Dragonfly Field Guides

Review of Dragonfly Field Guides

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My summer reading project at the library was to find a good dragonfly field guide, which, as it turns out, was more difficult than I anticipated.  I was disappointed to find initially that our branch library did not have any field guides dedicated solely to dragonflies.  I later learned that the reason for this is that dragonfly-watching is relatively new compared to watching birds or butterflies.  However, as I searched the library’s database, I found that the main library did have about five books.  I requested those and waited patiently for them to arrive through intra-library loan.

Eastern Forktail damselfly

One by one, the books began to arrive.  I have learned so much about these amazing insects and am delighted to pass along my recommendation for one volume in particular.  Wild Guide: Dragonflies by Cynthia Berger was by far my favorite book.  It is filled with amazing full-color illustrations and plenty of information to satisfy the curious mind without being so scientific that the average reader would glaze over from vocabulary overload.   

Wild Guide: Dragonflies

Wild Guide: Dragonflies opens with a chapter describing the basic characteristics of dragonflies and damselflies.  Chapter Two called, “A Year in the Life of a Dragonfly” details the life stages and changes that happen over the full life cycle of the dragonfly.  This is followed by a fascinating explanation of various dragonfly behaviors—the things you may observe dragonflies doing in the wild.  Lastly, there is a short chapter on properly identifying dragonflies followed by a section of species accounts of some of the most common dragonflies in eastern North America.

Each species is pictured in beautiful watercolor illustration with a detailed description of markings, flight times, behaviors and similar species as well as an icon in the corner to demonstrate average size since the paintings are not to scale.

While not a comprehensive guide on our dragonfly species, Wild Guide: Dragonflies is a must-have field guide for those just beginning their journey of knowledge about these fascinating insects. 

I love the eyes on this Ruby Meadowhawk.

Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio

In contrast, Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio has a short section on the life cycles of dragonflies as well as a short chapter on identifying them in the nymph stage.  (I am not that involved to go looking for nymphs at this point.)  The majority of this guide’s pages are dedicated to species identification.  Filled with full-color illustrations, a flight-time graph, a length extremes graph, and a distribution map by county, this is a comprehensive field guide for the Northeast Ohio dragonfly enthusiast.  If a dragonfly has been sighted here in NE Ohio, there is a picture of it in this book.  Consequently, you may find yourself paging through several uncommon species before finding the dragonfly or damselfly that resembles the one you are watching.  It is a very specific and comprehensive guide for a 14-county-wide area, so it may not be as helpful for you if you live elsewhere.

Common Dragonflies & Damselflies of Ohio

The guide that I found most practical for field identification is actually a publication from Ohio’s Division of Wildlife.  It is a full-color booklet with all the features of a full-size field guide, but lightweight enough to tuck in a pocket of your backpack or camera bag.  Common Dragonflies &  Damselflies of Ohio includes species information, distribution maps, and flight period information with at least one full-color photograph of each featured species.  Where the male and female differ significantly, a photo of both sexes is included.  Possibly the best thing about this field guide is that is available as a free download along with several other publications from Ohio’s Division of Wildlife.  To access the free download, simply visit the Wild Resources – Publications page of ODNR’s Division of Wildlife website at www.dnr.state.oh.us.

If you are interested in learning more about dragonflies in your area, I suggest contacting your state’s Department of Natural Resources.  Perhaps they offer similar publications or at the very least, they might have a list of the species in your area.

I was amazed at how many different dragonflies and damselflies I’ve seen in my own backyard this summer.  But I notice that life is often that way.  Once you begin to closely examine something, a whole new dimension of that subject opens up to you.

This female Amberwing is lucky to be alive. Look closely at her forewings, and you’ll see she narrowly escaped the jaws of something.