On Tuesday, June 4, the Frost Group went on a collecting adventure to Bear Meadows Natural Area. Collecting interests were broad, although some of us (myself included) were more odonatologically oriented. I never spent much time collecting odes (dragonflies and damselfies) before, and I must say, it was a blast! There’s nothing like standing thigh-deep in murky bogwater, with every swing of the net a threat to your tentative foothold in the mud! (not sarcasm, actually).
Collecting to mid-afternoon, we managed to net 48 specimens representing 8 of the 22 species that are reported to be denizens of Bear Meadows in early June (White et al. 1968). Our most abundant quarry proved to be Cordulia shurtleffii, the American Emerald, and Leucorrhinia hudsonica, the Hudsonian Whiteface, which together made up more than half of our ode bounty.
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Some things I noticed:
- In the morning, most of our success was on the trails – odes were landing on nearby branches to soak up some rays, and didn’t have as much maneuvering room to evade swings of the net. The difficulty: having enough room to swing the net.
- In early afternoon, they seemed to move from the trails to the airspace above the water to hunt and patrol their territories. More species were seen here than on the trails.
- The tragedy that is color loss. My interest in odes started last semester when I rummaged through the impressive Beatty Odonata Collection at the Frost. Dead, discolored specimens are pretty great, but live specimens, with their vibrantly colored eyes and markings, are orders of magnitude more stunning than specimens become almost immediately after they are dispatched in acetone. (there’s has to be a better way, right?)
- Two main strategies for netting odes: the ambush and, my personal favorite, the swing-as-hard-as-you-can approach. Taking cover next to an overhanging branch or a bridge worked great, but wasn’t nearly as satisfying as out-muscling the aerial acrobats on their own turf. The bad news: I probably looked ridiculous all day.
- Their heads aren’t on too well. A few specimens, which were perfectly headed when spotted, were pulled out of the net with one tagma too few. The good news: if you are able to locate the head, it’s nothing a little glue can’t fix!
Other species captured include:
- Helocordulia uhleri, Uhler’s Sundragon
- Ladona julia, the Chalk-fronted Corporal
- Leucorrhinia intacta, the Dot-tailed Whiteface
- Libellula quadrimaculata, the Four-spotted Skimmer
- Chromagrion conditum, the Aurora Damsel
A few additional species were seen and managed to avoid capture. We’ll get ’em next time.
I definitely saw a darner (Aeshnidae) – not sure which one, but maybe it was Gomphaeschna furcillata or Aeshna verticalis? I also saw a clubtail (Gomphidae), briefly, and a Twelve-spotted skimmer (Libellula pulchella). All eluded my net.