Early Damselfly

A lot happened in twenty-four hours. Bellwort and buttercup bloomed. The first damselfly of the year emerged.

I noticed Andrena bees flying around the Bellwort and saw one bee crawl into one of the long, yellow flowers. Photographing the Small-flowered Buttercup, I noticed a small ant rummaging around the flower. This little ant looks to be an Acorn Ant. Some of the species nest in acorns, hence the name. Over the years, I've checked hundreds of acorns hoping to find these ants, and now, suddenly, here one was, as easy as could be, feeding on this flower.

The early damselfly was an Eastern Forktail, a very common and colorful pond damsel. Often the first non-migrant to be observed in the spring. This particular damselfly was the earliest recorded for Rice County by nine days. (The previous early date was May 2, 2016.) The males have green and black striped thorax and blue-tipped abdomen. The females are orange and black when young but turn powdery blue as they mature. Occasionally the females mimic the coloration of the males and these damselflies are referred to as "andromorphs."

This damselfly had only just emerged and was still teneral. The term "teneral" refers to the condition of the adult immediately after emergence when the insect is still soft and vulnerable. The origin is Latin, "tener" which means tender. The exoskeleton will harden in a matter of hours, but the mature colors will take longer to form.

Publicado el abril 24, 2017 03:52 MAÑANA por