ICO 2019: Four-spotted Pennant

We saw quite a few species of dragonflies in the Austin area, where the 2019 International Congress of Odonatology was held. Most of these species were ones that we would never see here in Anacortes. It was hot in Austin, usually around 99 ˚F, and very humid to boot. In short, it was cooking out there—but that was great as far as the dragonflies were concerned.

In the next few posts, I'll share with you some of the beautiful species we encountered on our trip, starting with dragonflies we saw in a storm retention pond near our hotel.

The first dragonfly we saw was the Four-spotted Skimmer. A dark dragonfly with prominent wing patches and white stigmas, it was very numerous at the retention pond. Here's a look at one of the males:



There was a lot of obelisking going on in these hot conditions. Here are some examples:







These last few shots are of a female, and it appears some eggs may be extruding from the tip of her abdomen.

The next shot shows some of the variation seen in the abdomen color, which darkens with age:



This was the most common species at the retention pond.