Field Notes: Damselflies (Patreon)

We have a new episode coming up about damselflies! In the photo above, that’s producer Mike Seely working with cinematographer Josh Cassidy on location in San Francisco.

These insects are cousins of dragonflies and San Francisco has its very own: the San Francisco forktail damselfly. Most damselflies prefer sunnier, warmer places, but they’ve adapted to the city’s cool fog. Though biologists are working to conserve this species, this damselfly might go extinct as climate change may continue to impact San Francisco’s fog in the future.

Michael Lin and Patrick Schlemmer of the San Francisco Zoo have been working to capture and mark the forktail damselflies in two locations where they live within the city. They’re hoping to better understand how the current population is doing, as habitat loss is another major reason that their numbers are declining.

They’ve also been supplementing the wild populations by rearing them in their lab and releasing them in these locations to help them flourish. Wildlife ecologist Jonathan Young of the Presidio Trust is pitching in with these efforts as well.

You can watch some exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from this shoot at our YouTube channel here.

This episode premieres next Tuesday, Sept. 14, but Patreon supporters will get a sneak peek this Friday!

Photo credits: Jenny Oh/KQED