Books and Field Guides

Field guides are either based around photographs, or drawings. While most people have their personal preference, serious naturalists usually have both. Natural history books like this have a tendency to go out of print, but three field guides useful to Ohio are currently available: A Naturalist’s Guide to the Odonata of Ohio (McSchaffrey 2024), Dragonflies of North America (Lam 2024), and Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East (Paulson 2011).

Beaton, G. 2007. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Georgia and the Southeast. University of Georgia Press.

  • 368 pp. Covers many species for Ohio and several southern species that we should expect to start invading Ohio. Many color photographs and is a good compliment to Paulsen and Rosche.

Corbet, Philip S. 1999. Dragonflies: Behavior and Ecology of Odonata. Comstock Book

  • 864 pp. Considered the standard reference work for dragonflies and damselflies, it goes into exhaustive scholarly detail on development, larval habits, foraging, and reproduction. Out of print.

Garrison, Marla. 2011. Damselflies of Chicagoland: a Photo Field Guide. Field Museum

  • 71 pp. Downloadable. Most of these species are found in Ohio.

Glotzhober, Robert C. and Dave McShaffrey. 2002. The Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ohio. Ohio Biological Survey, Bulletin/New Series, Volume 14, Number 2.

  • 364 pp. Illustrated keys for ID of specimens in hand with magnification. Detailed species descriptions with habitat info, Ohio maps and known flight dates. Baseline for entire state. Can be ordered through the Ohio Biological Survey.

Glotzhober, Robert C. and Dave McShaffrey. 2017. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ohio Field Guide. Ohio Dept of Natural Resources.

  • 67pp. Less detailed than the other field guides, this pamphlet has the significant advantage of being available for free at many state locations, and is downloadable.

Kellicott, David Simons. The Odonata of Ohio. 1899. Ohio State Academy of Science.

  • 152 pp. Downloadable. Containing a list of the known Ohio species, with identification keys, this is the first book scientific treatise on Ohio’s odonata, written the Ohio State University professor who began systemic research in this natural history domain.

Lam, Ed. 2004.  Damselflies of the Northeast. Biodiversity Books, Forest Hills, NY.

  • 96pp. Excellent field guide for area with 2 or 3 or more colored illustrations for each species with details on how to separate for ID. Unfortunately, this is out of print. Used copies are available online, but a combination of scarcity and popularity means that the price is usually unreasonable.   

Lam, Ed. 2024. Dragonflies of North America. Princeton Field Guides

  • 446 pp. Filled with the beautiful illustrations that the author is known for, this widely-anticipated new book is arguably the best guide for identification purposes, making it a must have for all serious dragonfly hunters. It provides range maps, short summaries of flight season, and a short discussion of ‘similar species’ with information on differences in their field marks. Preferred habitats are included for each species, and sometimes characteristic behavior is mentioned, but otherwise, this field guide does not provide much additional species-specific natural history information.

McShaffrey et al. 2024. A Naturalist’s Guide to the Odonata of Ohio. Ohio Biological Survey

  • 393 pp. This photo-based based book is the definitive reference to the dragonfly and damselfly species found in Ohio. It provides detailed species descriptions with discussions of habitat and behavior, Ohio distribution maps and known flight dates. Available through Amazon.

Needham, J. G., Westfall, M. J. Jr. and May, M. L. 2014. Dragonflies of North America. Third Edition. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, Fl.

  • 658 pp. This rather technical tome is no field guide, but is a great source for keying out those tricky specimens (both adult and immature). It includes an abundance of line drawings of specimens and includes the immature forms. The third edition was updated to include more recent taxonomy and species for all of North America. It is out of print, but used copies are available.

Paulson, Dennis. 2011.  Dragonflies and Damselflies of the East. Princeton University Press.  

  • 538 pp. Excellent descriptions and photos for species in the eastern regions of USA and Canada. Highly useful for ID and species discussions.

Paulson, Dennis. 2019. Dragonflies & Damselflies: a Natural History. Princeton University Press.

  • 223 pp. Not a field guide, this book is unique in providing a non-academic, and low priced, overview of odonate behavior. Beautiful photographs.

Rosche, Larry, Judy Semroc and Linda Gilbert. 2008. Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio,  Second Edition.  Cleveland Museum of Natural History.

  • 300 pp. Spiral bound for easy use. Although it is intended to specifically address 14 northeastern Ohio counties, it includes the majority of species typically found in Ohio. Excellent photos and illustrations and species discussions. Includes a flight season line and map of which NE OH counties each species was known from. Currently offered on Amazon for far more than the suggested price of $24.95, its worth tracking down a used copy. Be sure to get the “Second Edition” which has many more photographs than the original.

Tennessen, K. 2019. Dragonfly Nymphs of North America. Springer.

  • 620 pp. Covers all dragonfly larvae of North America. Many amazing illustrations that make it practical for a dedicated beginner to identify live nymphs and exuviae. Expensive.

Westfall, M. J. Jr. and May, M. L. 2006. Damselflies of North America. Second Edition Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, Fl.

  • 502 pp. Covers all 168 species of damselflies of North America and includes keys for identification of adults and larvae. As with the Dragonflies of North America tome, this book also includes an abundance of line drawings to aid in identification. Out of print, but used copies of this edition and the earlier edition are available online.

White, Harold B. III. 2011. Natural History of Delmarva Dragonflies and Damselflies. Cultural Studies of Delaware and the Eastern Shore, Delaware Nature Society.

  • 284 pages. Although not all of the species discuss in this highly-readable book are found in Ohio, many of them are. Its an interesting and useful level of detail that exceeds what is available within traditional field guides.

Spanish Publications

Aguilar, A. and Garay, M. Las libelulas y los caballitos del diablo: un mundo fascinante. 2017.

  • 15 pp. En Español. Una introducción a las libélulas y los caballitos del diablo. Tiene información de la ecología, reproducción, la importancia a controlar bichos, y mucho más. Contacto Alejandro Cordoba Aguilar (acordoba@iecologia.unam.mx) para obtener una copia física del libro.

Updated 11 November 2024