Sunday, June 7, 2009

Dragonflies & Damselflies (Odonata)

Following is a collection of dragonflies and damselflies from different parts of Australia. I have only identified a few of them. If any one could help me identify any of these, either family, genus or species it would be much apreciated.
Most dragonflies live a good part of their life as nymphs in water. Fisherman know some of them as mudeyes and are used as bait for fishing. They are predators both as nymphs and as adults and they feed on insects and are thus important in the control of pests such as mosquitos. The adults especially the dragonflies are expert fliers and can change direction on the head of a pin and hover in mid air too. They catch other insects on the wing. Apart from being beautiful and harmless to people they are important indicators in assessing the health of water bodies as they cannot survive in poor quality water.


1. Keep River NP, NT.


2. Parry's Lagoon, NT.


3. Howard Springs, NT.



4. Howard Springs, NT.




5. Fogg Dam, NT.




6. Darwin, NT.



7. Umbrawarra Gorge, NT.


8. Umbrawarra Gorge, NT.


9. Howard Springs, NT.



10. Darwin, NT.

11.


12. Darwin, NT.

13. Litchfield NP, NT.


14. Litchfield NP, NT.

15. Litchfield NP, NT.


16. Lithchfield NP, NT.



17. Litchfield NP, NT.



18. Litchfield NP, NT.



19. near Darwin, NT.



20. near Darwin, NT.



21. near Darwin, NT.


22. Darwin, NT.

23. Litchfield NP, NT.


24. Litchfield NP, NT.


25. Litchfield NP, NT.

26. Litchfield NP, NT.

27. Darwin area, NT.


28. Darwin area, NT.

29. Darwin area, NT.

30. Kakadu NP, NT.

31. Kakadu NP, NT.

32. Umbrawarra Gorge, NT.


33. Cooktown, FNQ, Qld.


34. Cooktown, FNQ, Qld.


35. Cooktown, Qld.



36. Cooktown, FNQ, Qld.



37. Cooktown, FNQ, Qld.



38. Lakefield NP, Qld.


39. Lakefield NP, Qld.


40. Lakefield NP, Qld.



41. Lakefield NP, Qld.


42. Lakefield NP, Qld.


43. Mareeba wetlands, Qld.


44. Mt Isa, Qld.


45. Mt Isa, Qld.



46. Mt Isa, Qld.


47. Charters Towers, Qld.



48. Mt Isa, Qld.



49. Cooktown, FNQ, Qld.



50. Cooktown, Qld.

51. Damselfly nymphs, Barwon River, Geelong, Vic.



52. This is the underside of a damselfly showing the mouthparts. In many cases creatures must be examined under a microscope or hand lens to correctly identify them. The shape of the mouth parts is one characteristic that is looked at when working out what species it is.



53.This is the aquatic nymph of a dragonfly commonly called a mudeye.



54.


55. Anglesea, Vic.


56. Anglesea, Vic.


57. Anglesea, Vic.


58. Anglesea, Vic.


59. Anglesea, Vic.

60. Anglesea, Vic.


61. Anglesea, Vic.


62. Otways, Vic.


63. Port Fairy, Vic.



64. Anglesea, Vic.


65. Anglesea, Vic.

66. Anglesea, Vic.


67. Melba Gully, Otways, Vic.


68. Geelong, Vic.



69. Anglesea, Vic.

69a. Anglesea, Vic.


70. Anglesea, Vic.

71. Murray River near Robinvale, Vic.


72. Murray River near Robinvale, Vic.

73. Murray River near Robinvale, Vic.


74. Anglesea, Vic.

75. Geelong, Vic.


76. Kennet River, Vic.


77. Wallington, Vic.


78. The Kimberley, WA.


78a. Burrup Peninsula, WA

78. Burrup Peninsula, WA.

79. Burrup Peninsula, WA.

80. Millstream NP, WA.


81. Kununarra, WA.

82. Lismore, NSW.
83. Mount Anan, near Sydney, NSW.