It's Odes Season Again!!
May. 23rd, 2020 02:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickWe've had a wet and cool spring, somewhat less than exciting on the odes front. But today, with a seventy-plus day and sun intermittently... it is odes season once again. So exciting!
The website where I collect my odes data and shit has changed. Now it wants stuff like "All the odes you saw, with vouchers where possible and stuff". This is interesting to me because of the Just A List discussion I had some time ago. I don't have vouchers for "ALL the odes I saw" because sometimes I can't net the damn things, especially if they are big and fast, like the two common green darners I saw at the dock today.
And now it kind of lets you do that. I haven't tried the new website yet for entries, but I'm going to here directly.
First of the year this year, and very glassy, weak flying, fresh-just-today were Dusky and Lancet clubtails. I know they were just-today because I have some experience with them and also I made a specific effort to locate exuviae of which I found 9 for Lancet and 16 for Dusky.
You can tell these two clubtail exuviae apart by naked eyeball if you happen to KNOW that you have both in the pond. Basically, Lancet clubtails are about a 3/4 size clubtail when compared to Dusky and (the other kind we have) Ashy. (Ashy clubtails quite like water that moves, so confounding dusky and ashy is unlikely during eclosing. Dusky are strictly a pond species.)
Here is a picture, showing three Dusky and one Lancet. Can you see the size difference?
This holds true for the actual odes, too. Not only are the Lancet Clubtail larvae 3/4 size, their adult form is also about 3/4 size when compared to Dusky and Ashy adults.
Anyway. Finding both Lancet and Dusky clubtail exuviae is pretty easy. They are right up against the actual liquid edge of the water. Might be on leaves, stick, mud. But they are right there damn near IN the water. If you are looking a foot away from the water, you are too far away. You should be RIGHT UP AGAINST THE WATER, TYPICALLY NOT MORE THAN A HANDSPAN (distance across your palm from index finger to pinky finger) AWAY FROM ACTUAL LIQUID.
This is different from other odes (prince baskettail, for example) that crawls up pretty high on grasses and stuff. Prince baskettails will be about six inches to a foot off the ground, usually clutching a stem of some sort. You don't see them on the ground like the clubtails. They just aren't that close to the water. Not how they roll.
Anyway, I'm off to play with the OC website. So excited.
The website where I collect my odes data and shit has changed. Now it wants stuff like "All the odes you saw, with vouchers where possible and stuff". This is interesting to me because of the Just A List discussion I had some time ago. I don't have vouchers for "ALL the odes I saw" because sometimes I can't net the damn things, especially if they are big and fast, like the two common green darners I saw at the dock today.
And now it kind of lets you do that. I haven't tried the new website yet for entries, but I'm going to here directly.
First of the year this year, and very glassy, weak flying, fresh-just-today were Dusky and Lancet clubtails. I know they were just-today because I have some experience with them and also I made a specific effort to locate exuviae of which I found 9 for Lancet and 16 for Dusky.
You can tell these two clubtail exuviae apart by naked eyeball if you happen to KNOW that you have both in the pond. Basically, Lancet clubtails are about a 3/4 size clubtail when compared to Dusky and (the other kind we have) Ashy. (Ashy clubtails quite like water that moves, so confounding dusky and ashy is unlikely during eclosing. Dusky are strictly a pond species.)
Here is a picture, showing three Dusky and one Lancet. Can you see the size difference?
This holds true for the actual odes, too. Not only are the Lancet Clubtail larvae 3/4 size, their adult form is also about 3/4 size when compared to Dusky and Ashy adults.
Anyway. Finding both Lancet and Dusky clubtail exuviae is pretty easy. They are right up against the actual liquid edge of the water. Might be on leaves, stick, mud. But they are right there damn near IN the water. If you are looking a foot away from the water, you are too far away. You should be RIGHT UP AGAINST THE WATER, TYPICALLY NOT MORE THAN A HANDSPAN (distance across your palm from index finger to pinky finger) AWAY FROM ACTUAL LIQUID.
This is different from other odes (prince baskettail, for example) that crawls up pretty high on grasses and stuff. Prince baskettails will be about six inches to a foot off the ground, usually clutching a stem of some sort. You don't see them on the ground like the clubtails. They just aren't that close to the water. Not how they roll.
Anyway, I'm off to play with the OC website. So excited.
