Odonate Calendars

Odonate calendars: Virginia Flight Dates

Google Calendar was used to synthesize Dr. Steve Roble’s excellent datasets for the Commonwealth of Virginia into two calendars: Dragonflies (VA Flight Dates); and Damselflies (VA Flight Dates). An online, interactive version of both calendars is provided on this page.

The Google Calendar default color palettes were used to color-code each calendar: Dragonflies is Graphite; and Damselflies is Birch. Individual events on both calendars are color-coded by family.

Dragonflies (VA Flight Dates) – New for 2019 (updated for 2020)

The dragonflies calendar is shown below. Every event features the following information: common name; scientific name; early-date/late-date; abundance; and habitat.

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. The colors for Emeralds and Clubtails were flip-flopped because it just makes sense the Emeralds should be color-coded green!

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]

Regrettably, the color-coding is lost in the online, interactive version of both calendars. That is, unless you print the .ics version of the calendar (sample shown below).

Damselflies (VA Flight Dates) – New for 2019 (updated for 2020)

An interactive version of the damselflies calendar is also available online, as shown below. 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]
S – Family Coenagrionidae (Narrow-winged Damselflies) [Sage]
L – Family Lestidae (Spreadwings) [Lavendar]

For what it’s worth, all of the colors for the damselflies calendar are pastel shades.

Related Resources

“CHECKLIST OF THE DRAGONFLIES AND DAMSELFLIES OF VIRGINIA, April 2017 and April 2020 updates” by Dr. Steve Roble, Staff Zoologist at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage.

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 Dr. Steve Roble’s dataset.

Dragonflies & Damselflies of Loudoun County features a flight calendar for both dragonflies and damselflies.

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