A dazzling dragonfly extravaganza

"A Dazzle of Dragonflies" is precisely what it claims to be: a dazzling, spectacular dragonfly extravaganza. Forrest Mitchell and James Laswell have written a book sure to captivate any budding entomologist, insect collector, or dragonfly-watcher. The book is filled with *really* good, large photos of dragonflies in different environments, situations and life-stages. The authors have also developed a new scanning technique, making many of their pictures extra fascinating (and almost scary).

The book starts off with a chapter on dragonfly tales, dealing with myths, folklore and urban legends about dragonflies. It turns out that dragonflies are universally hated or feared in Western cultures, even in the modern US, while many Native and East Asian cultures considered them beautiful and near-divine. In Japan, the dragonflies were a constant inspiration for poets!

The book then deals with dragonfly fossils, dragonfly larvae, adult dragonfly behavior, and a survey of North American dragonfly families, to aid identification. (If it's well-camouflaged, lives in a dense forest, and fly right at you, it's a Petaltail.) Finally, there are chapters on dragonfly collection, how to breed dragonflies, and watergardening for dragonflies. Attracting dragonflies to your backyard garden isn't difficult, it seems. If you have a small artificial pond, they will come whether you like it or not!

Naturally, the authors have also included a chapter on their scanning technology. They also share some trade secrets of nature photographers. It turns out that these often paralyze captured dragonflies by throwing them in the freezer for half an hour or so, and then place the unconscious insect on a suitable perch, with the best ligh conditions, all to get a clean shot!

There is one problem with this book, however. It's a "nerd book", written by one pair of enthusiasts for another enthusiasts. As a general reader, you need to be *very* interested in the subject to appreciate it. The book is very unevenly written. Some chapters are popularized, others are extremely technical. The authors often loose themselves in details that only interest the specialist. Part of the first chapter sounds like a college lecture on Chinese and Japanese poetry, and another section sounds like a dissertation on the exact methods of propulsion used by larvae. The inclusion of information on how to breed dragonflies, or attract them to your fishpond, also shows that the intended audience are dragonfly buffs.

I understand why the enthusiasts on this product page gave this book five stars. But as a naughty little general reader, I only give it three stars. But yes, the photos (and scans) are worth ten stars at least.

Incidentally, British readers should note that the term "dragonfly" in American English only refers to the "true" or "large" dragonflies, those belonging to the sub-order Anisoptera. Thus, the book doesn't deal with damselflies, except in passing.

PS. I discovered a factual error in the book. It claims that the Swedish word for damselfly, "jungfruslända" means "fairy spinning needle". Actually, it means "virgin spinning needle".

I'm flying off, cheers...