Wednesday, June 10, 2015

A visit with an Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly

We recently had a visitor at the water feature in our courtyard and, at first glance, I thought it was a butterfly. But upon closer inspection, I saw that it was a brightly-colored creature that resembled a dragonfly. 

I grabbed my cameras and took about 500 shots of the little guy, who was fluttering in the shade amongst our azaleas. As I watched him through the lens of my camera, I became more and more curious about what kind of insect he was, and thanks to Google images and this website ( http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreek…/ecology/ebony_jewelwing.htm), I discovered that he is an Ebony Jewelwing Damselfly.

Damselflies are closely related to dragonflies and they look very much alike. The easiest way to tell dragonflies and damselflies apart is to look at the wings. Dragonfly wings stick straight out from the body when the dragonfly is resting. Damselfly wings usually fold back above the body.

I determined that ours is a male because, according to the article about Jewelwings, male Jewelwings are larger and have a big black head, green body, and black wings. Females also have black wings, but they have a lighter colored body. They also have a white spot on their wings.

Out of close to 500 pictures, I managed to find a few I think are worthy of sharing. The next time you are in a shady spot in your yard, you might be surprised to find that you have a damselfly, too!


Source:   http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/ebony_jewelwing.htm

4 comments:

Stacey said...

Stunning!

Pat said...

Wow Janie,

You managed to get some amazing shots of this little creature. Loved them!

Pat in Tallahassee

Leslie Anne Tarabella said...

My Mother told me she's always thought damselflies were scary and bad looking. I think they are beautiful, especially from your photos!

RachelD said...

Such a lovely creature, so fleeting and swiftly gone.

Your capturing of her beauty and grace is for always, and such a treasure.


Thank you for your sweet words about the wisteria poem---it just poured off onto the page, way past midnight, and there it was.

Always so wonderful to hear from you, and your "little ones" are getting so grown-up now. We just watch them fly like those calendar leaves in the movies of our youth, fluttering away in the breeze, free and beautiful.

love and, r