Exception

You know that as soon as I told you how to tell the difference between damselflies and dragonflies based on their wings that there would be a critter that just doesn’t quite fit with either group, right?

There is often an exception to a rule. 

Meet a member of the Spreadwing damselfly family.  I am guessing that this is the Slender Spreadwing, but those with more experience please feel free to correct me.  Spreadwings neither fold their wings over their backs nor hold them down flat.  At rest, they hold their wings opened, only slightly folded back.

If the wing position leaves you wondering, you can also tell by looking at the eyes that this is a damselfly.  Both groups have large eyes, but a damselfly’s eyes are set wide on the sides of its head where a dragonfly’s eyes are set close together, sometimes even touching one another. A dragonfly’s eyes cover both the top and sides of its head. (You can click that link to view the contrast.)

I am finally poring over dragonfly field guides this week.  While it had several books on insects, our little branch library didn’t have any volumes dedicated to solely to dragonflies. So, I had to wait while some came through inter-library loan.  There is one book in particular that I am excited to share with you.  Check back soon for a review.