November 18th, 2006
ebony jewelwing
While looking through some of my odonate photos, I came across some shots that I meant to post back in the summer. Reckon it’s better late than never, so I’ll post them today.
The image on the left (click on photos for larger view), is the face of a female Ebony Jewelwing damselfly (Calopteryx maculata). Up close, she looks little scary, don’t you think? If she was this large, you might not want to let her sit on your arm, but that’s often the case with insects as most have feeding parts that appear quite frightful.
Viewed at normal range, the Ebony Jewelwing is a splendid creature. The male has an iridescent greenish or bluish body with black wings (see above). The female is usually a darker bronzy-black with black wings and a white pseudostigma on the fronts of the wing tips (see below).
We’ve found a few small creeks where concentrations of these damselflies may be seen if you’re there at the right time. One thing these creeks have in common is that they are clean and rapidly flowing. Males are frequently found flying about with wings whirring, engaging in exciting courtship displays. A couple of summers ago, we came upon a couple of dozen males whirring up and down like miniature helicopters above a small stream beside a footbridge at Mt. Uniacke Estate in Nova Scotia. However, the largest displays we’ve seen were not far from Black Creek on the trail to the McParlan Cabin at Murphy’s Point Provincial Park here in eastern Ontario. We’ve encountered the greatest numbers at that spot around the first week in June for several years. Just another six or so months…and counting.
