Insects of Alberta 1

This Darner dragonfly was out at Frank Lake a couple of years ago. I posted another photo of it a while ago, taken looking at it head on, but this close-up shows the intricate details of the back. They really are spectacular, aren' t they, when seen close?

Needed a few reminders of spring this morning, thanks to a fall of snow overnight! It was quite a blizzard, with visibility very low, in the very early hours of this morning.

Not sure if this is Slender Blue Beardtongue or Smooth Blue Beardtongue. Not sure of the butterfly, either, but I think it is a Gossamer-wing, a Blue.

I think "everyone" has a similar dragonfly photo to this one! Doesn't take away from the beauty, though.

Not a very good photo of the butterfly, but I just liked the way it was sitting on a spruce (?) branch instead of the more usual flower.

We get lots of these very tiny Blues in summer. I don't know enough about butterflies to make a more detailed identification.

This is the black (nitra) form of the Old World Swallowtail butterfly, seen at Brown Lowery Park, Alberta, mid-July. Similar to a photo posted a while ago.

Saw a number of these tiny red beetles on some Alfalfa plants on 9th July 2006. I think I did find a possible ID but can't have written it down anywhere, so I am still none the wiser!

I didn't see many of these butterflies last summer, but we had swarms of them the year before. If I remember correctly, this cycle happens about every 10 years.