Royal River Cruiser

One of the odonata larvae in the garage lab hatched last night. This one, aptly named the Royal River Cruiser, is one of the largest species of dragonfly in our area, up to four inches long. Andrew overwintered the larva in the garage feeding them small guppies (that he gets at the pet store), and then as they hatch in the spring he photographs them, makes notes and releases them back to the habitat where they were collected. Each species of dragonfly has a tiny identifying characteristic and being able to identify them takes hours of careful study and a lot of patience. In my opinion this is not one of the most spectacular ones I have seen in regard to color but it's size makes it somewhat special.


Sometimes tiny parts near the wings are used to identify the individual.

Other times the abdomen or wings have an identifying characteristic.