Ebony Jewelwing

Here's another familiar face that's pretty common in New Jersey, an Ebony Jewelwing. No other damselfly [1] around here has all-black wings [2], so they're among the easiest odonates to identify around here. While I think the Common Whitetail was the first dragonfly I learned to identify, I'm almost certain that the Ebony Jewelwing was the first damselfly I learned to identify. Although they are predominantly black (providing the "ebony" part of their name), the males will frequently also show a blue/green metallic sheen (which is probably where the "jewel" part of their name came from).

Like all odonates, the Ebony Jewelwing is a predatory flying insect. I'm not sure they're big enough to prey on deer flies or horse flies, they probably do take down some insects we regard as pests. I frequently find odonates in areas where flies/gnats are plentiful; it makes sense that they like to be around their food source.

Here's the 1st picture I got of an Ebony Jewelwing this season; it's a male.

June 1, 2022 at the Plainsboro Preserve
Photo 205020173, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

And here's a female (note the white spot on the wing) of a female from last year.

July 13, 2021 at Washington Valley Park
Photo 148186629, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)




[1] I throw around the terms dragonfly and damselfly a lot; here (despite some typos) is a pretty good summary of the differences.

[2] Technically this is only true of the males. The wings of the females are usually a translucent black with a small white spot near the ends, making them look closer in appearance to other NJ jewelwings.

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