Google Calendar was used to synthesize “CHECKLIST OF THE DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF VIRGINIA, April 2017 update” — Dr. Steve Roble’s excellent datasets for the Commonwealth of Virginia — into two calendars: Dragonflies (VA Flight Dates); and Damselflies (VA Flight Dates).
The Google Calendar default color palettes were used to color-code both calendars: Dragonflies is Graphite; and Damselflies is Birch. Individual events on each calendar are also color-coded by family.
Dragonflies
Here’s the way the dragonflies calendar looks using the Chrome Web browser on my Apple iMac desktop computer. Notice the Graphite colored vertical bar to the left of each event that indicates it belongs to the dragonflies calendar.
And here’s the way the dragonflies calendar looks using the free Google Calendar app on my Apple iPad mini 2.
Every event features the following information: common name; scientific name; early-date/late-date; abundance; and habitat.
New for 2019 (updated for 2020)
An interactive version of both calendars is available online. The dragonflies calendar is shown below.
Regrettably, the color-coding is lost in the online, interactive version of both calendars. That is, unless you print the calendar.
Color-coding is also lost when the calendar is exported as an “.ics” file. That’s the bad news. The good news is the calendar can be edited after it is imported into Google Calendar and it’s easy to edit the entries to color-code them any way you like.
The colors of the rainbow (ROYGBIV) were used to color-code the seven families of dragonflies; the equivalent colors in the Google Calendar default color palette are shown in brackets.
- R = Family Aeshnidae (Darners) [Tomato]
- O = Family Cordulegastridae (Spiketails) [Tangerine]
- G = Family Corduliidae (Emeralds) [Basil]
- Y = Family Gomphidae (Clubtails) [Banana]
- B = Family Libellulidae (Skimmers) [Peacock]
- I = Family Macromiidae (Cruisers) [Blueberry]
- V = Family Petaluridae (Petaltails) [Grape]
The colors for Emeralds and Clubtails were flip-flopped because it just makes sense the Emeralds should be color-coded green!
Damselflies
Here’s the way the damselflies calendar looks using the free Google Calendar app on my Apple iPad mini 2.
Like the dragonflies calendar, every event features the following information: common name; scientific name; early-date/late-date; abundance; and habitat.
“FSL” was used to color-code the three families of damselflies common to the mid-Atlantic states (USA); the equivalent colors in the Google Calendar default color palette are shown in brackets.
- F – Family Calopterygidae (Broad-winged Damselflies) [Flamingo (formerly Tomato)]
- S – Family Coenagrionidae (Narrow-winged Damselflies) [Sage (formerly Peacock)]
- L – Family Lestidae (Spreadwings) [Lavendar (formerly Basil)]
For what it’s worth, all of the colors for the damselflies calendar are pastel shades.
New for 2019 (updated for 2020)
An interactive version of the damselflies calendar is available online, as shown below.
Dragonflies and Damselflies
The damselflies calendar was updated for 2019 so that no colors are duplicated from the dragonflies calendar. This should help to eliminate confusion when both calendars are displayed at the same time, as shown below.
Lessons Learned
As I worked on the calendar, patterns began to emerge that I hadn’t noticed before. For example, it’s clear that the serious odonate hunter needs to hit the ground running as soon as early March. Remember that Dr. Roble’s dataset is for the entire state. You may not see a given species on its early-date, but it could be seen on that date and certainly can’t be seen if you don’t look!
Tech Tips
Download the “.ics” file from the Virginia Odonata Facebook group. Launch Google Calendar on a desktop computer. Create a new calendar by clicking on the three vertical dots to the right of “Add calendar” and selecting “Create new calendar”; give the calendar a name such as “Test Calendar” and click on the “Create calendar” button. (You can change the name later.) “Test Calendar” should appear in the list of calendars under “My calendars.”
Mouse-over the name “Test Calendar” and click on the vertical column of three dots, labeled “Options for Test Calendar” then select “Settings and sharing.” In the upper-left sidebar, click on “Import and export”; select the “.ics” file to import and select “Test Calendar” from the drop-down menu labeled “Add to calendar.” There are 143 events in the Dragonflies calendar; 56 events in the Damselflies calendar.
If you decide to color-code individual events like I did, click on an event then click on the pencil icon labeled “Edit event.” Select a color and click the “Save” button, then click the radio button for “All events.” Beware: You can right-click on an individual event and change its color but DON’T GO THERE! That results in an event that doesn’t occur annually using the new color you chose.
Related Resources
Kevin Munroe, former manager of Huntley Meadows Park, created an excellent calendar called Dragonflies of Northern Virginia – Flight Periods. This calendar is a valuable resource for hunting dragonflies in Northern Virginia. I think the value of Kevin Munroe’s calendar is enhanced by using it in combination with my visualization of Steve Roble’s dataset.
Dragonflies & Damselflies of Loudoun County features a flight calendar for dragonflies and damselflies.
Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.
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