The Usual Suspects
Phenology – “a branch of science concerned with the relationship between climate and periodic biological phenomena (as the migration of birds or the flowering and fruiting of plants).”
The Usual Suspects
When I go out to the pond in mid-summer, I always hope to see something spectacular, such as a great blue heron stalking along the shore picking off young frogs too excited about graduating from tadpole school to be wary of predators. Or perhaps a snapping turtle struggling through the lupine toward the water, like the one I saw about ten years ago. Or maybe an exciting new butterfly or an otter. Though I approach slowly, camera at the ready, I am well aware that there most likely will be no heron, no turtle, no unusual butterfly, and no otter to be seen. But that’s OK, because I am sure to find the usual suspects: the mid-summer dragonflies defending their territories in the openings amid the reeds and patrolling the shoreline along the dam. If you want to impress your 4th of July visitors with your knowledge of dragonflies, keep reading, and you too can speak of “the usual suspects.”
Posers (Corporals and Whitefaces)
Some dragonflies spend all their time flying in and out of the reeds or out over the dam looking for food or a mate. Others may land on a reed or a leaf once in a while, but only stay for a few seconds. However, a few will actually spend a minute or more on their perch, fly off to chase an invader, and then return to the same or a nearby perch. At our pond, chalk-fronted corporals and two species of whitefaces are the most commonly seen and most easily identified.
The male red-waisted whitefaces has a white face, red spots on its thorax between its wings, and a mostly white abdomen. It is 1.4 inches long, and it defends an opening in the reeds, frequently landing on a reed and posing for photographs. (July 23, 2022)
The male chalk-fronted corporal has two stripes at the front of its abdomen and a mostly white abdomen. Superficially similar to the red-waisted whiteface, it has a dark face and, at 1.6 inches, it is larger. (July 9, 2022)
Two other small dragonflies with white faces might also be seen at this time of the year. The frosted whiteface is nearly identical to the red-waisted except that it lacks the red coloring atop its thorax. The dot-tailed whiteface, in addition to its white face, has a dark abdomen with a conspicuous yellow spot, which makes it perhaps the most aptly named of all dragonflies.
A pair of dot-tailed whitfaces forms a wheel. The female touches the tip of her abdomen to a spot on the underside of the male’s thorax where he has placed a dollop of his sperm. (June 19, 2021)
Bright Eyes (Emeralds)
The photo used to introduce this essay depicts a dragonfly with large green eyes hovering over an opening in the reeds, which is a very common sight at our pond. I am proud of this photo, because it is one of the very few in which I have managed to focus (or almost focus) on one of these very common dragonflies as it hovers for a few seconds right in front of me as I sit in one of my favorite seats next to the pond. Its green eyes and clubbed tail readily identify this as one of the many species of “emerald” dragonflies.
If you see a mid-sized dragonfly with bright green eyes and a bulge at the tip of its abdomen, tell you friends “That’s an emerald dragonfly. I love its amazing eyes.” Don’t try to go any further, because the emeralds found in the North Country all look pretty much the same, and they all seem to spend their daylight hours flying in and out, hovering for several seconds, and then flying to another spot. In fact, it was several years before I finally managed to get good enough photos to identify the two species that are commonly seen here in early- to mid-summer.
The Racket-Tailed Emerald, which is 1.6 inches long, has a very large club that is only clearly visible on the rare occasions when it lands. (July 24, 2020)
The American Emerald is larger with a less conspicuous clubtail, but it looks pretty much the same as the racket-tailed when in flight. (July 24, 2022)
A close-up from the side is the best way to distinguish the racket-tailed from the American emerald, because the underside of one of the first segments of its abdomen is yellow. I don’t recommend spending any time trying to get such a photo, but if you do happen upon an emerald that has landed on a leaf, do try to get a photo that will show this spot.
This close-up shows the yellow spot on the underside of the abdomen that is a diagnostic characteristic for the racket-tailed emerald. (July 5, 2017)
Show Offs (Skimmers and Darners)
Now, I like to see any kind of dragonfly, but when I take friends and family out for a walk around the pond, I find that few if any of them are at all interested in the difference between the red-waisted whitefaces and the chalk-fronted corporals, nor do they spend any time trying to get a close-up photo highlighting the perfect yellow circle on the dot-tailed whiteface’s abdomen. What excites them are the large, colorful darners and skimmers.
Everyone knows the green darner, one of the most common, most beautiful, and most easily identified of all North American dragonflies. A quick glimpse of the familiar brilliant green thorax and blue abdomen of a green darner speeding along the shoreline will always be more interesting to them than any details about the life cycle of the corporals. The first green darner first shows up at the pond in May, one or two are flying over the pond on most summer days, and some will still be here at the end of August. The females, which lack the bright colors, show up later in May, and they apparently spend much of their time trying to avoid the continually cruising males. The only times that I see males taking a break from their patrolling are also just about the only times that I see the females, which is when the male is grasping the female by the back of her head as she lays here eggs in the pond.
A male holds a female green darner as she lays her eggs in our pond. She will lay on or two on one side of the reed, then lift her abdomen and drop it down to lay some on the other side. After a minute or two, they may fly off, still united, to another spot. (July 20, 2023)
The 12-spotted skimmer is less common, but even more spectacular. The name comes from the multiplicity of spots on its wings, which create a colorful blur when this dragonfly is in flight. Fortunately, for the casual visitor as well as for the photographer, this skimmer frequently perches on reeds or branches close to the pond. When we first saw one of these, my wife immediately called it the “D-Day dragonfly”, because the colorful patches on its wings match the spots painted on the gliders that landed in Normandy on that fateful day.
A 12-spotted skimmer in its customary perch at the edge of the pond. (July 13, 2019)
If you go to a small pond lined with reeds and wildflowers this month, you will likely see many or all of these “usual suspects.” If you are half as intrigued as I have been with dragonflies, your trip to the pond “could be the beginning of a wonderful friendship” with these delightful creatures!
