You know you’ve slipped over the edge when … you begin naming distinctive individual odonates that you spot on two or more days at the same location. (Feel free to add more tell-tale signs as comments.)
I’m fairly certain all of the photos in this post show the same male Great Spreadwing damselfly (Archilestes grandis) that I discovered on 09 October 2014 at Huntley Meadows Park. The wingtips of this damselfly are very distinctive — it’s hard to imagine another individual with similar damage to all of its wings! I call him “Crinkle-cut” because it looks like his wingtips were trimmed with a pair of crinkle-cut craft scissors.
“Crinkle-cut” is VERY aggressive — he’s a great spreadwing and behaves like he knows it! Whenever another odonate enters his “space,” a wild aerial duel occurs and the invader is vanquished quickly! My theory is Crinkle-cut’s wings were injured as a result of multiple turf battles; other experienced odonate-hunters speculate his wings were damaged during emergence.
I’ve seen “Crinkle-cut” three times since the first sighting on 09 October 2014: 17 October; 20 October; and again on 24 October. I did not see him during photowalks on 27 and 30 October. Photos of my sightings are shown in reverse-chronological order.
24 October 2014
20 October 2014
20 October 2014
20 October 2014
20 October 2014
17 October 2014
Copyright © 2014 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
Tags: Archilestes grandis, Family Lestidae (Spreadwings), Great Spreadwing damselfly, Huntley Meadows Park, male, vernal pool, wildlife photography
January 7, 2015 at 5:09 am |
[…] Spreadwing damselfly on 09 October 2014, an aggressive individual that came to be known as “Crinkle-cut.” This guy was the next one I […]