Longtime Natick resident and Sudbury Valley Trustees (SVT) member Greg Dysart gave a presentation on dragonfly at SVT’s headquarters in Wayland this past spring.
Dysart is a retired architect, an avid naturalist, an artist and a skilled photographer. For many years, he has been studying and photographing birds, butterflies and dragonflies in Massachusetts.
His talk centered on the many species of dragonflies in our area and their life cycles There are 115 species of dragonflies and 49 damselflies recorded in Massachusetts. In his own yard alone, Dysart has photographed 28 species of dragonflies.
Dragonflies spend most of their lives as aquatic creatures. The larva hatch from eggs and then transform into larger larval stages. These larval stages can take as many as four years. The last adult stage leaves its water world, crawls out of its larval skin and emerges as a land- and air-based breathing adult. The adults will only live for one season. Their life cycle will begin again from this year’s eggs, typically deposited in the waters from which they were born.
To identify dragonflies, some enthusiasts will net and release the insects; however, most dragonfly species may be identified by sight with the aid of binoculars and or few photographs. Dysart warns that netting, especially by amateurs with small nets, may result in unnecessary injury to these insects.
Dragonflies are in the scientific Order named Odonata. The SVT presentation introduced the six families of dragonflies in Massachusetts in the suborder Anisoptera.
Learning about dragonflies is certainly fun. The names alone are beguiling. The six family common names of Massachusetts dragonflies are: Darners, Clubtails, Spiketails, Cruisers, Emeralds and Skimmers.
“As one becomes interested in the numerous creatures that share our world, the importance of allowing all creatures to survive and thrive in their own environs becomes paramount,” Dysart said. “Conservation lands and clean water are critical to our local dragonflies and interestingly, one’s own yard can help lend sanctuary to dragonflies. Learn to avoid pesticides, herbicides and unnecessary disruption of property and see what you can find. Remember, dragonflies don’t bit people and they eat a whole lot of mosquitoes!”
To learn more, Dysart points to an excellent book, A Field Guide to the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts, 2nd Edition (2007) by Blair Nikula et al published by the Natural Heritage & Endangered Species Program (NHESP), part of the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dfg/dfw/natural-heritage/publications-forms/pu...) and to his web page, dysart.zenfolio.com, for dragonfly photos.
Issue Date:
May, 2017
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