Odonates are fearsome predators, but that doesn't keep them from sometimes becoming prey themselves! I spotted this female Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferruginea) hanging at an unusual angle through binoculars, but did not see the Green Lynx Spider (Puecitia visidens) eating it until I took a closer look! The little yellow dots in the webbing are baby spiders. From Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge near Alamo, TX, on the second day of the inaugural "Dragonfly Days" festival.
Photos below marked with an N(for "new") are the most recently added ones.
Identification Challenges
Gomphus quadricolor? Randy Emmitt, Will Cook, and I thought this critter was G. exilis when we found it during a butterfly count in the Sandhills Gamelands of North Carolina in April 1999. However, the last few abdominal segments are dorsally black. G. exilis (see below) has some yellow markings here. The small clubtail normally found in the Sandhills in early spring, G. diminutus, should have tan legs; this one's legs look black. G. quadricolor is thought to be more of a mountain species, but has been collected in the sandhills by Duncan Cuyler previously...
I think everything else on here has been correctly identified now. Many thanks to Sid Dunkle, Dennis Paulson, Nick Donnelly, Blair Nikula, Bob Barber, John Abbott, Bob Behrstock, Tim Manolis, Kathy Biggs, and all the other folks who have helped me identify the ones I didn't know. And be sure to let me know if you think one of these ID's is wrong! My e-mail address is jsr6 at duke.edu; replace " at " with "@" before sending...
Other images:
Darners, family Aeshnidae:
N Another exciting Lower Rio Grande Valley darner discovery: a few months after seeing the Aeshna psilus below, I stumbled upon the fourth documented US record of Gynacantha mexicana, the Bar-sided Darner!
Most of the members of the genus Aeshna are northern, boreal species. However, Aeshna multicolor, the Blue-faced Darner, ranges further south; I photographed this pair near the American River in Sacramento CA, where Tim Manolis was introducing me to his local species.
Bob Behrstock and Sid Dunkle found several Aeshna psilus, Turquoise-tipped Darner, at Santa Ana NWR in mid-May 2002; this one was still around for the Dragonfly Days festival a few days later.
Coryphaeshna adnexa, the Blue-faced Darner. This tropical species had never been recorded in Texas before, in fact never in the U.S. outside of Florida (where it may have been accidentally introduced by humans). But I found several in the Santa Ana NWR in June 2000, and one more in the Sabal Palm Sanctuary near Brownsville. Global warming?
Anax amazili, the Ringed Darner. This species is considered a rare vagrant to the US, found in Florida and Texas. However, during the same visit on which I found multiple C. adnexa (see above), I also found a number of A. amazili, including a female ovipositing!
Gynacantha nervosa, the Twilight Darner, so named because it is normally only active around dawn or dusk. I found this one in the Fairchild Tropical Gardens in Coral Gables, FL flying around during the day, fooled by some dark clouds.
This Gomphaeshna furcillata, Harlequin Darner, was pulled out of my friend Tania Rehse's car's grille after we drove through a swarm of hundreds of individuals; even driving only 25 mph, we couldn't avoid them all... Despite its local abundance, this may be the first record ever for Dare County, NC. It flies for only a few weeks in the spring.
Cruisers, family Macromiidae:
Didymops transversa , the Stream Cruiser. A Macromiid, even though I thought it was a Gomphid when I took the photo. Took me months to identify it, thanks to that little oversight... Two springs later, we found a female near Randy Emmitt's house.
Macromia illinoiensis georgina, the Georgia River Cruiser (a subspecies of the Illinois River Cruiser). Photographed at Rolling View Recreation Area on Falls Lake near Durham, NC in early September 1998. This photo just doesn't do justice to its eyes, which in person were greener than you could ever imagine!
Baskettails, family Corduliidae:
Cordulia shurtleffi , the American Emerald. I found a few of these and several other odes (see below), all apparently newly emerged, on May 28 2001 at the boggy north end of Lake Almanor in California's Sierra Nevada.
We visited Irvin Farm, a tract of land soon to be inherited by the Triangle Land Conservancy, on April 15 2001 and found a number of Epitheca cynosura, Common Baskettails, emerging from a ponds. The white stringy stuff coming out of the shed larval skin (or exuvia) is the lining of the insect's respiratory system, turned inside out! We had to fish this one out of the pond, it had fallen in and had a damaged wing.
In the same clearing as the female Stream Cruiser (above), we found this Helicordulia uhleri, Uhler's Sundragon.
Clubtails, family Gomphidae:
N My friend Bill Haley led me to Falling Water Creek where we found Stylogomphus albistylus after I led a program on dragonflies for the Tennessee Aquarium where Bill works. Not much later, on the same creek, we encountered Dromogomphus spinosus.
Aphylla angustifolia , the Broad-striped Forceptail, is the most common of the Gomphids in the Lower Rio Grande Valley during the summer. This one was in Santa Ana NWR in June.
Aphylla protracta , the Narrow-striped Forceptail, also from Santa Ana. In contrast to the Broad-striped, I only saw this species twice over about 6 weeks of field work.
Aphylla williamsonia , the Two-striped Forcepstail, replaces its Texas relatives in the southeastern US.
Erpetogomphus designatus, the Eastern Ringtail. This male was photographed in early September of 1998 in North Carolina, just below the dam on the Pee Dee River that forms Tillery Lake. And here is a mating pair from Santa Ana NWR, which we found on May 15 2000 during a field trip for the inaugural "Dragonfly Days" festival.
North Carolina's dean of dragonflies, Duncan Cuyler, identified this Progomphus obscurus, Common Sanddragon, for us at Howell Woods.
Gomphus lividus, Ashy Clubtail, found near Knap of Reeds Creek, Durham County, NC in April 2000. Here is a side view of the same individual.
A real Gomphus exilis, Lancet Clubtail, near Occoneechee Mountain in Orange County, NC on May 5 2000.
Gomphus diminutus, Diminutive Clubtail, from Scotland Lake in the Sandhills Gamelands of North Carolina.
Gomphus kurilis, Pacific Clubtail, on Sweetwater Creek, upstream from Folsom Lake near Placerville, CA. Tim Manolis took me to the creek, but had to go home before I found the clubtail he just KNEW was there somewhere...
Gomphus militaris, Sulphur-tipped Clubtail, found during the inaugural "Dragonfly Days" festival. The hand holding it belongs to Forrest Mitchell, creator of the website Digital Dragonflies.
Stylurus plagiatus, Russet-tipped Clubtail, from the butterfly garden at Santa Ana NWR, found May 19 2001, the second day of the second annual "Dragonfly Days" festival. At the time, I thought it was an Erpetogomphus, Tim Manolis thought it was a Stylurus, and Paul Miliotis thought it was an Aphylla; at least two other folks e-mailed me later suggesting it was Dromogomphus spoliatus! But the majority of folks supported Tim's ID.
Skimmers, family Libellulidae:
Macrothemis inacuta , the Straw-colored Sylph, rarely sits still for photographs. Sometimes I can be patient and wait. This time, at the Kepler tract of LRGV NWR in Salineno, TX, I just went ahead and took photos of it flying.
N Males of the genus Erythrodiplax tend to all look the same, small and various shades of blue-gray. So I usually opt to photograph the more variable and colorful females, like this E. miniscula, Little Blue Dragonlet (named, obviously, for the coloration of the male).
N Very few insects can even survive for long in salt water, but Erythrodiplax berenice can actually complete its entire life cycle in sea water. As usual for this genus, the female is more colorful than the male , though this one still has its bicolored immature eyes.
Nannothemis
bella, the Elfin Skimmer, the smallest dragonfly in North America.
As with Erythrodiplax, this is a female, and the male is blue-gray.
Usually only found around Sphagnum moss or other extreme pH environments.
This one was only a few meters from the above Gomphus
diminutus.
My vote for best-looking dragonfly might have to go to Celithemis elisa, the Calico Pennant.
Celithemis fasciata, Banded Pennant. This species shows an interesting cline in wing coloration. Florida individuals have an amber area at the base of the hindwing, surrounded by a dark patch. This specimen, which Randy Emmitt and I found on the Guilford County annual butterfly count in July 1999, and others in the area have the dark patch, but the wing within it is clear, not amber. And in Massachusetts, the species lacks most of the dark patch as well as the amber color.
Celithemis amanda, photographed in the Green Swamp near Wilmington, NC (best known for its carnivorous plants; see my plant photos).
Macrodiplax balteata, the Marl Pennant, is a specialist on saline and especially alkaline habitats. This one was at the fish hatchery in Olmito, TX, just north of Brownsville.
The Metallic Pennant, Idiataphe cubensis, is only found in the US in south Florida, but it's pretty common there. They like heights, often perching on the highest tips of palm trees.
Brachymesia herbida, the Tawny Pennant, is a rare vagrant to the US. This one was actually in a salt marsh in the Boca Chica tract of the LRGV NWR, east of Brownsville, TX. I saw others at the nearby Olmito Fish Hatchery. It is easily confused with immatures of the closely related Four-spotted Pennant, Brachymesia gravida.
Most recent publications call Pachydiplax longipennis the Blue Dasher, but I like to stick to the more evocative name which Needham and Westfall used for it: the Blue Pirate. Just sounds more evocative...
The next photo will look to many easterners like a male Erythemis simplicicollis (Eastern Pondhawk), but see the little edge of the white face? This is actually another male P. longipennis; out west (this one's from the American River Parkway in Sacramento) blue pruinosity covers their striped thorax.
Micrathyria hagenii, the Thornbush Dasher, is everyone's favorite LRGV odonate. This one was actually just outside the Valley, at the birding hotspot known as the TXDOT Brooks County Rest Area.
N The very similar Micrathyria didyma is much rarer in the LRGV than its congener above. This one was in south Florida, where it was first detected a couple of decades ago, probably having hitched a ride from somewhere in the Caribbean.
N Another small tropical dasher, Micrathyria aequalis looks very different from the other two US members of its genus. It, too, was not known from Florida until relatively recently.
Dythemis nigrescens, the Black Setwing. I actually saw few of these in the LRGV in June, but by August they were much more common.
Dythemis fugax , the Checkered Setwing. This was the only member of this species which I saw during my entire summer in south Texas. I returned two years later for a week, and again, found exactly one.
N Bill Haley and I found a few Dythemis velox at the Baylor School near Chattanooga, TN, well out of their normal range; they were previously only known in Tennessee from the western end of the state.
Orthemis sp., the as-yet-unnamed Antillean Red Skimmer, photographed in Fairchild Tropical Garden July 1, 1998. This species was only recently split from O. ferruginea, the Roseate Skimmer, and O. discolor, the Orange-bellied Skimmer. Several species from this genus are found in the American tropics, but none were found in Florida. until this species invaded the Keys in the late 1800's. It has since spread northward into peninsular Florida. The other two species are also found in parts of Florida, west through Texas and south in Latin America. During my season in the LRGV, I encountered many male and female Orthemis ferruginea.
Crocothemis servilia, a male Scarlet Skimmer, also photographed at Fairchild Tropical Garden. Another male nearby gave me a close-up look. And a female photographed at Loxahatchee NWR. This species is native to Asia and Australia, but is now established in southern Florida and Hawaii.
N And if you still have trouble telling the above two species apart, here they both are together.
N If you see huge swarms of dragonflies, especially near mountains or a large body of water, chances are they are migrating groups of Pantala hymenea. I ran into these while they were resting in the woods in the LRGV.
Pantala flavescens, the Wandering Glider, is probably the single most widespread odonate on Earth, even occurring on Easter Island. This one was in Hawai'i, on the Big Island, patrolling around my car. On the US mainland they too are migratory.
I found this P. flavescens naiad in a pool along a stream crossing the Hana Highway in Maui, with conspecific adults flying nearby. Like all odonate larvae, it had a really impressive labium (which looks like a pair of mandibles in this photo).
N Many of the migratory dragonfly species in the US, like this Tramea carolina, are called "saddlebags" because of the colored patches on their hindwings.
Tramea calverti, the Striped Saddlebags, is a rare vagrant in most of the US, but actually fairly common in the LRGV.
Libellula comanche, the Comanche Skimmer, is a fairly common species in the Texas Hill Country west to California. This one, however, was the first ever recorded in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, at the La Sal del Rey tract of Lower Rio Grande Valley NWR.
N I was having trouble identifying this old, tattered-winged female dragonfly until it turned and showed me the black-and-white stigmata of Libellula cyanea. I first encountered this species about a year earlier on a Durham spring bird count.
This Great Blue Skimmer, Libellula vibrans , greeted us just as the Duke Natural History Society was leaving the Triangle Land Conservancy's Johnston Mill Preserve.
Libellula pulchella is almost everybody's favorite skimmer thanks to its distinctive wing markings, wide range, and fondness for river habitats.
Libellula semifasciata is one of the first really colorful dragonflies to emerge in the spring. Even the side view looks good.
Libellula luctuosa, commonly known as the Widow Skimmer. Even males like this one.
Libellula quadrimaculata is a northern species; I found this one up in the mountains in California. I saw several, all apparently teneral; most of the other odonates I saw at Lake Almanor that day also seemed newly emerged.
Libellula saturata , the Flame Skimmer. I found this one while I was birding in Sycamore Canyon, AZ in May 1997, while the "Roving Sands" military exercises gave us a forced vacation from bird censuses on Fort Bliss. I found this female with Tim Manolis' help, near his home in Sacramento, CA.
N It can be very difficult to tell Libellula incesta, the Slaty Skimmer, from its close relative L. axilena, the Bar-winged Skimmer, when Slaty Skimmers like this one have bars on their wings.
The Common Whitetail, Plathemis lydia, was part of the genus Libellula for a long time, but recent molecular phylogenetic studies have restored it to Plathemis. It's one of the most widespread dragonflies in the US, and has one of the longest flight seasons too.
Sympetrum ambiguum , the Blue-faced Meadowhawk. Photo taken in October 1999 in Durham County, NC.
Sympetrum semicinctum, Band-winged Meadowhawk, a female from southern Michigan.
Sympetrum obtrusum, White-faced Meadowhawk, just barely showing its namesake white face. It was common in the marshes along Lake Michigan, west of Traverse City, in August 1999. Here's a top view which may or may not be of the same species... N And here it is again, at the extreme southern edge of its range in western North Carolina.
Sympetrum corruptum , the notoriously wandering Variegated Meadowhawk; this one was in California's Central Valley.
A Whiteface , genus Leucorrhinia, showing how it got its name. Photographed at the boggy north end of Lake Almanor in California. I saw at least three species of whiteface that day: L. glacialis (Crimson-ringed Whiteface, which I couldn't successfully photograph), L. intacta (Dot-tailed), and L. hudsonica (Hudsonian).
Broadwings, family Calopterygidae:
Calopteryx dimidiata, Sparkling Jewelwing, on a little creek in the NC Coastal Plain.
A female Haeterina americana, American Rubyspot, on the Haw River near Pittsboro, NC. I found this with the help of two gentlemen odonatologists from England, David Kitching and Richard Gabb. A couple of years later, Tim Manolis led me to this male; note the difference in thorax color.
Spreadwings, family Lestidae:
Lestes vigilax, Swamp Spreadwing, from Merchant's Millpond State Park in northeastern North Carolina, in late October 2001. I took this photo from the front end of a canoe.
Lestes dryas, Emerald Spreadwing, from Honey Lake, a wetland area west of the Sierra Nevada in northern California.
Pond Damsels, family Coenagrionidae:
Like many of Hawai'i's endemic insects, Megalagrion blackburni is named for Hawaiian entomologist Rev. Thomas Blackburn.
Megalagrion xanthomelas was once found on all of the Hawaiian islands which had fresh water, but now is extinct on Maui and Kauai and only one small population remains on Oahu.
Megalagrion nigrohamatum nigrohamatum is endemic to Maui. Another subspecies, M. n. nigrolineatum, is endemic to Oahu, but is less colorful and nearly extinct.
Enallagma civile, the Familiar Bluet. One of the most widely distributed of all odonates, found on (I think) every continent but Antarctica, and established in Hawai'i as an exotic species.
N I found this female Enallagma aspersum when I visited the Tulula Wetlands, which are being restored by folks from UNC-Asheville after some bonehead tried (unsuccessfully) to build a golf course there.
N Next to yet another golf course, Bill Haley and I watched a pair of Enallagma exsulans in tandem over a small stream.
N A joint field trip of the DNHS and New Hope Audubon found Enallagma geminatum on the pond at Occoneechee Mountain.
This male Enallagma pollutum, the not terribly blue Florida Bluet, met me in a rest area along Alligator Alley in south Florida. A few months later, I found this tandem pair of the virtually identical E. signatum, even more paradoxically named Orange Bluet, back home in North Carolina during the fall North American Migration Count (an annual nationwide bird count).
Enallagma carunculatum, Tule Bluet, from Honey Lake; only a few meters from the Lestes dryas above.
N Neoerythromma cultellatum, the Caribbean Yellowface, just barely gets into the United States, occurring only in extreme southern Florida and Texas. Its bright yellow face is hard to miss.
My friend Tamara Lawson studied Ischnura posita (Fragile Forktail) naiads for her Master's degree.
Ischnura perparva, Western Forktail, also from Lake Almanor. Normally mostly blue, but this one is apparently teneral (newly emerged).
Ischnura denticollis showing how it got the common name "Black-fronted". From Sculpture Park near Roseville, CA.
Argia concinna, which I photographed in a little stream on a steep slope near the Chutes du Charbet, a dazzling trio of waterfalls in the mountains of Guadeloupe in the French Lesser Antilles.
Argia bipunctulata, Seepage Dancer, from Scotland Lake in the Sandhills Gamelands of North Carolina. I originally posted this photo misidentified as Sandhills Bluet, Enallagma davisi; hey, it was in the sandhills...
Argia translata, Dusky Dancer, from the Rio Grande at Anzalduas County Park in Texas. I found a nice Neoneura amelia nearby, but couldn't get a decent photo of it...
Argia vivida, Vivid Dancer, from a little suburban park in Santa Rosa, CA. I was there for a picnic before the wedding of a longtime friend. Here's a top view of the same critter. And an exuvia from a nearby rock; from the same species, maybe?
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