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Click here for the Akron Beacon Journal
Story, July 29, 2002
Foreword (from the Field Guide)
People like to name things. This is especially true of
naturalists. The names of plants and animals allow us to
communicate what we see in nature, and ultimately what we learn
about our natural world. We name our study organisms, the other
organisms they impact, and the organisms affecting them. Biology
at the amateur and professional levels cannot effectively be
conducted without names.
This field guide will
allow us to readily name the species of a fascinating insect
Order, using first‑hand observations of living specimens in the
field. Well, all insects are fascinating to me; but from the
standpoint of coloration, morphology and behavior, few insect
groups can really compare to the wondrous dragonflies and
damselflies. These species comprise the Order Odonata, a name
derived from the Greek "odon," meaning tooth. All odonates are
predators during their entire immature and adult life and use
powerful mandibles armed with stout teeth to capture and devour
their prey. Odonata is a good name for them. Dragonfly is a good
name, too‑‑the adults are aerial acrobats that, pound‑for‑pound,
are as fierce as any lion or tiger or mythical dragon. Your field
observations of Odonata will confirm this. Damselfly also fits the
bill for a descriptive name‑‑adults are indeed predators, but
their petite stature is deserving of a less fierce name. However,
I doubt a recently captured mosquito would share my views on what
is and what is not an appropriate descriptive name for our more
bantam odonates!
People make
field observations of birds and butterflies to document their
behavior, habitat selection, environmental requirements (such as
time, space, and food), and for pure enjoyment! Birds and
butterflies are highly attractive and desirable to watch. In the
past, northeastern Ohio naturalists interested in dragonflies and
damselflies were more‑or‑less relegated to spending long hours
swinging insect nets after the fast‑flying adults. Those specimens
the net‑swingers were lucky enough to snag were meticulously
pinned, and the specimens labeled with locality and date data.
From there, odonate enthusiasts could identify the beasts, using
minute characters (using color alone is a tough thing, since
odonates lose their color so quickly after being sacrificed), and
begin to document patterns in the occurrence over time and space.
Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio
opens a new door for naturalists. First, we can make our astute
observations of dragonfly and damselfly behavior and habitat usage
and actually name the species, using our naked eye or a pair of
binoculars! Color patterns are easily observed as well as
beautiful in living Odonata. Second, we can educate others by
naming the species we see on field trips and then begin to see
species‑specific behaviors. Last, we can make our field notes so
much more meaningful. Read some of your field notes from a birding
or similar trip from just a few years ago. If your notes lack the
name of the organism you were looking at, the information may not
mean too much to you.
Rosche documents
the species that occur in a region that is fantastically rich with
aquatic habitats. Fens, bogs, marshes, lakes, streams, springs and
other wonderful ecosystems exist within an hour's drive of any
northeastern Ohio city or town. In these areas, you can easily
find a species‑rich and abundant odonate fauna whose patrolling of
territories, mating activities, predatory efforts and other
behaviors will offer many rewarding observations. Use this guide
and put names on those species you see. Remember from one field
trip to the next which dragonflies and damselflies you see and
look for patterns in the behaviors from one species to the next.
(Or, better yet, record your field trip data in your notebook!)
Communicate to your fellow natural history enthusiasts the species
you saw and what they did. With it now possible to name the
odonate players in the ecological theater, our natural history
observations of living dragonflies and damselflies will be much
more informative!
Joe
B. Keiper, Ph.D.
Curator of Invertebrate Zoology
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History
December 2001
The Author:
A field biologist and map designer, Larry Rosche does survey work
for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources--Division of Natural
Areas and Preserves, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History, The
Smithsonian Institution and The Cuyahoga Valley National Park. His
map projects include converting existing maps to vector-based
formats for the latest editions of the Peterson Field Guides®. He
has written The Field Book of the Birds of the Cleveland Region
and has been editor of The Cleveland Bird Calendar since 1988. His
articles on Odonata have been published in Ohio Birds and Natural
History and the Dragonflier. Always fascinated by flying
creatures, he first became interested in dragonflies and
damselflies while photographing them in the late 1970s. During a
long train ride to Churchill, Manitoba, in July 1980, Larry became
exasperated by his inability to make field identifications of the
many ruthless Darners feeding at every stop. This concern was once
again raised after helping interns obtain specimens at the Ravenna
Ordnance Plant in 1993. Seeing a handsome dragonfly lose its
colorful magnificence after it was collected was cause enough for
him to start this project.
Larry is a graduate of Kent State
University and lives in Kent, Ohio, with his wife Sherry and their
two daughters, Laura and Rachel.
The Artists:
Jacquelyn Haley holds a BFA from the University of Akron and a
MA from Kent State University. She also studied at Haystack School
of Design, Deer Isle, Maine, and participated three summers in the
Kent-Blossom Art programs in South and Central America. She was a
member of the University of Akron School of Art faculty, teaching
drawing, painting and design at all levels from 1972 through 1980.
Her paintings and drawings have been exhibited nationally in over
two dozen juried, one-woman and invitational group shows. Her
paintings and drawings have been given purchase awards, honorable
mentions and jury awards.
Jackie is an avid birder, having traveled
throughout the US, Canada, Alaska and Europe in search of birds.
She has a life list of 720 species of North American birds. Her
most recent voyages have been to the Antarctic Peninsula, the
Falklands, Argentina, Greenland, Northwest Passage and France. Her
interest in birds led to another Order of flying animals:
dragonflies and damselflies with their amazing agility, variety,
beauty and patterns of behavior. The invitation to illustrate them
for a field guide was most challenging for the artist, especially
since their sizes range from three inches to under one inch in
length. Their intricate anatomy, huge multi-faceted eyes and
crusty, colorful exoskeletons provided extraordinary
juxtapositions of texture, shape, size and color for the artist.
Observations in the field, specimens, videos, photographs,
scientific volumes and other field guides supplied necessary
reference material for the illustrations. Mrs. Haley lives in
Akron, Ohio, and is the mother of three sons; Bill, Greg and
Scott. She has eight grandchildren.
Illustrations: Gray Petaltail,
Laura's Clubtail, Arrow Clubtail, Black-shouldered Spinylegs,
Flag-tailed Spinylegs, Riffle Snaketail, Rusty Snaketail, Calico
Pennant, Halloween Pennant, Slaty Skimmer, Eastern Pondhawk,
Frosted Whiteface, Dot-tailed Whiteface, Chalk-fronted Corporal,
Widow Skimmer, Common Whitetail, Twelve-Spotted Skimmer,
Four-Spotted Skimmer, Painted Skimmer, Great Blue Skimmer, Elfin
Skimmer, Blue Dasher, Wandering Glider, Spot-winged Glider,
Eastern Amberwing, Cherry-faced Meadowhawk, White-faced
Meadowhawk, Bandwinged Meadowhawk, Yellow-legged Meadowhawk, Ruby
Meadowhawk, Band-winged Meadowhawk, Black Saddlebags, Carolina
Saddlebags, Red Saddlebags, River Jewelwing, Ebony Jewelwing,
American Rubyspot, Great Spreadwing, Spotted Spreadwing, Common
Spreadwing, Southern Spreadwing, Emerald Spreadwing, Amber-winged
Spreadwing, Sweetflag Spreadwing, Elegant Spreadwing, Slender
Spreadwing, Lyre-tipped Spreadwing, Swamp Spreadwing, Eastern Red
Damsel, Aurora Damsel, Taiga Bluet, Rainbow Bluet, Azure Bluet,
Double-striped Bluet, Boreal Bluet, Tule Bluet, Familiar Bluet,
Northern Bluet, Turquoise Bluet, Marsh Bluet, Stream Bluet,
Skimming Bluet, Hagen's Bluet, Orange Bluet, Western Slender Bluet,
Vesper Bluet, Citrine Forktail, Fragile Forktail, Eastern Forktail,
Sphagnum Sprite and Sedge Sprite.
Jennifer Brumfield's interest in wildlife
sparked from day one by her father's love for natural science. Her
love for birding, in particular, has led her to travel from
Arizona to Maine, Florida to Ontario, and Colorado to Belize.
Among numerous birdathons and bird counts, she has participated on
the American Birding Association's youth teams in the Great Texas
Birding Classic and the World Series of Birding in New Jersey.
Jennifer's success as an artist and a birder led to her being
awarded the Young Birder of the Year in 1998, for her creation of
a field notebook. She was influential in the creation of the Young
Birder's Conference in Fort Collins, Colorado, and taught a
"Taking Field Notes" course at the ABA's convention in Tucson,
Arizona, in 1999.
More recently, Jennifer has expanded her
interests to include butterflies, dragonflies, damselflies, moths
and salamanders. Creatures of flight have always been something of
awe, mystery, power and beauty to Jennifer; and she pays her
respect to them by portraying their individuality in her art.
Jennifer resides in Akron, Ohio, where she plans to continue
illustrating for books, newsletters, magazines, journals and
private commissions. As she gains experience in Ohio bird natural
history, distribution and identification, she also desires to
sharpen her skills as an artist. Jennifer dedicates her work to
her parents, her grandfather and her friends, all of whom have
pushed her to follow her lifelong interests in art and nature.
Illustrations: Lance-tipped Darner, Spatterdock Darner,
Black-tipped Darner, Shadow Darner, Green-striped Darner, Common
Green Darner, Comet Darner, Fawn Darner, Ocellated Darner, Swamp
Darner, Harlequin Darner, Cyrano Darner, Springtime Darner, Ashy
Clubtail, Lancet Clubtail, Midland Clubtail, Rapids Clubtail,
Dusky Clubtail, Splendid Clubtail, Lilypad Clubtail, Unicorn
Clubtail, Dragonhunter, Northern Pygmy Clubtail, Southern Pygmy
Clubtail, Least Clubtail, Delta-spotted Spiketail, Twin-spotted
Spiketail, Arrowhead Spiketail, Stream Cruiser, Illinois River
Cruiser, Royal River Cruiser, American Emerald, Racket-tailed
Emerald, Common Baskettail, Prince Baskettail, Mocha Emerald,
Brush-tipped Emerald and Spangled Skimmer.
Kevin Metcalf earned a Bachelor’s of Fine
Arts in painting in 1988 from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In
addition to his background in painting, he has a keen interest in
birds, geography and other natural history subjects. He spent much
of his childhood roaming the forests and fields around his
parents’ home in Richland County, Ohio, where he caught
salamanders, frogs, turtles, snakes, butterflies and dragonflies.
He began selling his artwork at the age of 14.
After receiving his degree, he interned at
Beaver Lake Nature Center in Baldwinsville, New York, as an
exhibit artist and illustrator. He later used his birding skills
in California and Michigan, where he conducted hawk counts for the
Golden Gate Raptor Observatory and Whitefish Point Bird
Observatory. Kevin is currently a naturalist with Cleveland
Metroparks and has served terms on the Ohio Bird Records
Committee. He lives in Munson, Ohio, with his wife Evelyn and two
daughters, Sidney and Reeve.
Illustrations: Blue-fronted Dancer,
Variable (Violet) Dancer, Powdered Dancer, Blue-ringed Dancer,
Blue-tipped Dancer and Dusky Dancer.
Dragonflies and
Damselflies of Northeast Ohio can be purchased at the
Cleveland Museum of Natural History for $18.95.
The Cleveland Museum of Natural History
l Wade Oval Drive, University Circle
Cleveland, Ohio
44106-1767.
Contact
Renee Boronka at
rboronka@cmnh.org
Page last updated on
Monday April 23, 2007
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