Book meme

Okay, I've decided to stick with the theme here and go with entomology books. It was a bit easier than I thought.

How many [entomology] books do I own?
Hmm, about 60. Not bad for an ornithologist.

Last [entomology] book purchased.
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-Central United States by John Abbott.

Last [entomology] book I read.
Well, they tend to be reference books, so I don't really read them cover to cover. Last one I referred to was Ed Lam's stunning Damselflies of the Northeast. I use this book so much in the field, it fell apart. I put the pages in sheet protectors and it's in a binder in my car. Another that got the same treatment is The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ohio, edited by Bob Glotzhober and Dave McShaffrey. They are easier to use than the big texts, Needham, Westfall, and May's Dragonflies of North America and Westfall and May's Damselflies of North America, both of which I also own. The last entomology reference book I actually read pretty thoroughly was Corbet's Dragonflies: Behavior and Ecology of Odonata. Yes! How geeky of me! I read it, highlighted it, and was duly inspired! The 1962 version is online. I do have a bunch of butterfly and moth books that I use regularly, too.

The five [entomology] books that influenced you the most.1. and 2. Grassroot Jungles and Near Horizons by Edwin Way Teale. I read all his books early in my writing career; these were wonderful essays on insects and the natural world close at hand. He was one of the last great popular natural history writers, and he greatly influenced that aspect of my writing.
3. and 4. The Golden Guide to Insects and The Golden Guide to Butterflies and Moths. What kid could do without them? The latter is still a great little reference to lepidoptera larvae, although now new field guides are finally coming on the scene.
5. Dragonflies through Binoculars by Sid Dunkle. The first field guide to dragonflies. There wasn't much point in trying to go out and identify them before this book, and look what he inspired!

An unexpected county record

A face only a mother could love. Cyrano Darner, Nasiaeschna pentacantha

Today Stylurus and I sort of planned to head back to Lenawee Co. because so many gomphids are needed. A walk in the shady River Raisin seemed like a good way to spend a super-hot day. But he first wanted to see the Dickcissels (Spiza americana) and Henslow's Sparrows (Ammodramus henslowii) that are on territory at one of Wayne County's large metroparks, Oakwoods. Since I had seen a large darner patrolling the Huron River here the day before, we decided to take a quick look for that, too. All I knew was that it was large, dark, and from the brief look I had of the thorax, green-striped. I assumed it must be a Swamp Darner (Epiaeschna heros), although the habitat wasn't quite right.

At the field where the birds were, dozens of odes, mostly Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) were patrolling the air. At the river, we soon found Unicorn Clubtails, and our big darner friend. Stylurus stood at the end of a short dock, and I stood near the shoreline. After about 10 minutes, he got his chance, swung, and bagged the darner. Redemption (for missing the state first record of Flag-tailed Spinyleg in 2003) was his! We looked at this thing, clearly not a Swamp Darner, and decided it must be a Springtime Darner (Basiaeschna janata), just out of basic ignorance and our limited choice of likely species.

Did we notice the huge schnoz on it? Of course! Did we know Cyrano Darner had this distinctive profile? Yes! Was this so unexpected that we dismissed this species out-of-hand while in-the-hand? Yes, also, at least initially. A quick look at the books confirmed it -- an unexpected county record, of which there are only six specimens in the Michigan Odonata Survey for the state.


Rainbow Bluet, Enallagma antennatum

We went to the nearby pond in the woods, home of the Pronghorn Clubtail described here. Indeed, there were males flying around, but also lots of damsels. This pond is one of the only places in the county, for some reason, that has Variable Dancer (Argia fumipennis); the race here is now known as Violet Dancer (A. f. violacea). As well, there were several of one of my favorite Enallagmas, the Rainbow Bluet. Isn't he a beauty?

It was a fruitful day, cut short by a drenching thunderstorm. Not sure what tomorrow will bring...

Book meme on the entomology theme will be posted soon.

Update

It's been HOT. The weather we never had in July and August 2004 is here now. Odes are popping out all over. I have seen most of the expected species. Today, I had my first Unicorn Clubtail, Arigomphus villosipes, one of the easier gomphids to recognize; the males have those groovy all-yellow cerci.

Clubtails and damsels, oh my

Aurora Damsel (Chromagrion conditum). Click me.

Today Stylurus had to lead a bird walk for an Audubon group in nearby Lenawee County. We like Lenawee Co., it's the closest area to here that feels somewhat rural, and we've enjoyed past ode hunting expeditions to interesting habitats like Ives Road Fen and along the River Raisin.

After the bird trip, we went for a walk along the mill race of the River Raisin at Indian Crossing Trails Park. In a quiet little pond off the trail, I found a number of bluets. Seen from above (uh, above) the ID didn't come to mind, but once I netted one, I saw the pretty yellow patch on the bottom of the thorax and realized I had Aurora Damsel, a new county record. I'm just learning how to use a new camera, so when I found a pair together, I didn't get the whole operation in focus, but you can see the color patterns of both sexes.


Pair of Aurora Damsels getting ready for the wheel of love. Click us.

Along the wood chipped trail next to the mill race we soon flushed a gomphid, which perched up in a tree. It was very teneral, mostly pale yellow. We combined all the segments of both of our nets to try to reach it. Stylurus had the honors, since he's 14 inches taller than I am. Even so it was a stretch, and it took him three tries (each a hearty whack on the limb where the thing was perched, not budging it) before we got it. Crap, another female. Thinking I suddenly knew all about female genitalia plates, I flipped it over. Hmm, the naughty bits looked a little like Gomphus spicatus, but clearly this girl was far too big. Staring at it, I suddenly noticed the long spines on the thighs. "Oh, duh!" I said to my man, "It's a Dromogomphus!" The dark shoulders were just beginning to darken on this fresh individual, clinching the ID as a Black-shouldered Spinylegs, another county record that we'd been after for a couple of years.


Black shoulder, spiny legs = Black-shouldered Spinylegs (Dromogomphus spinosus)! Don't bother clicking me, I'm already low resolution.

Stylurus spotted a stunning blue-spotted, blue-eyed darner patrolling the water. There's only one aeshnid like that around this time of year: Springtime Darner (Basiaeschna janata). We stood on shore waiting for it to come close by, but although it was chasing bits of cottonwood fluff, it really never got within striking distance. This was a "lifer" for me. As we were watching, another small gomphid flew by a few times. Stylurus snagged one when it landed on the trail: a male Lancet Clubtail.

It had been an early morning, so we headed for home. Other species we saw today were Double-striped Bluet (Enallagma basidens), new early record for the state (based on specimen records); Ebony Jewelwing (Calopteryx maculata), Eastern Forktail (Ishnura hastata), Common Baskettail (Epitheca cynosura), and Common Green Darner (Anax junius).

Our favorite retention ponds

We didn't really intend to go out today, the weather was supposed to be lousy. When the sun came out, we decided to go up to the northwestern corner of the county for a brief visit to the retention ponds at a partially developed office complex. There are only a couple of office buildings up, and once all the outlots are filled these little marshy areas will be inundated by parking lot runoff and be ruined. Meanwhile, they are clinging to their character, which must be influenced by some acid water or boggy heritage. Here, in this most unlikely place, we've found boggy species: Eastern Red Damsel (Amphiagrion saucium), Sedge Sprite (Nehalennia irene), Citrine Forktail (Ischnura hastata), and my namesake Elfin Skimmer (Nannothemis bella). All were county records and with the exception of the forktail, all have been found no place else in the county. Today the red damsels were on the wing, even though the basins/marshy spots were fairly dry. We saw the first Dot-tailed Whitefaces (Leucorrhinia intacta), Eastern Pondhawks (Erythemis simplicicollis), and Twelve-spotted Skimmers (Libellula pulchella) of the season, and Eastern Forktails were numerous.