It's a Smoky on the Rouge River ... this time it's not from a fire

I had a mission to find a new species on the Rouge River this year. The river's water quality has improved since the 1960s when the river actually caught on fire. Over the past few years we've found a couple of locations in Hines Park for species such as American Rubyspot (Hetaerina americana), Blue-tipped Dancer (Argia tibialis), and Blue-ringed Dancer (A. sedula).

Over the past few weeks, I've been checking suspected locations for Smoky Rubyspot (H. titia) along the Rouge River in Wayne County, Michigan. Today, under cloudy skies and a temperature of 60F, I finally succeeded at Levan Knoll!

The west end of this area has a one-lane bridge and is just downstream of a high quality water area identified by Friends of the Rouge. Upon arrival at the riverbank, three American Rubyspots (H. americana) flew up. Here is one of the males:


On the opposite bank, a downed tree and gravel bank provided good perching opportunities for more rubyspots. Then I saw saw the true habitat requirement for H. titia... a half-submerged barrel:


I turned around, walked a few feet, and flushed a male Smoky Rubyspot (H. titia) from a grapevine! It perched over the river on a leaf, just out of reach:


After some time, it moved back over to the grapevine:


This species has now been confirmed on three rivers in Wayne County, Michigan (Detroit River, Huron River, Rouge River).

Archilestes grandis still persist in MI

On September 6, 2010, I visited the creek that runs through the ever-developing business park between Haggerty Road and I-275 (E-W) and 6-Mile & 7-Mile Roads (N-S) in Wayne County. I wanted to confirm that the only known site in Michigan still had Great Spreadwings (Archilestes grandis).

Within a couple minutes I found this female:


Read more about this species and location here and here.

RFI: Russet-tipped Clubtail habitat requirements

Of the many new county records we have obtained, one of our favorites is the Russet-tipped Clubtail, Stylurus plagiatus. (When we found it in 2001, it was actually a first state record, but we've only just determined that what everyone thought was the first state record, from Alpena Co., was an error.) Darrin even adopted it as his nom de plume/avatar for this blog.

The areas where we have found adult S. plagiatus appear to have specific characteristics. We are interested in gathering more data about these characteristics. Ergo, this request for information on locations where verified (photograph or voucher) adult S. plagiatus have been found.

Where: We are concentrating on populations in MN, IA, MO and all states EAST of the Mississippi and north of (and including) TN and NC -- all the states shaded in yellow below; eastern Canadian provinces, too, although they are very rare in Canada.


What: We would like precise geo-coordinates of locations where you have seen adult Russet-tipped Clubtails, S. plagiatus.

• These should be verifiable sightings, documented by a photograph or voucher. We don't need a copy of the photo, but would like a link if it's online. We might ask to see an image, but we'll write to you if need be. If you have taken a voucher, let us know where it is archived and a specimen number, if applicable.
  
• We'd like a location within 20 meters if possible -- this precision usually easy to get on Google Earth by creating a placemark and then copying the coordinates in the Edit Placemark box. We'd prefer digital coordinates (e.g., 42.394098, -83.736619). Google Earth will display this if you choose "Decimal degrees" in the "Show lat/long" section of Google Earth Options. But we can convert if necessary.
  

When: Anytime within the last 10 years.

How: Fill out and submit our nifty online form at Wufoo. You can fill out one form per area, even if you've had multiple sightings over multiple years. Just let us know that in the Notes section of the form. In fact, since we're limited in the number of fields on the form, please provide as much detail as you like in the Notes section!

Why: We'd like to verify some of our suspicions regarding the apparently very specific habitat configurations and requirements of adult Russet-tipped Clubtails. In order not to bias any data submissions, we won't reveal our hunches here right now. If we are able to obtain a good sample, we'll compile our data and see what shakes out.

Our intention is to share this data, via publication and this blog, in order to help preserve and manage for populations. This is driven by our concern that this species may already have been extirpated from the spots where we originally found them. The reduction (or loss) of this population has prompted us to do some work on the requirements of this S. plagiatus, as it is a species of special concern in Michigan.

Here at the northern portion of the range of Russet-tipped Clubtails, peak flight time is mid- to late August, but they will be on the wing into September. So if you don't have any old records to provide us, now is a great time to get out and look for this handsome dragonfly and let us know where you found it!

Adding to the Lenawee list

August 28th, 2010, was a nice day to explore a couple Lenawee County, Michigan, locations for odes.

Tecumseh has a variety of great locations in/near the Raisin River.

My first targets were the gliders (Pantala sp.) so I checked the open field area that is scheduled to be a housing subdivision along the west side of Red Mill Pond. Fortunately for the flora and fauna, the subdivision construction has been stalled (due to the poor economic times?). The field contained a good variety of native plants. Monarchs were on the move and I was able to tag several while searching for the dragonflies. Common Green Darners (Anax junius) and Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) were in the air overhead.


I found a female Band-winged Meadowhawk (Sympetrum semicinctum) perched on a small shrub:


Eventually I found a couple Wandering Gliders (Pantala flavescens). Here is a female and the first for the database:


I decided to check another location a bit west before returning to another Tecumseh location. Bicentennial Woods is a county park along Tipton Highway with old growth woods and a small waterway named Black Creek running through it.


In past years, we've observed Fawn Darners (Boyeria vinosa) along the stream and I thought it would be good to check again. Upon arriving at the creek's bank, a Mocha Emerald (Somatochlora linearis) was flushed from the nearby vegetation. A few more individuals were found in/near the sunlit portions of the creek. Here is a male and the first for the database:


One female Fawn Darner (Boyeria vinosa) was observed ovipositing along the creek.

Male Lance-tipped Darners (Aeshna constricta) were patrolling the edge of the woods:

Returning to Tecumseh, I visited Indian Crossing Trails Park along the Raisin River below Standish Pond. This area typically provides views of many interesting odes:

- Fawn Darner (B. vinosa) = A female was observed ovipositing on downed trees along the river.

- Black-shouldered Spinyleg (Dromogomphus spinosus) = One male perched on the exposed rocks below Standish Dam while another perched at the boat launch above the dam. One female perched in the vegetation below Standish Dam and another was found downstream on the riverside trail:


- Arrow Clubtail (Stylurus spiniceps) = A few males were observed patrolling the river downstream from Standish Dam:


- Illinois (or Swift) River Cruiser (Macromia illinoiensis) = A couple males patrolled the river below the dam, but I couldn't capture either of them for a county first.

I'll need to return in the future to search for more gomphids along this area of the Raisin River.

... Lenawee County has many more species to find.

The mystery of meadowhawks

A putative Ruby Meadowhawk.

[Updated July 2019 to include additional data and references]

In our post Identifying Odonata from photographs, we talked about one of the more vexing field IDs around: the red meadowhawks in the genus Sympetrum. Since meadowhawks are a signature species of late summer, I thought they would be a good start to what we hope is a series on difficult genera.

Here is the bottom line: Over most of eastern North America, the most common meadowhawk species (Ruby, White-faced, Cherry-faced, and Jane's) should not or cannot be identified to species from a photograph -- especially when immature. Often, they cannot even be identified to species in the hand because the structural characteristics of their genitalia are intermediate due to hybridization. In fact, DNA analysis has shown that some of these "species" may not be full species, or may still be undergoing speciation. 

Harsh and disappointing news to those coming from the world of birding where most species can be identified by sight or sound and added to a list, or those unable to or opposed to netting or collecting insects and investing the effort to carefully examine and key them out, or submit them to those who will.  Of course, your list is your own, and if you would like to call reddish-faced meadowhawks Ruby or Cherry-faced, that's all good. But we think it is a disservice to our understanding of the distribution, abundance, and species limits of Sympetrums for folks to so confidently and publicly (mis)identify meadowhawks. What follows is a short explanation of the difficulties of identification of some of the common eastern species, and some resources for additional reading.

We'll focus on the species that most commonly cause confusion in eastern North America (although some also cause problems in the west, and there are other species that also sow confusion!) :

• Sympetrum rubicundulum (Ruby, hereafter RUME)
• S. internum (Cherry-faced, CFME)
• S. obtrusum (White-faced, WFME)
• S. janae (Jane's Meadowhawk, JAME)

Generally, we've been told that the field marks to look for include the pattern of black on the abdomen, color of the face, and color of the legs. There is geographic variation for some species in some characters. When immature, meadowhawks are largely yellowish-orange, with facial colors in particular not fully developed or helpful.

In the east, the face of CFME is brownish and this species cannot be separated from RUME (face yellowish to brownish) in the field. In the hand, examining the hamules under good magnification may help. However, there are intermediate forms (with intermediate-looking hamules) that cannot be identified to species. Some consider them hybrids, a subspecies of CFME, or (at least along the Atlantic seaboard) a separate species, JAME. Genetic work on these three species is inconclusive.

Mature WFME have very white faces, which should be helpful. Until maturity, though, eastern forms cannot be distinguished from CFME in the field. Even in the hand, immature female CFME and WFME cannot be separated in the east, as their subgenital plates are essentially identical (in the west, the subgenital plate of CFME is quite different from eastern forms). WFME also hybridize, or have intermediate forms, with both RUME and CFME.

A putative White-faced Meadowhawk.

Here is what Ken Tennessen had to say about the genus in his recent book: "...the status of several taxa based on adults remains controversial, including morphological evidence of possible intergradation between adults of S. internum, S. obtrusum, and S. rubicundulum... Pilgrim and von Dohlen (2007) were unable to find consistent species-level differences between adults of S. janeae, S. internum, and S. rubicundulum based on either morphological or DNA data; their analysis indicated that there is gene flow between [these species] or that these forms are the result of a recent radiation."

Smith-Patten and Patten (2013) have settled on a great name for Ruby/White-faced/Cherry-faced -ish meadowhawks: RuWhiChes (rue-WEE-cheez).

There is a more distinctive meadowhawk, Sympetrum semicinctum, the Band-winged Meadowhawk (BWME), found across most of the central and northern U.S. It varies geographically, causing problems in some areas. In the east, identification is usually pretty straightforward as the wings are amber-colored to the nodus. However, some RUME west of Ohio may have amber wing bases, sometimes as extensive as BWME. In the Great Plains and to the west, Band-winged Meadowhawk wings may be colored, clear, or diffusely colored. In the center of the country, clear-winged forms are probably not separable from CFME and RUME. The western forms are often considered their own species, S. occidentatale, but genetic work indicates that S. occidentatale is not a valid species.

An eastern Band-winged Meadowhawk.

In the Great Plains and to the west, wings may be colored, clear, or diffusely colored. In the center of the country, clear-winged forms are probably not separable from CFME and RUME. The western forms are often considered their own species, S. occidentatale, but genetic work indicates that S. occidentatale is not a valid species.

Likewise, in Europe, there are no good morphological characteristics to distinguish Common Darter (S. striolatum) and Highland Darter (S. nigrescens), and genetic work was also unhelpful.

Beware of the little red odes of summer.

Additional reading:

Caitling, P. M. 2007. Variation of hind-wing colour and length in Sympetrum internum (Odonata: Libellulidae) from the Canadian prairie provinces Canadian Entomologist 139(6):872-880. (Abstract)

Canning, R. A., and R. W. Garrison. 1991. Sympetrum signiferum, a new species of dragonfly (Odonata: Libellulidae) from western Mexico and Arizona. Annals Ent. Soc. America. 84:474-479.

Carle, F.L. 1993. Sympetrum janae spec. nov. from eastern North America, with a key to nearctic Sympeturm (Anisoptera: Libellulidae). Odonatalogica 22(1):1-16.

Donnelly, T.W. 1991. Current problems in Sympetrum and Libellula (a.k.a. Plathemis). Argia 3(4): 8-12.

Donnelly, T.W. 2013. The meadowhawks (Sympetrum): America's oldest problem odes; or, the romance of hybridization. Argia 25(4): 23-25.

Parkes, K. A., W. Amos, N. W. Moore, J. I. Hoffman, and J. Moore. 2009. Population structure and speciation in the dragonfly Sympetrum striolatum/nigrescens (Odonata: Libellulidae): An analysis using AFLP markers. European Journal of Entomology 106:179-184. (Abstract)

Pilgrim, E. M., and C. D. Von Dohlen. 2007. Molecular and morphological study of species-level questions within the dragonfly genus Sympetrum (Odonata: Libellulidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 100:688-702.

Smith-Patten, B., and M.A. Patten. 2013. First record of the White-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum obtrusum) for Oklahoma, and a review of the status of the Cherry-faced Meadowhawk (S. internum) in the state. Argia 25(2)12-13.

This has nothing to do with taxonomy, hybridization, or identification, but I came across it in my research and had to throw it in because I liked the title:

Horvath, G., P. Malik, G. Kriska, and H. Wildermuth. 2007. Ecological traps for dragonflies in a cemetery: the attraction of Sympetrum species (Odonata: Libellulidae) by horizontally polarizing black gravestones. Freshwater Biology 52: 1700-1709.