Dragontowne: Elves on a distant shore
Apr 11, 2021 08:46:27 #
PROLOGUE
Regarding any noteworthy group of insects, one may well ask “what is the largest?”, or “what is the smallest?” I don’t know if there is consensus on the largest dragonfly in the continental U.S. It may be the grey petaltail, swamp darner, dragonhunter, or something else. The largest monster dragonfly with that distinction will win by mere millimeters, I think. But for the smallest dragonfly, for the U.S. there is no debate that it’s the elfin skimmer (Nannothemis bella), which is also described as the 2nd smallest in the world. In Paulsens’ book on Eastern dragonflies, the elfin skimmer is described as “barely big enough to be called dragon”. Startlingly small, the larger females are at most 20mm long (that is often shorter than the length of the last joint on your little finger). A mosquito would be a very large meal for them!
In the early years of this hobby, I learned about elfin skimmers from the estimable docshark (Tony Schoch), and so began a healthy obsession with finding and photographing them. But elfin skimmers can be a challenging species, since their populations tend to be scattered and they just don’t want to fly far from their rather narrowly defined breeding grounds to establish new populations.
Over the years I’ve exhausted all of the recorded locations in my area, and I’ve scoured many more that seemed perfect for them. None were found. But recent records in Odonata Central listed a promising but remote lake two hours away. So one day I made the long drive to it. No other humans were around for miles. The excitement was pretty extreme as the long woodland trail opened up to the lake. And there, on a distant shore, were elfin skimmers! Just like that. This is possibly the greatest highlight of my entire summer.
I knew they would be small, but Wow! They are tiny! Here is a female sitting on a blade of grass (!). Their bold colors are suspected to make them a wasp mimic.
Elfin skimmer by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Elfin skimmer!!! by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
And here are some males, which are a little bit smaller than the females. They get more pruinose with age. Mature ones resemble super tiny slaty skimmers.
Elfin skimmer by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Elfin skimmer by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Elfin skimmer by Mark Sturtevant, on Flickr
Here is a picture of one perched on someone’s little finger (!) Now you can have some idea about how tiny these are.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/12441/bgimage
Photographing them turned out to be very easy, although I had to abandon the usual zoom lens and switch to the macro lens. If they flew off, that was no problem since they have territories of only a few feet, at most. They sure don’t fly far!
EPILOGUE
Since the few visits to “the elfin shore” as I call it, I’ve learned of new possible populations of elfin skimmers, and I will be checking those out this season for sure. One of the claimed locations is also a favored habitat for our local species of rattlesnake (the Massasauga rattlesnake), so I'll be watching my step.
Thanks for looking!
Regarding any noteworthy group of insects, one may well ask “what is the largest?”, or “what is the smallest?” I don’t know if there is consensus on the largest dragonfly in the continental U.S. It may be the grey petaltail, swamp darner, dragonhunter, or something else. The largest monster dragonfly with that distinction will win by mere millimeters, I think. But for the smallest dragonfly, for the U.S. there is no debate that it’s the elfin skimmer (Nannothemis bella), which is also described as the 2nd smallest in the world. In Paulsens’ book on Eastern dragonflies, the elfin skimmer is described as “barely big enough to be called dragon”. Startlingly small, the larger females are at most 20mm long (that is often shorter than the length of the last joint on your little finger). A mosquito would be a very large meal for them!
In the early years of this hobby, I learned about elfin skimmers from the estimable docshark (Tony Schoch), and so began a healthy obsession with finding and photographing them. But elfin skimmers can be a challenging species, since their populations tend to be scattered and they just don’t want to fly far from their rather narrowly defined breeding grounds to establish new populations.
Over the years I’ve exhausted all of the recorded locations in my area, and I’ve scoured many more that seemed perfect for them. None were found. But recent records in Odonata Central listed a promising but remote lake two hours away. So one day I made the long drive to it. No other humans were around for miles. The excitement was pretty extreme as the long woodland trail opened up to the lake. And there, on a distant shore, were elfin skimmers! Just like that. This is possibly the greatest highlight of my entire summer.
I knew they would be small, but Wow! They are tiny! Here is a female sitting on a blade of grass (!). Their bold colors are suspected to make them a wasp mimic.
Elfin skimmer by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrElfin skimmer!!! by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrAnd here are some males, which are a little bit smaller than the females. They get more pruinose with age. Mature ones resemble super tiny slaty skimmers.
Elfin skimmer by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrElfin skimmer by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrElfin skimmer by Mark Sturtevant, on FlickrHere is a picture of one perched on someone’s little finger (!) Now you can have some idea about how tiny these are.
https://bugguide.net/node/view/12441/bgimage
Photographing them turned out to be very easy, although I had to abandon the usual zoom lens and switch to the macro lens. If they flew off, that was no problem since they have territories of only a few feet, at most. They sure don’t fly far!
EPILOGUE
Since the few visits to “the elfin shore” as I call it, I’ve learned of new possible populations of elfin skimmers, and I will be checking those out this season for sure. One of the claimed locations is also a favored habitat for our local species of rattlesnake (the Massasauga rattlesnake), so I'll be watching my step.
Thanks for looking!
Apr 11, 2021 10:14:24 #
Wow, Mark. These shots are exquisite. The detail is amazing and I felt your excitement reading your narrative. They are beautiful little creatures.
Apr 11, 2021 11:15:43 #
Excellent. Dragons are fun to shoot but can be a challenge to get the entire insect into focus.
Apr 11, 2021 12:06:29 #
Apr 11, 2021 14:34:53 #
wow! i really cant tell how small they are from the pics, but from your description i can.i know i would still be surprised how small they are if i saw one.VERY GOOD!
Apr 11, 2021 15:44:37 #
tinusbum wrote:
wow! i really cant tell how small they are from the pics, but from your description i can.i know i would still be surprised how small they are if i saw one.VERY GOOD!
Thank you. Clicking on the link gives a pretty good idea.
Apr 11, 2021 15:47:42 #
Here is the smallest of all dragons: https://www.zenger.news/2020/11/28/chinese-scientists-find-the-worlds-smallest-dragonflies/
Apr 12, 2021 06:41:34 #
Apr 12, 2021 09:13:27 #
Apr 12, 2021 10:04:00 #
Excellent. Another one of those I saw one but didn't know I was looking at it! 
Apr 12, 2021 10:35:58 #
When it comes to dragons to slay, or damsels in distress, you are the knight’s knight! 
Apr 12, 2021 11:34:17 #
Apr 12, 2021 19:33:54 #
Apr 19, 2021 11:06:50 #
I'm not sure how I missed that post. Thanks so much for sending me the link. These are wonderful shots of one of my favorite species. I will have to try using a macro lens the next time I head over to my Elfin spot. Headed down to Florida to meet up with my hunting partner. We haven't been out in the field together for two years. Hoping for some lifers. Looking for Purple Skimmer and Hyacinth Gliders. Fingers crossed. They seldom perch.
>i< Doc
>i< Doc
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