Thanks for using Greg Lasley's photos. I suppose this is a form of immortality when the photos he took pop up on INaturalist and remind the reader/viewer of Greg's generosity in sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm.
Nice to hear from you, Ann. Yes, I was thinking the very same thing about Greg's work as a form of immortality. It's great to "see him" that way now and then!
I have a few myself. Leps of Mass. Travels to the Last Wild Places, Finding a Home… I have ideas and images. We end up doing what matters. Thank you for creating this community.
We only have 14 or 15 (depending on who is counting) species of dragon/damselfly here in New Zealand. In spite of your map showing it here (on the North Island), I can't find any mention of Pantala. Maybe somebody should suggest they come here! They sound beautiful and I'm sure would be appreciated.
Edit. I looked further and there's a sighting from 2014! I suspect we get the odd ones here - they'e in the Cook Islands and Australia, but they seem to be vagrants. I'd love to see one!
Yes, I suspect they are rare in NZ -- just a bit far south for them. But here are two specimens from April in 2013 and 2014. That's it for iNaturalist records:
So I just jumped into this without paying attention to where it came from because I am a great Wandering Glider fan. I was REALLY enjoying it and i got to "Montpelier" and thought "wait, I know someone in Montpelier! Who wrote this?" And duh, then i saw the name.
I have a WG posted on Inat in SW Co. But no one has confirmed it because it's a lousy Pic- on the wing, of course. That was last year. My first sighting here, although I've seen a couple of them in southern Az. So then this year I had 2 more sightings in the exact same place as last year here in SW Co!!! Like within 50 feet. What's up with that??? (But no new pics)
Speaking of dragonflies who show up on the exact same place as that species the previous year, today i got good pics of a COOPERATIVE Flame Skimmer (hear that you WG's?) and the more I thought about it the more I realized it was perched in the SAME spot on Gambel Oaks as the one I photographed last year. These are also not a common species here in Sw
Co. In fact last year was my 2nd sighting in about 16 years here, this year my 3rd of these FS's. Again, what's up with that? Are they living more than 1 year? If they are, are they overwintering here somehow or(more likely) moving south and back. I thought their lifespans were measured in weeks/ months.
Flame Skimmer is well distributed in the West, with scattered locations in CO. So, yeah, you probably have a residential population at that site. Water there, right?
Great piece...eye-opening. Truly an amazing creature and earth-companion!
Thanks, Scudder. I like your term "earth-companion." We need more of those.
“‘Well, those apes were weird. Wonder what that was all about.’” 🤣
We are weird, right?
I’ll say!
I didn’t know about the Pantala. Now I do. Amazing!!
Thanks for using Greg Lasley's photos. I suppose this is a form of immortality when the photos he took pop up on INaturalist and remind the reader/viewer of Greg's generosity in sharing his knowledge and enthusiasm.
Nice to hear from you, Ann. Yes, I was thinking the very same thing about Greg's work as a form of immortality. It's great to "see him" that way now and then!
Extremely interesting; thank you. And thanks for introducing us to Greg.
I thought I knew a lot about insects, but I wasn't familiar with the Pants la species. Thank you for educating me!
Dragon flies are amazing insects. Thanks for sharing.
Another wonderful piece of writing. Thank you Brian!
Thanks, Neil. I hope you bump into some of these dragonflies your outings!
Thank you Bryan. What a most informative review of this DF species in your delightful prose. Always a joy to read.
Cheers,
Michael
Thanks, Michael. Pantala is indeed a magnificent animal!
Thank you. (I would still like your book...)
Well, yeah, the book ... so many book ideas, seemingly so little time (and so many Substack essays to write). But I'm workin' on it ..... :-)
I have a few myself. Leps of Mass. Travels to the Last Wild Places, Finding a Home… I have ideas and images. We end up doing what matters. Thank you for creating this community.
What a wonderful post! In my morning walks at my nearby nature park, I am
observing the birds I love and am now climbing the learning curve with
identifying trees, native plants and flowers, butterflies and dragonflies.
Seeing gorgeous dragonflies mating was a visually dazzling experience.
I will be on the lookout for this beauty.
I will be looking (Montreal) ... and hoping for the Spot-winged Glider also.
This narrative is insanely beautiful & wonderful your heart brings humanity into the wonderful description of a freaking wonderbug
Hi Bryan,
What a beautiful Dragonfly and we love them🙂 We enjoy seeing them too. Thanks, Pamela
We only have 14 or 15 (depending on who is counting) species of dragon/damselfly here in New Zealand. In spite of your map showing it here (on the North Island), I can't find any mention of Pantala. Maybe somebody should suggest they come here! They sound beautiful and I'm sure would be appreciated.
Edit. I looked further and there's a sighting from 2014! I suspect we get the odd ones here - they'e in the Cook Islands and Australia, but they seem to be vagrants. I'd love to see one!
Yes, I suspect they are rare in NZ -- just a bit far south for them. But here are two specimens from April in 2013 and 2014. That's it for iNaturalist records:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=6803&subview=table&taxon_id=108344
So I just jumped into this without paying attention to where it came from because I am a great Wandering Glider fan. I was REALLY enjoying it and i got to "Montpelier" and thought "wait, I know someone in Montpelier! Who wrote this?" And duh, then i saw the name.
I have a WG posted on Inat in SW Co. But no one has confirmed it because it's a lousy Pic- on the wing, of course. That was last year. My first sighting here, although I've seen a couple of them in southern Az. So then this year I had 2 more sightings in the exact same place as last year here in SW Co!!! Like within 50 feet. What's up with that??? (But no new pics)
Speaking of dragonflies who show up on the exact same place as that species the previous year, today i got good pics of a COOPERATIVE Flame Skimmer (hear that you WG's?) and the more I thought about it the more I realized it was perched in the SAME spot on Gambel Oaks as the one I photographed last year. These are also not a common species here in Sw
Co. In fact last year was my 2nd sighting in about 16 years here, this year my 3rd of these FS's. Again, what's up with that? Are they living more than 1 year? If they are, are they overwintering here somehow or(more likely) moving south and back. I thought their lifespans were measured in weeks/ months.
Flame Skimmer is well distributed in the West, with scattered locations in CO. So, yeah, you probably have a residential population at that site. Water there, right?
Send me a link to your iNat record!