What wonderful names have the dragonflies and damselflies that Mark Manning and his son are finding at Rogers Refuge. Known mostly for its birdlife, this patch of floodplain along the StonyBrook below the Institute Woods also is home to other diversities. My ecological assessment of the refuge from 2007 includes a plant inventory, and now we have an expanding list of Odonata as well, totaling 36 different species. Below are the Mannings' photos of a few, and their full list to date. The names make one want to write an ode to Odonata.
Now Dasher, now Dancer, now Skimmer and Jewelwing!
On, Bluet! on, Glider! on, Darner and Clubtail!
To the top of the sedge! To the top of the cattail!
Now fly away! fly away! fly away all!
The names--Fragile forktail, pondhawk, meadowhawk--are as vivid and full of action as the insects themselves.
Rogers Refuge Odonata List as of 7/17/2021-Mark Manning
Ebony jewelwing
Blue-fronted dancer
Violet dancer
Powdered dancer
Blue-tipped dancer
Azure bluet
Double-striped bluet
Familiar bluet
Turquoise bluet
Stream bluet
Slender bluet
Fragile forktail
Eastern forktail
Common green darner
Comet darner
Unicorn clubtail
Black-shouldered spinyleg
Lancet clubtail
Ashy/dusky clubtail
Prince baskettail
Common baskettail
Halloween pennant
Eastern pondhawk
Slaty skimmer
Widow skimmer
Twelve-spotted skimmer
Painted skimmer
Great blue skimmer
Blue dasher
Wandering glider
Spot-winged glider
Eastern amberwing
Common whitetail
Autumn meadowhawk
Carolina saddlebags
Black saddlebags
Total: 36
Update: at season's end, in early September, the Mannings added one more species to the list:
the russet-tipped clubtail
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