spotted Skimmer Flame Skimmer Great Blue Skimmer Twelve-spotted Skimmer Widow Skimmer Marl Pennant Thornbush Dasher Roseate Skimmer Blue Dasher Red Rock Skimmer Amberwing Eastern Amberwing Common Whitetail Cardinal Meadowhawk Striped Meadowhawk Variegated Meadowhawk Western Meadowhawk White-faced Meadowhawk Black Saddlebags Carolina Saddlebags Red Saddlebags Dragonflies: Darners Blue-eyed Darner California Darner Comet Darner Common Green Darner Paddle-tailed Darner Phantom Darner Shadow Darner Twilight Darner Variable Darner Dragonflies: Clubtails Grappletail Great Basin Snaketail Pacific Clubtail Pale Snaketail Two-striped Forceptail Dragonflies: Emeralds Beaverpond Baskettail Dragonflies: Petaltails Black Petaltail Dragonflies: Spiketails Pacific Spiketail Damselflies Broad-winged Damselflies River Jewelwing Narrow-winged Damselflies Citrine Forktail Fragile Forktail Pacific Forktail Rambur's Forktail Western Forktail Blue-ringed Dancer Emmas's Dancer Variable Dancer Vivid Dancer Familiar Bluet Northern Bluet Purple Bluet Tule Bluet Western Red Damselfly Spreadwing Damselflies Black Spreadwing California Spreadwing Emerald Spreadwing

Dragonflies and Damselflies are members of the insect order named Odonata.

The greek root of Odonata means tooth, and many people think of them as insects that bite rather than sting.

Dragonflies do in fact bite, however, it's limited to biting other insects for food, rather than biting people.

Because they eat insects, dragonflies are classified as beneficial insects.

They are also popular insects that are sometimes difficult to identify.

The articles:

• Types of Dragonflies
• Dragonfly Facts
• Dragonfly Metamorphosis
• Dragonfly Photography Tips

provide more general background on dragonflies and dragonfly identification.

Worldwide, some sixty-five hundred species have been identified, divided into about six hundred genera.

About four hundred and fifty Odonata species, divided into eleven different genera are native North American species.

With well over two-hundred different odonata (dragonfly and damselfly) species, Texas can claim the title of dragonfly capital of the United States.

Only one, the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly, located in the Upper Midwest, is listed as an endangered species.

The pictures in this album represent a variety of dragonfly and damselfly species. To help with identification, pictures of males and females of each species are shown when possible.

The species are also presented and arranged according to their dragonfly family.

The three dozen plus listed Libellulidae species, which constitute the bulk of presented dragonflies, can be explained by two facts.

First, Libellulidae are the largest dragonfly family (in terms of number of species) in the United States.

Second, Libellulidae are also camera friendly dragonflies. Most species tend to perch on branches, making them easy to photograph.

The thirty plus darner species fit on the other end of the camera friendly scale.

They are very difficult to photograph because of their tendency to fly, rather than perch, throughout the day.

Damselflies, listed separately at the bottom of the page are almost always smaller than the dragonflies. Their diminutive size means a good macro lens is necessary for good quality photographs.

School students may use these pictures for reports provided they also use the copyright. No further permission is needed.

© 2008-2009 Patricia A. Michaels