Farmscape Ecology Program

a Hawthorne Valley Association Program

Dragonflies and Damselflies (Odonates) of Columbia County

by Otter Vispo

 

Here is a rudimentary guide to some of the dragonflies and damselflies of our county. It is neither entirely comprehensive nor particularly detailed, but hopefully it at least gives an idea about what you could expect to find when wandering your neighborhood. Click on each group’s name or photo to access its page and see species photos and accounts.

Clubtails

 

Cruisers

 

Damselflies

 

Darners

 

Emeralds

 

 

Jewelwings

 

Skimmers

 

Spiketails

 

Spreadwings

Here are a pair of downloadable posters containing much of the information in our on-line guide (this is a large-format, 2-page pdf, see below for thumbnails).

 

Here’s a basic dragonfly slideshow (in pdf format), it profiles some of the odonates associated with different Columbia County habitats.

Those interested in dull tabular details can check-out our county list. (Hey, it’s exciting reading if you’re into dragonflies – more than 100 species complete with habitat color coding!)

 

Suggested Reading

Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East by Dennis Paulson.

The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Algonquin Provincial Park and the Surrounding Area by Colin Jones, Andrea Kingsley, Peter Burke and Matt Holder.

Damselflies of the Northeast by Ed Lam.

A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts by Blair Nikula, Jennifer Loose, and Matthew Burne

Distribution and Status of the Odonates of New York by Erin White, Jeff Corser, and Matt Schlesinger.