The newly published field guide describing all 73 dragonfly species in California.

Did you know that there are 73 species of dragonflies  (Anisoptera) in California?

We've been waiting for an updated field guide book on our state's dragonflies, and now it's here.

Dragonfly experts Kathy Biggs and Sandra von Arb have just announced their newly published book, Dragonflies (Anisoptera) of California,published by Nature/Field Guides. It's a 200-page, spiral-bound book, rich with images, and featuring ALL of the 73 known species of dragonflies in California (many of these dragonflies also inhabit nearby states). 

We remember Biggs and von Arb sharing their expertise at a dragonfly open house at the Bohart Museum of Entomology, UC Davis, on Sept. 20, 2015 with international dragonfly authority Rosser Garrison,  author of Dragonfly Genera of the New World: an llustrated and Annotated Key to the Anisoptera (now a retired insect biosystematist, California Department of Food and Agriculture); and Bohart associate Greg Kareofelas. UC Davis doctoral candidate Christofer Brothers also has shared his expertise on dragonflies at Bohart Museum open houses.

Biggs and von Arb relate they met through their shared passion for dragonflies. Biggs? An experienced dragonfly guide and author. Von Arb? A biologist and founder of the Biodiversity Education and Research Foundation, commonly known as BEAR or BEAR Foundation. (It is currently offline)

The authors point out that the book contains:

• More than 146 full-color photographs of both the males and females and their descriptions (photos also include nymph/exuvia for each genus)
• Habitat, distribution maps, flight periods, behaviors, similar species and oviposition techniques for each species
• Clear and easy-to-use format

Among the photographers contributing to the book are Pierre Deviche, Jim Johnson and Matthew Matthiessen. "Greg (Kareofelas) has a thumbnail showing a close-up of one of a snake tail faces showing the horns on the females," Biggs added.

You can order the book here. The link shows sample pages as well. It may be available soon from the Bohart Museum of Entomology gift shop, where Biggs also has dragonfly books.

Now, I'm waiting for that flameskimmer to snag a flying insect, just as its ancestors did. Dragonflies existed before the Age of Dinosaurs; dinosaurs lived during the Mesozoic Era (and that was 252 to 66 million years ago). Indeed, fossil records show that these dragonfly ancestors were the world's largest flying insects, some with wing spans measuring three feet.