Great Blue - NH 043

NH 043

Blue Dragonfly

Category: Dragonflies

Family: Libellulidae

So I know I like to space out the collections but I looked and realized that out of all the Natural History pieces I've put up so far, only 3, they have all been vialed spiders. So to diversify the posts I decided today would be a good day to post up one of the pinned insects from the collection. And to start off I present you all with one of my favorite pinned pieces. So if you haven't been able to tell yet, this guy is a dragonfly and I am going to temporarily identify him as a Great Blue Skimmer (Libellula vibrans).

I've always been fascinated by dragonflies, they're at the top of my list insect wise. So when I started the pinned collection about 2-4 years ago I was excited that I was able to capture not just one, but three dragonflies for the collection, this one being the largest. He was collected at Camp Babcock-Hovey, Ovid, New York, USA in early August ca. 2008. I'll have to check on the date. But anyway he was living in a nearby small pond when I caught him. The wingspan is about 3.75 inches and I classified him as a great blue skimmer based on his blue color and location, and comparing him (or her for that matter) to photos on reliable sites, though I'm still not positive that I have the genus/species right. However, that is the correct family which is probably the most important.