By John Reaume
On August 2, 2025 this was our clubs 16th annual outing to look for dragonflies and damselflies. This year we returned to the Kinghurst Nature Reserve. There were seven of us in total armed with our nets, binoculars and magnifier loupes to get close and personal with these incredible predators.
We had a perfect day with sun and warm conditions which was perfect for these “solar” powered insects. In total we saw 13 different species. Many could be appreciated from a distance and others were captured for closer inspection. Of course we released everything we captured.
We observed 3 different species of damselflies:
- Hagen’s Bluet
- Fragile Forktail
- Eastern Forktail
For dragonflies we discovered 10 species:
- Eastern Pondhawk
- Calico Pennant
- Halloween Pennant
- Frosted Whiteface
- White-faced Meadowhawk
- Cherry-faced/Ruby Meadowhawk
- Saffron-winged Meadowhawk
- Autumn Meadowhawk
- Twelve-spotted Skimmer
- Widow Skimmer
(Note during our pre-scouting trip we also has a Racket-tailed Emerald)
We had opportunities to see examples of the larvae of both dragonflies and damselflies and were able to review their life histories we talked about their lifespans, hunting habits and mating rituals.
A few interesting facts include that they are able to beat each of their wings independently their flap rate is relatively slow however compared to other insects and hence they do not create a buzz or other sound. Despite this they are incredibly agile allowing them to fly forwards, backwards and even to hover. Remarkably they are amongst the fastest flying insects on the planet with some species achieving speeds greater than 55 km/hr!
There is always something new to learn about these amazing creatures. Be sure to join on us on our next dragon hunt!
