Come Dragonfly, Come Dragonfly Away (on Fairway #8)!
It was a warm August day on fairway #8 of the Black Course. As I was initially monitoring for Monarch butterflies, I could not help but get distracted by the array of dragonflies making rounds above me. Exciting as this is to see, I forget that this should be no surprise; #8 of the Black Course offers resourceful landscape features to the world of insects....especially dragonflies! Blue Dasher (left) and Common Whitetail (right) This is because the first and most important feature on #8 is our freshwater pond. All dragonflies need water to complete their lifecycle. Females will seek out water to oviposit (lay) over 1000 eggs under the surface. After hatching and as they develop, dragonfly nymphs will remain aquatic. This can take up to many seasons, sometimes four or five years. What is most fascinating is that these insects survive under the frozen pond throughout winters too! Not only does our pond provide a location for dragonflies to breed but it also offers promising prey