"Giles" wrote in message
...
On Aug 18, 4:32 pm, D. LaCourse wrote:


There are probably some regional variations, but in my experience,
"darning needles" seems typically to refer not to dragonflies so much
as to damselflies.....a distinction that is probably lost on most
people since they don't seem to be aware of the difference. The
"blue" ones (which I distinctly remember as "darning needles" from my
childhood) are mostly members of the genus Ischnura, many of whose
common names are one or another kind of "bluet." Damsels, even as
compared to dragons, have an exceptionally long and slender abdomen,
thus giving rise to comaprison with darning needles (which,
incidentally, are pretty much a thing of the past in Murrica.....and
presumably in the rest of the "developed" world.....most of whose
residents under thirty or so probably have never seen it done and
don't know what the term darning refers to).
darning

Never heard of Damsellies bing called darning needles here in the UK.
However to distinguish Dragons from Damsels, Dragonflies hold their wings
out sideways when they are resting. Damsels wings lie along the length of
their bodies when at rest - something dragon's can't do.

Bill