Dragonflies and Damselflies

May 16, 2022May 16, 2022

New! Eurasian Baskettail (Epitheca bimaculata)
Also, new Brilliant Emerald (Somatochlora metallica) pictures added.

A long-desired trip to Belgium and adjacent northern France was on my agenda for the past two years but it was postponed both times due to Covid restrictions. This year however I made it! Main goal was the Eurasian Baskettail (Epitheca bimaculata), a rare Corduliid that inhabits lakes with lots of submerged vegetation and fish present. About twenty years ago I last visited the species on the same location but the slides I took back then didn’t age well so the species wasn’t present on my website so far. Well, this is finally fixed now!
As a bonus I was able to photograph another Corduliid, Brilliant Emerald (Somatochlora metallica), during emergence. This species isn’t exactly rare in my area but notoriously hard to photograph as an imago so I was hyped finding this species in the process of emerging.

March 13, 2022March 13, 2022

Two new pages in Dragonflies 101

For most dragonfly lovers in our region, dragonfly season starts around April. That you can see imago’s all year round, even in winter, will be known by now: both Winter Damselflies (Sympecma sp.) do not hibernate as nymphs or eggs, but survive the cold months as imagos. Read all about it in this article: Frozen Damselflies, The exceptional life cycle of Winter Damselflies (Sympecma sp.)

Although true dragonflies (anisoptera) and damselflies (zygoptera) share many characteristics and are often confused, they aren’t exactly the same thing. This article is dedicated to the differences and should be helpful for those who want to know how to tell either imagos or nymphs of the two suborders apart: Dragonfly or damselfly: the differences explained. An illustrated guide to morphological features of both suborders

November 17, 2021May 18, 2022

2021’s big content and usability update
Many new photos and usability improvements

Time for a large update, including lots of new content as well as large improvements in website usability!

Over the past months I’ve added a lot of new pictures to the already large collection. This update was long overdue: the new photos aren’t just from 2021 but 2020 as well. Among the many new additions are:

A large number of new photos of hibernating Winter Damselflies: Common Winter Damselfly (Sympecma fusca) and Siberian Winter Damselfly (Sympecma paedisca);
Several new photos of Migrant Spreadwing (Lestes barbarus), Banded Demoiselle (Calopteryx splendens), Beautiful Demoiselle (Calopteryx virgo), Blue Emperor (Anax imperator), Yellow-spotted Emerald (Somatochlora flavomaculata), Banded Darter (Sympetrum pedemontanum), Yellow-winged Darter (Sympetrum flaveolum) and many more species.

But that’s not all that’s new. A lot of effort was put into making this website more navigation- and search friendly.

Species pages now have secondary titles with Dutch, German and French common names;
Search results now show thumbnail pictures;
A new search option was added to the main menu.
A checklist of all European species was added. This checklist is basically a large searchable table with colums for family, scientific name, European English name (as used in K.D. Dijkstra’s excellent field guide), British and Irish name, Dutch name, German name and French name.

These additions may not look like large improvements but they provide a way better usability, especially for visitors who don’t know all the species by their scientific names.

More usability improvements and some large content updates are in the works. They’re planned for this winter. Enjoy and feel free to contact me if you want to provide feedback on these changes!

Yellow-winged Darter (*Sympetrum flaveolum*)

September 6, 2019January 10, 2022

Greece – several species added

A trip to Greece in July of this year adds several species to this website. The total number of European species shown is now 112.

Species added in this update:

Pyrrhosoma elisabethae, one of the rarest Odonata species of Europe.

August 26, 2019January 10, 2022

Vagrant Emperors, the story continues

Last June, The Netherlands were flooded with large numbers of Vagrant Emperors (Anax ephippiger), a dragonfly species primarily found in Africa and the Middle East. This influx was unique for more than one reason: the number of Vagrant Emperors was higher than all previous sightings combined, ever, and it was the first time we saw a real influx before summer. Mating and oviposition was witnessed on many Dutch locations. Now, in August, we see the results: for the first time in history, Vagrant Emperors emerge in The Netherlands.

Vagrant Emperor (Anax ephippiger), fresh imago — A fresh imago of Vagrant Emperor (Anax ephippiger), recently emerged in The Netherlands

For more pictures of fresh imagos, exuviae and more, follow this link.

June 17, 2019January 10, 2022

Vagrant Emperors everywhere!

Right now The Netherlands are witnessing their largest known influx ever of Vagrant Emperor (Anax ephippiger). Vagrant Emperors are commonly found in Africa and southwest Asia but they are highly migratory and capable of travelling very large distances. There are several records from Iceland and even the Caribbean!

For the last week more Vagrant Emperors have shown up in The Netherlands every day and on many locations more than one individual was found. They show reproductive behaviour including ovipositing. The picture below was taken near the city of Weert in the south of The Netherlands. For more pictures of this stunning and interesting species, click here!

March 20, 2019January 10, 2022

Welcome!

After a couple of weeks of hard work I feel my website is ready for public. While some parts (especially dragonflies 101) are still very much a work in progress, the most important parts are ready: pictures of 35 European species of damselfly and 72 species of dragonflies, a 107 species in total! On top of that I’ve thrown in some tropical species to show more of the diversity of this awesome insect order.

Enjoy!