Dragons and Darners and Damsels, Oh My!

July 2013

The warm sun is setting over the pond, and it seems like a nice time for your first flight of the day. As a mosquito, you aren’t exactly going to win any popularity contests, but hey, it’s a living. Off you go in search of a tasty treat, hopefully from one of those large creatures wearing floppy hats you see floating on the water in their brightly colored plastic things. Yes, the one on the left will do just fine…

Just as you’re about to land and begin dining, you are hit by a massive impact. Before you can figure out what’s happening, you’re traveling at 30 mph, a speed no mosquito is capable of. You wriggle as hard as you can to escape, but it’s no use: this thing has legs that cup you in place, and each leg has a heavy armor of spines. The last sight you see are those eyes, huge and brown and there seem to be hundreds of them and you are not going to be around for another flight…

You have just become dinner for the Umber Shadowdragon.

While the emotive embellishments by this author have no basis in science, the rest of the scene above plays out hundreds of times a day in Rhode Island’s ponds and rivers, according to biologist Virginia “Ginger” Brown. Speaking at a recent event at the Wood Pawcatuck Watershed Association (WPWA), Brown has been studying animals like the Umber Shadowdragon for over 33 years.

The Umber Shadowdragon is just one of 137 species of dragonflies and damselflies found in Rhode Island. Brown knows this well, because she spent a decade heading a group of scientists and volunteers whose task it was to catalogue every variety in the state. The group paddled, waded, and marched through tens of thousands of acres of land and water. In spite of the daunting nature of the task, or perhaps because of it, Ginger Brown evinces enthusiasm for these ancient creatures.

“I used to be a bird watcher, then a butterfly follower,” she says, “until I discovered dragonflies and damselflies. This is the REAL stuff!”

Dragonflies and damselflies (damselfly is not a name for a female dragonfly; they are two different species) have been around for roughly 260 million years, according to Brown. Back then, they grew to the size of a crow, but today the largest has a wingspan of about four inches. Dragonfly wings are perpendicular to the body, a characteristic that distinguishes it from damsels, most of which perch with their wings folded. The wings sport veins, which give the structure a wrinkled look when viewed closely, and in turn aid with flight. In addition to forward motion, they can fly backwards, sideways, even upside down, all of which makes capturing a challenge, according to Brown.

With some exceptions, dragons and damsels live for about a year, with as much as ten months of that time spent under water as a larva. During that time, they feed on other insects, and even on tiny fish. Despite a name like a “darner” (named for a sewing needle), these animals do not sting. Brown says they have given her a small bite on rare occasions when she has accidentally mishandled them, but otherwise they are completely harmless – to humans, that is. For mosquitoes, not so much.

When it comes to identifying these insects, any science student knows they should be properly identified by their Latin name. This is done in order to avoid confusion with regional names. (Consider the fish people love to catch and eat at this time of year: in New England, most people know it as striped bass, but in Delaware, it’s known as a rockfish. And those treats eaten on the half shell are known locally as quahogs, but most everyone else knows them as hard shell clams.) However, one may be forgiven for choosing to use the common names for dragons and damsels, because they are possibly the most colorfully named group of animals known. In addition to the Shadowdragon, these animals sport names like Ringed Boghaunter, Sparkling Jewel Wing, Zebra Club Tail, and Meadowhawk, to name just a few. Not scientific, perhaps, but as whimsical as it gets.

The lecture ends and, after a demonstration in dragonfly capture techniques, it’s time to venture onto the Wood. The Wood Pawcatuck Watershed accounts for the greatest level of health and biodiversity of any watershed in the state. Brown says that dragons and damsels are good indicators of the health of a body of water, and the Wood has a wide assortment of them as a result of its health.

Almost immediately, Brown captures the first dragonfly: a Sparkling Jewel Wing. It is about two inches long, and its body does sparkle like an emerald. Surprisingly, Brown holds the fly by its wings to show the group. Unlike butterflies or moths, dragons and damsels may be handled this way for identification without damaging the wings. Once the group has a chance to see it, Brown releases the Jewel Wing, which flies away none the worse for wear.

Overcast skies mean that there may not be the full variety of creatures normally present on the river; Brown says that they’re cold blooded, and many varieties, especially the larger ones, prefer the warmth of the full sun before they take flight. Smaller species are prevalent, however, and there is no shortage of captures and identifications. Brown also points out what appears to be a dried husk of an insect on vegetation rising from the water. Called an “exuvia”, this is the exoskeleton of the nymph stage of a dragonfly.

After the larva has developed underwater for months, it crawls out onto some type of above-water vegetation. The husk splits, and the newly formed dragon or damsel emerges.

At first the newcomer, known as a “teneral adult”, is pale and seems to lack the solid structure of the mature dragon. After a short time spent in the air and sun, the more visible veins of the wings will materialize, the body will gain its color and shape, and it will begin its final stage of life, perhaps much to the dismay of mosquitoes.

Ginger Brown displayed a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson that captures the process well. It is a work of literary art that captures a work of visual, natural art:

The Dragon-fly
By Alfred Lord Tennyson

Today I saw the dragon-fly
Come from the wells where he did lie.
An inner impulse rent the veil
Of his old husk: from head to tail
Came out clear plates of sapphire mail.
He dried his wings: like gauze they grew;
Thro’ crofts and pastures wet with dew
A living flash of light he flew.