damselfly Archives - Retired in Costa Rica

January 30, 2024January 27, 2024

Cerulean Dancer Damselfly

The Cerulean Dancer Damselfly (Argia anceps), male here, is one of dozens of blue and black damselflies with this one most often confused with the Azure Dancer and the Thorn-tipped Dancer (says the book), but because of the shade of blue, the size and the wing color I am declaring this a Cerulean Dancer! :-) But to be honest, with both damsel and dragonflies, I am seldom 100% certain of the identification and I use a Costa Rica specific field guide with nearly 300 species of damselflies and dragonflies included with photos! You would think that makes it easy, but not for me! The many similarities between species makes identification a challenge for many! This one was photographed on the railing of my terrace in Atenas, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica.

Cerulean Dancer Damselfly, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

See my Dragonflies & Damselflies GALLERY with 50+ species! And many are unidentified! :-)

¡Pura Vida!

February 8, 2023February 5, 2023

Two Damselflies at Xandari

I was not aware of any Dragonflies but saw many Damselflies including these two with fairly certain identifications 🙂 . . .

Female Azure Dancer

Forest Rubyspot

¡Pura Vida!

See my gallery of many of the Dragon & Damselflies in Costa Rica.

And the 2023 Xandari Trip Gallery is now ready for you to see all this year’s photos from this colorful nature resort.

January 16, 2023January 9, 2023

Cerulean Dancer Damselfly

The Cerulean Dancer, Argia anceps, is a Central American Damselfly found on both coasts and in the interior. This is a male, darker blue, while the female is a lighter blue. Photographed on the tile sidewalk in my garden here in the Central Valley town of Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica.

Cerulean Dancer – Argia anceps – Damselfly

See more photos in Damsel & Dragonflies CR GALLERY.

¡Pura Vida!

November 8, 2022November 6, 2022

Damselfly: Black-fronted Dancer Female

That is my best effort identification and the closest match in my book, Dragonflies and Damselflies of Costa Rica, A Field Guide by Dennis Paulson and William Haber. But for those who care about ID, note that this one is very similar to Calvert’s Dancer female and the wings just like the Cerulean Dancer female, though mine here has a darker body and tail. I’m finding Dragon and Damselfly ID pretty difficult as I haven’t learned the subtle differences in body parts yet. 🙂 This one was in my garden the other day.

Black-fronted Dancer Damselfly female, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica

¡Pura Vida!

See also my GALLERY: Dragonflies & Damselflies

November 1, 2022October 31, 2022

6 Damsel-Dragonflies

That last Friday morning butterfly hike also yielded 6 different species of Damselflies & Dragonflies and I spent hours trying to positively identify them without success! So I just decided to present them without identifications which I really hate doing, but I got only two “probable” IDs! Frustrating! And more difficult than identifying butterflies and moths for me! 🙂

Here’s one for the emailed version and all 6 in a gallery to follow . . .

And all were seen and photographed on Calle Nueva, Atenas, Alajuela, Costa Rica last Friday, 28 October.

May 23, 2022May 22, 2022

Rainforest Dragonflies & Damselflies

Here’s 9 photos of 7 or 8 different species of Dragonflies and Damselflies. After I got home I used my new dragonfly book to try and identify these guys, but the book has too many that are similar and yet not exact matches to these, so I still have a big ID job! 🙂

All were photographed on two of the many lakes at Chachagua Rainforest Hotel and one stream on the one day that was sunny during my week there. Be sure to see my photo gallery of Dragonflies and Damselflies (58 photos of 30+ species) and if you are in Costa Rica and interested in Dragonflies, the new book is titled: Dragonflies & Damselflies of Costa Rica. (Link is to Cornell Press, the publisher, but it’s also available on amazon.com and some bookstores here.)

One photo here for the emailed version of post, then 8 more photos in the gallery that follows online.

MAYBE Thorn-tipped or Big Blue Dancer Damselfly, Chachagua Rainforest, Costa Rica.

May 4, 2022May 4, 2022

Plateau Spreadwing Damselfly

Here’s my first Damsel or Dragonfly photo this year though not the first seen. They are all hard for me to photograph and to identify, usually! But this time with my handy new book Dragonflies and Damselflies of Costa Rica by Dennis Paulson and William Haber, I managed to narrow it down quicker than usual for me; obviously first to a Damselfly and then by the spreading wings that it is one of the subspecies called “Spreadwing” (most Damsels keep their wings straight by their side) and then with the book’s excellent photos and me having a photo with enough detail like the blue eyes and the brown thorax with white stripe I quickly determined that this is a “Plateau Spreadwing Damselfly” or “Lestes alacer” the technical name of this species found in Central America and parts of North America. I hope to expand my collection of Dragonflies & Damselflies which is already a pretty good start . . .

See my GALLERY: Dragonflies & Damselflies of CR (18+ species identified with many more not identified. Your ID help welcomed!) 🙂

Plateau Spreadwing Damselfly, Atenas, Costa Rica

May 24, 2021May 23, 2021

Dragonflies and Damselflies

Saturday morning in Atenas I checked with my new internet order-delivery service called “Atenas WebShop” and had two packages, one a new paperback book from Amazon.com, Dragonflies and Damselflies of Costa Rica, A Field Guide by Dennis Paulson and William Haber (Link to Amazon ordering). It’s also available direct from the publisher, Cornell University Press.

It is a very thorough and scientific book and the first I’ve found anywhere here to help me identify these odonatan insects that I occasionally photograph. They have detailed descriptions and photographs of all 283 Dragonflies and Damselflies identified in Costa Rica with more being discovered frequently here.

I will use it to try and identify the ones I already have in my Dragonflies and Damselflies Photo Galleries, though it will not always be easy as there are some finely detailed differences between many species that all of my photos are not good enough to show, but at least I will have more labeled than before! 🙂

Now I just wish someone would develop as good a field guide for the butterflies of Costa Rica! A much bigger job! And until then I will continue to use the Butterflies of Mexico & Central America book for my IDs.

¡Pura Vida!

July 10, 2020July 10, 2020

Maquenque Damsel & Dragonflies

I walked over two wetlands bridges every time I approached or left my room (3 or 4 times a day) and thus saw a lot of dragonflies, but sorry to say no really great photos, but they are always interesting! 🙂 And there is no easy way to identify this beautiful creatures. Online websites are conflicting and no dragonfly book for Costa Rica.