Dragonfly Notes

When a seemingly routine medical procedure results in her mother's premature death, Anne Panning is left reeling. In her first full-length memoir, the celebrated essayist and short story writer draws on decades of memory and experience, piecing together hard truths about her own past and her mother's. We follow Panning's winding path from rural Minnesota to the riverbanks of Vietnam's Mekong Delta. A stark, poignant tale of two women deeply connected, yet forever apart, Dragonfly Notes is a testament to the prevailing nature of love, whether in the form of a rediscovered note, a sudden moment of unexpected recall, or sometimes, simply, the sight a dragonfly flitting past.

Winner of the Single Volume Reference/Science award of the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Awards given by the Association of American Publishers Dragonfly Genera of the New World is a beautifully illustrated and comprehensive guide to the taxonomy and ecology of dragonflies in North, Middle, and South America. A reference of the highest quality, this book reveals the striking beauty and complexity of this diverse order. Although Odonata—dragonflies and damselflies—are among the most studied groups of insects, until now there has been no reliable means to identify the New World genera of either group. This volume provides fully illustrated and up-to-date keys for all dragonfly genera with descriptive text for each genus, accompanied by distribution maps and 1,595 diagnostic illustrations, including wing patterns and characteristics of the genitalia. For entomologists, limnologists, and ecologists, Dragonfly Genera of the New World is an indispensable resource for field identification and laboratory research.

This monograph is the first of its kind devoted entirely to the dragonfly nymphs of North America north of Mexico, the focus being accurate identification of the 330 species of Anisoptera that occur in the region. Nymphal external morphology is described and illustrated in detail, and all terms needed to navigate the dichotomous keys are defined. Species are tabulated with references that provide the most detailed, accurate descriptions for each; species that are inadequately described are so indicated. The key separating the seven families in the region contains several new characters. The families are then covered separately: Aeshnidae (13 genera), Gomphidae (17 genera), Petaluridae (2 genera), Cordulegastridae (2 genera), Macromiidae (2 genera), Corduliidae (7 genera), and Libellulidae (29 genera). Each family is further characterized, followed by a generic key. A drawing of the habitus and diagnostic details for each genus are provided, along with additional diagnostic remarks and notes on habitat and life cycle; for each genus, a map shows its geographic distribution in North America. Full-grown nymphs of all known species of each genus are keyed and diagnosed; characters that apply to earlier instars are noted. Morphological variation in character states was analyzed in order to assess the reliability of previously utilized characters and to discover new characters. Most of the characters used to distinguish all levels of taxa are illustrated; a total of 702 figures, comprising 1,800 original drawings, along with selected photographs where necessary for clarity, accompany the keys. Measurements of total length, head width, and other variables for each species are provided in tables. Difficulties with past keys and descriptions, including errors, omissions and other shortcomings, are addressed. The importance of nymph characters in helping solve generic and specific distinctions and their role in phylogenetic studies is emphasized. Methods for collecting, rearing, and preserving dragonfly nymphs and exuviae are presented. The final chapter discusses research opportunities on North American Anisoptera nymphs, including taxonomic needs, studies on structure and function, life history and microhabitat, water quality indices and conservation efforts. The habitus drawings of all genera are arranged according to family in five plates (Appendix I); although the book is intended as a lab manual, these plates conveniently allow for comparison based on nymph shape making field identification to genus possible in many cases. Appendix II contains a brief history of dragonfly nymph studies in North America. A glossary and an index to scientific names are included.

A 2021 Coretta Scott King Honor Book! Winner of the 2020 National Book Award for Young People's Literature! Winner of the 2020 Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for Fiction and Poetry! In a small but turbulent Louisiana town, one boy's grief takes him beyond the bayous of his backyard, to learn that there is no right way to be yourself. FOUR STARRED REVIEWS! Booklist School Library Journal Publishers Weekly The Horn Book Twelve-year-old Kingston James is sure his brother Khalid has turned into a dragonfly. When Khalid unexpectedly passed away, he shed what was his first skin for another to live down by the bayou in their small Louisiana town. Khalid still visits in dreams, and King must keep these secrets to himself as he watches grief transform his family. It would be easier if King could talk with his best friend, Sandy Sanders. But just days before he died, Khalid told King to end their friendship, after overhearing a secret about Sandy-that he thinks he might be gay. "You don't want anyone to think you're gay too, do you?" But when Sandy goes missing, sparking a town-wide search, and King finds his former best friend hiding in a tent in his backyard, he agrees to help Sandy escape from his abusive father, and the two begin an adventure as they build their own private paradise down by the bayou and among the dragonflies. As King's friendship with Sandy is reignited, he's forced to confront questions about himself and the reality of his brother's death. The Thing About Jellyfish meets The Stars Beneath Our Feet in this story about loss, grief, and finding the courage to discover one's identity, from the author of Hurricane Child.

"Your adventure guide to finding, observing, identifying, and understanding butterflies and dragonflies"--Cover.

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1956. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived

Read the USA Today bestseller from the author of Roses, a "sumptuous, full-bodied, and emotional" novel about five young spies embedded among the highest Nazi ranks in occupied Paris (Adriana Trigiani, NYT bestselling author of Tony's Wife). At the height of World War II, a handful of idealistic young Americans receive a mysterious letter from the government, asking them if they are willing to fight for their country. The men and women from very different backgrounds -- a Texan athlete with German roots, an upper-crust son of a French mother and a wealthy businessman, a dirt-poor Midwestern fly fisherman, an orphaned fashion designer, and a ravishingly beautiful female fencer -- all answer the call of duty, but each for a secret reason of her or his own. They bond immediately, in a group code-named Dragonfly. Thus begins a dramatic cat-and-mouse game, as the group seeks to stay under the radar until a fatal misstep leads to the capture and the firing-squad execution of one of their team. But is everything as it seems, or is this one more elaborate act of spycraft?