Fieldtrip report 25 May: dragonflies and damselflies of Papago Park with Justin Jones.
It was fun exploring the 3 old fish hatchery ponds at Papago Park! A nice crowd of 20 adults and 4 kids showed up eager to learn about the differences between dragonflies and damselflies, the dragonfly life-cycle, names of colorful species zipping around or laying eggs on vegetation floating in the ponds. We found a total of 18 species, some small, some big, some colorful and some really cool!
Here is the list: Blue-ringed Dancer (8), Dusky Dancer (7), Rambur’s Forktail (6), Familiar Bluet (35), Common Green Darner (1), Red-tailed Pennant (2), Black Setwing (1), Western Pondhawk (4), Plateau Dragonlet (2), Comanche Skimmer (1) pictured!, Flame Skimmer (2), Straw-colored Sylph (2), Roseate Skimmer (2), Blue Dasher (9), Wandering Glider (3), Mexican Amberwing (5), Black Saddlebags (3), Red Saddlebags (2).
We will organize another dragonfly walk in the fall. Stay tuned!
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