Species Spotlight: California Darner

The next "C"species for our spotlight series is the California Darner.

This is the smallest darner in our range—barely bigger than a typical skimmer. It is also the earliest darner to appear each year. Here's the Flight Season for the California Darner:

Notice that they begin to appear in March, though only about 1% of observations occur in that month. They peak in June and July, with over 60% of all observations. Finally, the last few percent of appearances occur in September.

Their range is basically west of the Rockies, with a heavy density of observations in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington.



The California Darner is a lovely dragonfly, with lots of blue along the length of the abdomen, and striking blue eyes. It has a tendency to land on the ground, or very close to it, which is a bit unusual for darners.



The key field mark for this species is as follows: no front stripes on the thorax. It's our only darner that lacks the front stripes. In addition, notice that the tenth segment of the abdomen is cream colored, and the appendages are simple in shape.



You can read much more about this dragonfly, its behavior and field marks, in my new field guide Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Pacific Coast, available on Amazon at the following link:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934199265?pf_rd_p=6d50e0ee-c639-41a8-91f7-8e1b816b5bf3&pf_rd_r=KH4H5P3KHJ7KVBDW7J1C

Species Spotlight: Calico Pennant

Well, we've reached the letter C in our cavalcade of dragonfly and damselfly species.

First up is the Calico Pennant. This is a small, delicate dragonfly with wings that have beautiful colors and patterns—as is common in many pennant species. Here's a look at this striking dragonfly:





Notice the heart-shaped red spots on the abdomen, and the lovely colored patches in the wings.

We saw this dragonfly in a small field with tall grass, near a business park in Virginia. It would fly from one patch of grass to another, always very light on the wing.

Here's another look at the Calico Pennant:



We plan to visit Virginia again this coming summer. We will surely be on the lookout for more Calico Pennants!

"Open House" Field Trip

Betsy and I plan to be at Cranberry Lake from about 12:00 to 2:00 pm, weather permitting, this Saturday and Sunday. We will be looking for dragonflies and damselflies with both binoculars and a spotting scope.

Here's some of what we might be able to see:





Feel free to join us at any time during the "open house."

Species Spotlight: Blue-ringed Dancer

We turn our attention now to a damselfly with beautifully brilliant colors—the Blue-ringed Dancer. This species is widespread in the midwest and along the east coast, but also extends into Arizona and Southern California, which is where we see it. Here's the range map, from OdonataCentral.



One of the best places to find this species, at least in Arizona, is perched on a rock in the middle of a swiftly-flowing stream, as in the photos below:





Identification is easy for this species, with the prominent blue rings along the middle sections of the abdomen. Also be sure to take a look at the thorax and head, where the rich blue colors are particularly vivid:





Notice the tendency of this species to hold the folded wings well above the abdomen when perched—a characteristic of most dancer species. In fact, you can usually tell a dancer from quite a distance just by seeing how it holds its wings. In addition, dancers tend to "flick" their wings open and shut a time or two just after landing.

One individual, seen at the Gilbert Water Ranch in Gilbert, AZ, had a weird looking face. It was kind of pink. At first it brought to mind a scene from the 1958 movie The Fly, where the hero's body has been mixed up with that of a fly during a teleporter experiment—he now has the head of a fly, and the fly has a human head. They try to find the mixed-up fly by looking in the garden for one that has a pink head. Here are some posters and photos from the movie:









Well, that was a terrifying movie for a youngster back in those days. Fortunately, the case I encountered at the Water Ranch wasn't like that at all—it was just a damselfly with a lot of pink on the head. I got closer, and finally had a better look. Here's what was going on with this individual:



Wow, one eye blue, the other pink. You don't see that everyday! Searching the bushes for a damselfly with a pink head sure made me think about the The Fly, though.

What Big Eyes You Have!

Dragonfly eyes are beautiful and impressive. As an example, take a look at the eyes of a young Blue Dasher, shown below.



Notice the large reddish areas on the top of the eyes. These areas are referred to as the dorsal foveae—so named because they are on the top (dorsal) surface of the eyes, and are the parts of the eyes with the sharpest vision (analogous to the vertebrate fovea). The name is ironic because the word fovea is Latin for "pit," and indeed the fovea (area of sharpest vision) of a vertebrate's eye is a pit on the surface of the retina. In the case of a dragonfly, the fovea is not a pit, but it is the area of sharpest vision.

Here's another view of dorsal foveae in dragonflies, this time on a Cardinal Meadowhawk.



One of the interesting aspects of dorsal foveae is that the ommatidia (individual eyes) in them are rather large, and point primarily in one direction. This gives the sharp vision mentioned above. It also means that when you look directly at the dorsal foveae, you see an exceptionally large pseudopupil, as shown below.



My, what big eyes you have!

This effect is perhaps best seen in Blue Dashers. Take a look for the "big eyes" next time you get a good look at a Blue Dasher. You can read more about the eyes of dragonflies in my new field guide: Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Pacific Coast.

Species Spotlight: Blue-eyed Darner

The Blue-eyed Darner is one of the easiest darners to identify—even on the wing the intense blue color of their eyes, and the blue stripes on their thorax, are a dead giveaway. Here's the spread on the Blue-eyed Darner in my field guide Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Pacific Coast:



The flight picture above shows the blue eyes and the blue thorax stripes that jump out as this dragonfly zips by you on a warm summer afternoon.

Also, notice the photo of the female in the lower right corner of the spread. It shows a "bump," or "tubercle," under segment 1 of the abdomen. This is a distinctive feature of Rhionaeschna darners—commonly referred to as neotropic darners—though it is not always easy to see or photograph. My picture was taken at Butchart Gardens, where a female Blue-eyed Darner flew in and landed on a structure in the middle of a water fountain at just the right angle to show the bump. Mosaic (Aeshna) darners lack the tubercle.

Here's a view of another distinctive feature of Blue-eyed Darners—the forked appendages on the males.



No other male darner has forked appendages, so it's a great field mark—not that it's really needed!

The next photo shows an interesting feature that is present in all darners, but is particularly noticeable in Blue-eyed Darners. It is the small, sharp projection on the front of the thorax, just behind the eyes. This is an "egg tooth" that these darners use to break through their larval skin during emergence.





The Blue-eyed Darner is indeed a study in blue. They perch often in sunlit bushes near the shore, and are very cooperative photographic subjects.



One final feature that distinguishes neotropic from mosaic darners is shown in the next photo. Notice the light area on either side of the black "T-spot". This is found in neotropic darners, but not in mosaic darners.





So many interesting features to look for next time you're identifying darners!

Mount Baker Newcomers

On our recent trip to Mount Baker, Betsy and I enjoyed more than just the scenery.



We also saw some species we had never seen before at that location.

First, we saw the Hudsonian Whiteface. This is a handsome dragonfly with a black body and eyes, dark red markings on the thorax and abdomen, and a chalk-white face.



Notice also the white wing veins that extend beyond the stigmas, giving the wings a whitish tip. This field mark isn't mentioned in other field guides, but you will find it in Common Dragonflies and Damselflies of the Pacific Coast.



Another new species for this location was the Black Meadowhawk, shown below:



It's not a surprise to see this species here, because we've seen it at high altitude before—most notably at the small pond at Rainy Pass.

What a day we had a Mount Baker. We plan to return soon to enjoy the fall foliage.