Dragons and Damsels

The last two days have been very cold, and snow has fallen at Sani Pass in the Drakensberg.  Winter is just around the corner!

As summer comes to a close, I suppose the vibrant and abundant insect life will begin to shut up shop.  So in addition to the butterflies featured last week, I though I’d highlight some of the wonderful dragonflies seen over the summer.  Sadly again, there is only a small selection of photos that I would like to pursue and expand on, with a conspicuous lack of Damselflies. In South Africa there are 160 species of Odonata (which include both the Dragon- and Damelflies), so, a long way to go then.

unknown blue, pelham park

stream hawker, queensburgh durban

fitzsimons jewel, mkambati

broadtail scarlet, pelham park

dropwing species, mkambati

My interest peaked back in August last year when Warwick Tarboton contacted me about his planned trip to Mongolia. I found on Warwick’s website a fantastic accumulation of dragonfly photos.  Please please peruse these!  Warwick is an all-round naturalist, and has a depth of knowledge developed from a lifetime of keen attention and sharp senses that only few people possess.  The new Roberts Birds Nests & Eggs is simply spectacular.

To expand on the theme. The New Zealand Bush Giant Dragonfly Uropetala carovei is the largest NZ endemic with a wingspan of 13 cm.

NZ bush giant, kaingaroa forest, 2006

There were also a couple of pretty dragonflies in Mauritius. Through the long standing MWF grapevine, a bit of an entomologist from Mauritius got in touch to help me identify these species, so thanks Andrew Skinner ! (who collected over 900 beetle specimens while working on the Mauritian kestrel project for several years - thats dedication!)

a female Trithemis annulata (Violet Dropwing), black river gorge, nov 2006

Orthetrum brachiale, black river gorge, nov 2006

The ancient ancestors of the order Odonata were the top predators of the Permian and Carboniferous food chain, their apex predator status enabled them to become the largest flying insects ever known, the extinct genus Meganeura, ancestor relatives of dragonflies named, and I love this - Griffinflies, includes Meganeura permiana which had a wingspan of 71 cm!  This appears to exceed the theoretical threshold of size for insects, but may have been possible by higher atmospheric oxygen concentrations and respiratory pumping of the Griffinflies tracheal system. Looking for a picture to show off the magnificence of Meganeura I found the blog of Leandro Sanches Costa, a biologist and sculptor who makes some pretty amazing reconstructions of extinct animals!

reconstructed Meganeura permiana from Leandro's blog