RARITY SEEN ON NHS FIELD TRIP: by Alma Steeves 
     
    
   
   
    
     On August lst at Mooney's Pond Interpretive Centre, Stuart Tingley, a renowned 
     
     New Brunswick Naturalist, provided a slide presentation on dragonflies, damselflies, 
     
     and butterflies of the Atlantic Region. This was followed by a field trip to 
     
     O'Keefe's Lake. 
     
    

    
     The following are some excerpts from Stu's lecture. 
     
    

    
     Dragonflies are a relatively unexplored area of natural history using many of 
     
     the same skills as bird watching. For instance, Paul Burnelle, a Nova Scotia expert, 
     
     recently discovered a new species on the St. Croix River which is almost entirely 
     
     nocturnal. This broad tail shadow dragon is called Michael after his son. The male 
     
     has distinctive mustard coloured eyes and the female has darker eyes. 
     
    

    
     Stu pointed out the differences between dragonflies and damselflies. 
     
     Dragonflies when they perch hold their wings horizontal while damselflies hold their 
     
     wings vertical. The dragonfly’s head is made up almost of two large eyes. The 
     
     damselfly has smaller eyes and they are located to the side of the head. The 
     
     damselfly also has a more slender abdomen and it spends less time flying. 
     
    

    
     The dragonfly and damselfly body each consist of three parts, a head, thorax, 
     
     and abdomen made’up of ten segments. The male produces sperm at the end of his 
     
     abdomen and in mating he latches onto the female by her neck. The tip of his abdomen 
     
     fits only the groove in the neck of the same species. They mate in flight in a wheel 
     
     position. The female may drop her eggs into water or on a stem of grass at the edge 
     
     of a pond. The dragonfly's larvae is larger that the damselfly's larva. The 
     
     dragonfly emerges from the back of the larval shell. The newly emerged soft bodied 
     
     adult is a teneral. 
     
    

    
     Damselflies consist of three major families, namely, the broad winged, narrow 
     
     winged, and spread winged damselflies. The dragonflies consist of four families, 
     
     the darners, the club tails, the emeralds, and the Skimmers. 
     
    

    
     The darners are a big group often found patrolling on logging roads. They’re 
     
     even migratory. We saw several Variable Darners during the field trip. The Club 
     
     Tail is found on rocks in rivers. It has a club shaped tail and their eyes do not 
     
     touch. The dragonhunter, a club tail, is the largest dragonfly and it eats other 
     
     dragonflies. The Emerald family has a racket shaped tail. It is characterized by 
     
     bright green eyes. It has a hairy thorax, an adaptation to a colder climate. The 
     
     Beaverpond Basket Tail is an example of a type of emerald. 
     
    

    
     The largest group is the Skimmers. They have a brilliant white face and mainly 
     
     sit around. The species in the slides that we saw emerging was a skimmer, the 
     
     Hudsonian Whiteface. The Elfin Skimmer, the smallest dragonfly is rare and found 
     
     only in bogs. 
     
    

    
     Finally we had some slides of butterflies: the common yellow butterfly the 
     
     sulphurs, swallowtail, copper, Red Admiral, and the skipper which has a large fat 
     
     body. Stu pointed out the difference between the mimic Viceroy and the monarch 
     
     butterfly with the Viceroy having a black line across its hind wing. 
     
    

    
     During the field trip, the first official sighting of a Lake Emerald on Prince 
     
     Edward Island was made by Jean Marc Cormier and Jacob Harding. Stu was surprised to 
     
     see the Little Bluet at O'Keefe's Lake. The following dragonflies and damselflies 
     
     species were seen that day: Common Spreadwing, Emerald Spreadwing, Sedge Sprite, 
     
     Hagen's Bluet, Little Bluet, Marsh Bluet, Cherry-faced Meadowhawk, Saffron-faced 
     
     Meadowhawk, Red—waisted Whiteface, Crimson-ringed Whiteface, Lake Emerald, Racket- 
     
     tailed Emerald, Chalk—fronted Corporal, Common Whitetail, Four-spotted Skimmer, 
     
     Shadow Darner, Eastern Forktail, Canada Darner, Variable Darner, and Lance—tipped 
     
     Darner. In addition, the following butterflies were seen: cabbage white, common 
     
    
   
   
    
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