Damsels in the Garden

Rounding the side of the house is a shady area with lush green shrubbery,
pachysandra ground covering,
an old urn filled with hosta
and
a lot of activity!

There is fluttering,

flitting

and

flying,

as the broad winged damselflies do their dance.

They are beautiful and remind me of butterflies!

These damselflies are Ebony Jewelwings.

Our home is on old farmland.

There is a running creek along the backside with wooded areas and a small garden pond in our courtyard which attracts Ebony Jewelwings in spring.

It is fun watching them.

I will move in very close and they let me.  They watch me as I watch them.

Damselflies are closely related to dragonflies.

The easiest way to tell dragonflies and damselflies apart is to look at the wings.
Dragonfly wings stick straight out from the body when the dragonfly is resting.  Damselfly wings usually fold back above the body.

Males have iridescent bodies and their wings are black.

These two males are resting on the hosta leaves.

They often fluff their wings as you can see here.

The Ebony Jewelwings grow up to two inches long.
Males are larger than females.

Females also have black wings, but they have a lighter colored body.
They also have a white spot on their wings.





This female is fluffing her wings.

There are quite a few damselflies that have made this shaded area their home and it is beautiful when rounding the corner as they flit and fly from one hosta leaf to another; fluttering like butterflies.

In this video you can see several male damselflies resting on the hosta.

(click on the white title to view.)

I really wanted to share their ethereal dance with you, so you could see them take flight fluttering about as I round the corner, but I had no luck getting the video to turn out well.

However, you can see a bit of their dainty flutter in this clip.

It is quick, so try to imagine 10 or more of them all at once dancing about from hosta to shrub and back...it is a beautiful sight!

(click on the white title to view)

You can read more interesting facts about the Ebony Jewelwing damselfly here.

Do you have damselflies in your garden?

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