[Odonata-l] Need advice about odonating in Costa Rica

[June Tveekrem]

I plan to be in Costa Rica January 18-24, 2009. I'm staying at Selva 
Verde lodge, which is not far from the La Selva biological station. I 
want to photograph and (hopefully) identify as many odonates as I can, 
and I have several questions.

1) Is it legal for me to carry and use a net? I don't plan to collect 
any dragonflies. I want to catch them, photograph them from every angle 
I can think of, and release them alive.

2) What is the Spanish word for "dragonfly"? I know libélula, but when I 
say that to people around here who speak Spanish as their native 
language, they don't know what I'm talking about. My dictionary says 
"caballitos del diablo", but I've never heard anybody say that. Is there 
a word or phrase for "dragonfly" used among the general public in Costa 
Rica?

3) Can you recommend reference books and websites that I can use for ID 
in the field or ID from detailed photographs later? I have the following 
books, which I plan to take with me:

-- Carlos Esquivel's book, "Libélulas de Mesoamérica y el Caribe" which 
covers the location and habitat I'll be visiting and identifies odonates 
to the family level.
-- Förster's book, "The Dragonflies of Central America", which also 
covers the location and habitat, and has binary keys that require you to 
have the specimen in hand (preferably dead so it won't fly off while 
you're trying to measure and examine it).
-- Ellenrieder and Garrison's book, "Libélulas de las Yungas", which 
identifies odonates to the species level using diagrams and photos, but 
in cloud forest habitat in Argentina.

I also plan to use the following website:

-- Dragonflies and Damselflies of La Selva, 
http://ghostmoth.eeb.uconn.edu/laselvadragons/ , which contains scanned 
images (lateral view) of all odonates found at La Selva biological station.

Thank you for your help.

June

-- 
June Tveekrem
Columbia, Maryland, U.S.
damselfly|AT|southernspreadwing.com
http://SouthernSpreadwing.com