14 June 2014

Snaketail fame at DSA


While I stay at home due to work obligations, my better half is attending the Dragonfly Society of the Americas annual meeting in Ladysmith, Wisconsin. He traveled from home to the meeting via the Upper Peninsula of Michigan so he could check on the status of two rare odes, Pygmy Snaketail (Ophiogomphus howei) and Extra-Striped Snaketail (O. anomalus). I am on the Michigan DNR's Insect Technical Committee reviewing threatened and endangered species and am writing up status reports for all the Odonata on the list. Darrin's surveys will be invaluable for creating recommendations on these species.

Upon arrival at the meeting, he gained well-deserved recognition for dragonhunting by snagging the first O. howei of the session, as well as St. Croix Snaketail (O. susbehcha). Our friend Bryan Pfeiffer is blogging the event and you can read about Darrin's accomplishments here. Bryan laments he has no photo of Darrin (except the tips of his thumbs) -- so let me provide one:


Darrin O'Brien, a.k.a. Stylurus, half of the Urban Dragon Hunters