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Aug. 18th, 2004 09:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickI was reading Dragonflies and Damselflies of Massachusetts last night because I was bored and it was on the nightstand. Turns out that was relatively useful reading material -- the American Rubyspot (Hetaerina americana), which I keep thinking we *should* have, locally, for no other reason than that I want to have them, aren't much out and about before August. So, all the not-seeing of them that I did earlier this year was not particularly indicative of them not-being-here. For it to be indicative of them not being here, I'd have to be not-seeing them in August and September. Well, hell. I'd better get started on that, don't you think?
Now, I've never seen them before, but hell, I'd never seen lots of odonates before this year. That doesn't mean a whole lot. I thought Calopteryx Maculata were rare and choice (to snag an overused Wayside Gardens catalog description) until I started checking out some creek-type environments. Turns out the world's crawling with 'em. They're everywhere. (This does not make them less pretty.) Same with Hagenius brevistylus... the damn things are huge. They're huge, black and yellow dragonflies that cruise leisurely up and down the center of a creek, about a foot above the surface. How could I have not-seen these before? But I didn't. So, you know, Rubyspots could be there. They could be there in quantity. The only way to know is to go look.
Now, I've never seen them before, but hell, I'd never seen lots of odonates before this year. That doesn't mean a whole lot. I thought Calopteryx Maculata were rare and choice (to snag an overused Wayside Gardens catalog description) until I started checking out some creek-type environments. Turns out the world's crawling with 'em. They're everywhere. (This does not make them less pretty.) Same with Hagenius brevistylus... the damn things are huge. They're huge, black and yellow dragonflies that cruise leisurely up and down the center of a creek, about a foot above the surface. How could I have not-seen these before? But I didn't. So, you know, Rubyspots could be there. They could be there in quantity. The only way to know is to go look.
