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Recent Postings from
Texas Odes

Updated on Friday, October 19 at 09:50 AM ET
The most recently received Mail is at the top.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Mitch Heindel
> 
> Slough Amberwing ~ Perithemis domitia 
> at Utopia Pk., Uvalde County. Sept 23 - Oct 15, 07

> Of course Tony G. just found the first hill country 
> record nearby at Big Spring in Real County a couple 
> months ago. I suppose then this might be the second?  
> Are there any Uvalde Co. records?

Hi Mitch,

Odonata Central does not show P. domitia for Uvalde County yet: 
http://www.odonatacentral.org/index.php/ChecklistAction.showChecklist/lo
cation_id/14011 
 Nice find!

Cheers,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park 
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml 
joshua.rose AT tpwd.state.tx.us  x 236

The picture isn't that great as I was trying to move and shoot at the 
same time. You can however see the Darner about to be lunch. Taken in 
Dimmit County, Texas near Catarina, today.
http://www.pbase.com/jpenney/image//original.jpg
Jason Penney

Everyone has agreed that the ZH Canyon damselfly is Enallagma praevarum
(Arroyo Bluet).

 

Thanks for the help and prompt replies.

 

Terry Hibbitts

Camp Wood, TX

www.thehibbitts.net

 

 



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Actually, i'm now wondering about Enallagma praevarum, Arroyo Bluet for Terry's 
bug, i'd forgotten to check that one. 




Has anyone proffered an identification for Terry Hibbits' Sierra Vieja damsel? 
Looks very interesting to me, but i don't have anything to offer. 


tony gallucci
milk river film
guadalupe stage quartet
ingram, kerr county, texas
hurricanetg AT hotmail.com
http://milkriver.blogspot.com
http://youtube.com/milkriverfilm

To: TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com
From: thibb AT swtexas.net
Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2007 16:26:
Subject: [TexOdes] RE: ID help on Enallagma sp. from ZH Canyon, Sierra Vieja 
Mts. Presidio County 

















  


    
            I need help on ID of the following Damselfly:



TX: Presidio County, Sierra Vieja Mts., ZH Canyon, C.E. Miller Ranch. June

26, 2007



http://www.thehibbitts.net/terry/odes/Enallagma.sp.07.9139.JPG



At first I placed it under Enallagma civile, but later examination of the

photograph made me think it might be E. carunculatum (Tule Bluet).  But that

species is not supposed to be there.  What do you guys think?



Terry Hibbitts



Camp Wood, TX



www.thehibbitts.net



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_________________________________________________________________
Peek-a-boo FREE Tricks & Treats for You!
http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Slough Amberwing ~ Perithemis domitia 
at Utopia Pk., Uvalde County. Sept 23 - Oct 15, 07

I mentioned seeing what I believed to be said species
in a late Sept. post here.  The original sighting date
was Sept. 23 of the odd-appearing Perithemis at the park.

I have since then visited the area 6 or 8 times and 
looked for it but had no luck.  My wife spotted it
or another at the same original site Sunday Oct. 14.
It was too far for net or pix really from any dry point,
so I digi-binoc'd a couple shots that came out deplorable.
Monday Oct. 15, I went back and it was still too far
for net without getting the boat out, so I resorted to
digi-scoping it.

It clearly has beautiful bright red veins on the wings, 
more so in person than the photos show.  It flew a 
rectangular (exactly square-conered) patrol pattern,
about 2 or 3 feet by 6'.  I think the thoracic and
abdominal patterns show well enough in the digiscope
shots to claim a positive ID.  Will forward for "record".

Of course Tony G. just found the first hill country 
record nearby at Big Spring in Real County a couple 
months ago. I suppose then this might be the second?  
Are there any Uvalde Co. records?

Very large numbers of Black Saddlebags (T. lacerata)
continue to pass southward, with good numbers of
Green Darner (Anax junius) with them, and smaller 
numbers of Red S/B(T. onusta), Wandering and
Spot-winged Gliders (P.flavescens and hymenaea).

Mitch Heindel
Utopia

I need help on ID of the following Damselfly:

 

TX: Presidio County, Sierra Vieja Mts., ZH Canyon, C.E. Miller Ranch. June
26, 2007

 

http://www.thehibbitts.net/terry/odes/Enallagma.sp.07.9139.JPG

 

 

At first I placed it under Enallagma civile, but later examination of the
photograph made me think it might be E. carunculatum (Tule Bluet).  But that
species is not supposed to be there.  What do you guys think?

 

 

Terry Hibbitts

Camp Wood, TX

www.thehibbitts.net

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I am a new member to the group.  I started taking photos of dragonflies and
damselflies in April of this year.  I have now photographed approximately 60
species.  It has been a lot of fun, but challenging.  I am in the process of
placing photographs on my web, but I am not finished yet.  As soon as I
finish the damselflies, I will post them and then finish the dragonflies
later.  My wife used to have to wait on me to take pictures of herps and
flowers on our trips.  Now I still take photos of these plus Odes,
butterflies, and whatever else shows up in front of me.  She thinks I have
gone crazy.

 

I am using a Canon 30D, 105 mm Sigma Macro, and Canon 300 mm EF 1:4 L IS 

 

Terry Hibbitts

Camp Wood, TX

www.thehibbitts.net

 

 



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Josh, and all,

 

I have a few Valley sites for water hyacinths where this dragonfly has
been seen this year by me or others:

 

Off Hudson Rd in San Benito.  Take Sam Houston south from US 83 to
Hudson and turn left (east).  Go to a canal covered in hyacinths.

 

FM 106 E of Harlingen.  I'm a bit fussy on directions to this one... but
if you travel east (at times north) from Harlingen on FM 106 you will
come to a very wide canal on the south side.

 

Brownsville Reservoir #2.  This is a well hidden spot.  From Us 83 exit
off on Gloor Blvd, and go south on Gloor.  Take Military hwy 281 right
(west) for maybe a mile or two.  You come to canal that if seen on
either side of the road.  A small dirt road leads to the north.  It now
has a sign saying something like... Private Road... but has stop sign on
it so it is a county road.  I am sorry but can't remember roads name.
Go till it dead ends into a steel gate.  The canal to your right is
covered in the stuff and at times covered in Hyacinths.   

 

Rio Rico south of Mercedes.  Travel east on Military Hwy 281 from
Weslaco for maybe 5-7 miles and take Rio Rico Road south.  Take the
first road to the left and watch for openings in the brush to the Rio
Grande.  Also, ahead is a pump house on the right, pull in here to the
river and check.        

 

Best, Martin 

 

Bird On...

Martin Hagne

Harlingen, TX 

Cameron Co.

 

"In the end, our society will be defined not only by what we created,
but by what we refused to destroy."  -John Sawhill

 

  



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

>  

Thanks, Josh.  Dennis Paulson looked at my images, bad as they were, and 
agreed they were of a female Swamp Darner.   I went out yesterday hoping 
to find it in the same location, but no such luck--the blustery wind 
probably made it shift its perch, if it was even still in the same 
area.  I was hoping to get a better image, and had lugged along more 
camera gear.  (It's so often the way things go...the critter is there 
and I either get a grab shot of it right then, or...not.  There are only 
a few places where I can set up the whole array of stuff and expect 
anything to show up for sure.  Which is part of what makes it fun.)

The only flying-around odes I saw yesterday were Black Saddlebags.  Lots 
of damsels (all but two Kiowa Dancers) perched on the ground, on rocks, 
or right down at the water in the still-trickling creek.  The odd man 
out was a Dusky Dancer.  

Elizabeth Moon
Florence, Texas

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elizabeth Moon
> 
> Is  a Swamp Darner possible at this time of year?

> It's not listed in Odonata Central for Williamson County


Does not seem so outrageous. You appear to be on or beyond the edge of
their distribution, but they are migratory, and very strong fliers. The
OC mentions them straying south into Mexico. 

http://www.odonatacentral.org/index.php/FieldGuideAction.get/id/45093 

Green Darner migration seems to be gearing up down here in the LRGV;
several of them were swirling around the Bentsen-RGV SP hawk tower
yesterday morning. Your Swamp might have gotten swept up in a swarm of
southbound Greens...

> And a procedural question: I would like to change the email address 
> associated with me for this listserv (it's the only "nature" listserv 
> that I signed onto from sff.net rather than earthlink.net, and I keep 
> trying to post from the earthlink launch.)  How do I do that? 

TexOdes is on Yahoo! Groups, which makes switching e-mail addresses
pretty easy. Sign in at the group's home page: 
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/TexOdes/ 
Then click on "My Groups", then "Edit My Groups". In the "Email Address"
column will be scroll-down menus listing all of the e-mail addresses you
have used to subscribe to different Yahoo! Groups. (if none of your
other nature listservs are Yahoo! types, then you probably will need to
add your earthlink address to the menu somehow; cannot help you there,
off the top of my head, it's been a while)

Have fun,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park 
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml 
joshua.rose AT tpwd.state.tx.us  x 236

I was out marking a trail for visitors in the late afternoon when a 
large, darkish dragonfly appeared.   The trail cuts through a narrow 
wooded strip and crosses a now-dry creekbed on rocks put down to allow a 
tractor through.  The trail itself was completely shadowed by trees to 
the west, at that hour, but with some sunlight filtering through at a 
low angle.

I was able to track the dragonfly (barely) and it landed on an upright 
stemt no more than a half inch in diamter, about eight feet up and ten 
feet away, perching vertically.  It was on the shadowed side of the 
stem, and the footing was not particularly good.  Through binoculars I 
could see that the eyes were blue or green, it had a greenish stripe on 
the thorax, dark pterostimata, a tinge of amber near the wing bases, and 
the peculiar "jointed" look with lighter "rings"  on a dark base of many 
darners.  But the most striking feature were the long, leaf-like cerci.

As I tried to photograph it, the combination of poor light (esp. with 
the major light behind it, which foxed my camera's systems), having to 
shoot up at a steep angle, my own unsteadiness, and the critter's  
skittishness resulted in a string of blurry images that are clear only 
in showing the trailing cerci.  It flew suddenly, and when it next 
perched it was 20+ feet up in a tree on the other side of the crossing.

After prowling through the books and also BugGuide.net, I think it's a 
Swamp Darner, but the images are so poor I hate to ask anyone to look at 
them.  Is  a Swamp Darner possible at this time of year?  I know Abbot's 
book says they fly until October 28, but I've never seen one before (was 
never in the right place before?)  It's not listed in Odonata Central 
for Williamson County, either.  But it sure looked like the images at 
BugGuide.net.

I'll be looking for it late tomorrow afternoon with a faster lens and a 
tripod but some critters show up only once.

And a procedural question: I would like to change the email address 
associated with me for this listserv (it's the only "nature" listserv 
that I signed onto from sff.net rather than earthlink.net, and I keep 
trying to post from the earthlink launch.)  How do I do that? 

Elizabeth Moon
Florence, Texas

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dennis Paulson
> 
> David Arbour's finding Hyacinth Gliders (Miathyria marcella) in  
> southeastern Oklahoma prompts me to ask if you are 
> scrutinizing water hyacinths sufficiently in Texas.

I actually know of only one place in the LRGV which has consistently
high concentrations of Water Hyacinth, that being the Boca Chica section
of the Rio Grande (just above where it enters the Gulf of Mexico). I
have scrutinized this area on several occasions over the past 7-8 years
and seen Miathyria most times, but as yet, no sign of Tauriphila, nor of
any other noteworthy odonate species. Are there greater Hyacinth
infestations up the coast, northeast of the LRGV?

Cheers,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park 
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml 
joshua.rose AT tpwd.state.tx.us  x 236

Hello, Texoders.

David Arbour's finding Hyacinth Gliders (Miathyria marcella) in  
southeastern Oklahoma prompts me to ask if you are scrutinizing water  
hyacinths sufficiently in Texas. That's where you'd likely find that  
species in additional localities. Also, gliders of the genus  
Tauriphila breed in water hyacinths, along with Miathyria, and if I  
lived in southern Texas I'd be checking out every hyacinth patch in  
the area. By doing this in Sonora last summer, we got the first  
records of two species of Tauriphila for that state. You have at  
least two Aztec Glider (Tauriphila azteca) records, and that's an  
obvious species for additional occurrence, as is the Garnet Glider  
(Tauriphila australis). These immigrants don't need congressional  
legislation to come across the border, and no one will be upset if  
they do!

Tropical odonates in other genera, especially Coryphaeschna,  
Erythemis, and Telebasis, also seem attracted to beds of floating  
vegetation, including duckweed, floating fern (Salvinia), and water  
lettuce. You could easily hide an undiscovered Telebasis in such  
beds. The guys doing a survey of southern Sonora found the first  
Telebasis griffinii for that state at the first hyacinth bed they  
checked!

It's ironic that water hyacinths have been cleared out of large areas  
of Florida, and Hyacinth Gliders are much less common there than they  
used to be.
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115

dennispaulson AT comcast.net





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Five days ago Martin Reid found two species of Macrothemis (Straw-colored and 
Ivory-Striped Sylph) in Frio County and I mentioned that I suspected we were 
going to see more and more records of all three Macrothemis species. Well today 
I was out with my entomology class at Hornsby Bend here in Austin and caught a 
female M. inacuta (Straw-colored Sylph). This represents a new Travis County 
record and yet a further range extension of this species northward in Texas. 
Given that Macrothemis inequiunguis (Jade-striped Sylph) was also found in 
Austin this summer, I wouldn't be surprised if we eventually get all three 
here. I also won't be surprised if species like M. pseudimitans (White-tailed 
Sylph) are also eventually found in the state....keep your eyes out! It's not 
Terry Fuller's yard, but we are doing pretty well here in Austin. 


John

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Presumably a male, right?

American Rubyspot Damselfly

�
Perched on young Ashe Juniper
Hays County, Uplands above Blanco River
Waterstone Nature Preserve
10/08/07

Tim
-- 

Hello All,
On Tuesday, 9 October, Mike Dillon, who lives in Marshall, TX, was
down in Austin and he and I headed to Gonzales to see if we could find
some Blue-faced Ringtails (Erpetogomphus eutainia) since he had never
seen the species. Below is just a list of our findings for the
day...nothing stunning, but a couple of late records.

common = 25 +

Independence Park, Gonzales, Gonzales Co., Texas

Hetaerina americana (American Rubyspot) - common
Hetaerina titia (Smoky Rubyspot) - common
Argia apicalis (Blue-fronted Dancer) - ca 10
Argia moesta (Powdered Dancer) - common
Argia sedula (Blue-ringed Dancer) - 20
Anax junius (Common Green Darner) - common
Erpetogomphus designatus (Eastern Ringtail) - 6
Erpetogomphus eutainia (Blue-faced Ringtail) - 15
Stylurus plagiatus (Russet-tipped Clubtail) - 20
Macromia illinoiensis georgina (Georgia River Cruiser) - 2 (pair in
copula - photographed for a new late date record for Texas)
Brechmorhoga mendax (Pale-faced Clubskimmer)- 5
Dythemis fugax (Checkered Setwing) - 4
Dythemis velox (Swift Setwing) - 6
Erythemis simplicicollis simplicicollis (Eastern Pondhawk) - 10
Erythrodiplax minuscula (Little Blue Dragonlet) - 1 (photo for a new
late date record for Texas)
Erythrodiplax umbrata (Band-winged Dragonlet) - 1
Orthemis discolor (Carmine Skimmer) - ca 10
Orthemis ferruginea (Roseate Skimmer) - common
Pachydiplax longipennis (Blue Dasher) - 10
Pantala flavescens (Wandering Glider) - 10
Perithemis tenera (Eastern Amberwing) - 3
Tramea lacerata (Black Saddlebags) - common
Tramea onusta (Red-mantled Saddlebags) - 5


On the way back to Austin we stopped briefly at the Lockhart Municipal
Park, the location where some of us had found Macrothemis inequiunguis
(Jade-striped Sylph) back in August.

Lockhart Municipal Park, Caldwell Co.

Hetaerina titia (Smoky Rubyspot) - common
Argia moesta (Powdered Dancer) - common
Argia sedula (Blue-ringed Dancer) - 15
Telebasis salva (Desert Firetail) - 5
Anax junius (Common Green Darner) - 10
Erpetogomphus designatus (Eastern Ringtail) - 4
Stylurus plagiatus (Russet-tipped Clubtail) - 2
Brechmorhoga mendax (Pale-faced Clubskimmer) - 2
Dythemis velox (Swift Setwing) - 5
Erythemis simplicicollis simplicicollis (Eastern Pondhawk) - 5
Libellula croceipennis (Neon Skimmer) - 2
Macrothemis inequiunguis (Jade-striped Sylph) - 4
Orthemis discolor (Carmine Skimmer) - 3
Orthemis ferruginea (Roseate Skimmer) - 5
Pachydiplax longipennis (Blue Dasher) - 5
Pantala flavescens (Wandering Glider) - 3
Plathemis lydia (Common Whitetail) - 2
Tramea lacerata (Black Saddlebags) - 5


Best Regards,
Greg Lasley
Austin

Tonight a low rapid flying dragonfly caught my attention but I had to wait  
awhile for it to complete its figure eight like pattern of flight before  
landing. It was another Evening Skimmer Tholymis citrina. The pattern of amber 

dots on the hindwing is similar to my 092207 sighting but the  forewing nodus 
is unmarked on todays visitor.  
 
This is the third Evening Skimmer (, , and ) for my  
yard.  
 
None of the other notable dragonflies were evident.  
 
Heavy rain late afternoon with roost sites in the sun and higher up for  most 
species.   
 
 
Terry Fuller
_TNMF AT aol.com_ (mailto:TNMF AT aol.com) 



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


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interesting story i saw posted to the se-odonata listserv.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2007/10/08/ST2007100801459.html 


a gallery with at least one stunning picture

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/gallery/2007/10/08/GA2007100801345.html 


and a video

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2007/10/04/VI2007100400958.html 


all my best,
tony g

tony gallucci
milk river film
ingram, kerr county, texas
hurricanetg AT hotmail.com
http://milkriver.blogspot.com
http://youtube.com/milkriverfilm
_________________________________________________________________
Peek-a-boo FREE Tricks & Treats for You!
http://www.reallivemoms.com?ocid=TXT_TAGHM&loc=us

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hello all,

Just to add to the Rhionaeschna psilus (Turquoise-tipped Darner)
reports, Chuck and Mary Kay Sexton observed one at length today, 7
October 2007, at St. Edwards Park (a city of Austin park) on Spicewood
Springs Road in NW Austin, Travis County.

Greg Lasley
Austin

> -----Original Message-----
> From: TNMF AT aol.com
> 
> Managed to finally get a picture of a dragonfly that has been 
> evading me for two days. This evening had a very nice Claret 
> Pondhawk Erythemis  mithroides 
> in my yard.  Have sent photos around for confirmation.  

I received a copy, and it certainly looks like that species. Brilliant
find Terry! Are any of the houses on your street for sale? I want to
live on your block, my yard in McAllen doesn't even have Blue Dashers...
As of the publication of Abbott's book in July 2004, there was only one
US record of this species, by Martin Reid at Santa Ana NWR in May of
that year: 
http://www.martinreid.com/Odonata%20website/odonate20.html 

Note that Dennis Paulson considers the Mexican population to be an
undescribed species, separate from "true" E. mithroides of Central and
South America: 
http://mailweb.ups.edu/pipermail/odonata-l/2004-May/005392.html 

> Had a Bar-sided Darner Gynacantha mexicana in the yard

> The one in the Home Depot was clearly more than 
> expected.  I  lost it somewhere about the electrical  
> department. It's like these dragonflies just 
> fly in any open door.  I think it is  their behavior to seek 
> out interior spaces.  

The Flat skippers of Mexico, genus Celaenorrhinus, seem to be
specifically affiliated with caves. Not only do they seek out dark
interior places to spend the day, much like G. mexicana, but also I have
been told that they are attracted to the smell of urine, which might
help them locate caves in which to take shelter by honing in on the
urine-like smell of bat guano. Hence several of the few US records of
this genus being found just outside rest rooms... Back to the point, I
wonder how often Gynacantha in Mexico might shelter in caves, as opposed
to hanging in dense, shady vegetation as we often find them in the LRGV?

Cheers,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park 
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml 
joshua.rose AT tpwd.state.tx.us  x 236

Managed to finally get a picture of a dragonfly that has been evading me  for 
two days.  This evening had a very nice Claret Pondhawk Erythemis  mithroides 
in my yard.  Have sent photos around for confirmation.  
 
Had a Bar-sided Darner Gynacantha mexicana in the yard, which is far from  
unusual. The one in the Home Depot was clearly more than expected. I lost it 

somewhere about the electrical department.  It's like  these dragonflies just 
fly in any open door.  I think it is  their behavior to seek out interior 
spaces.  
 
I had a Three-striped Dasher Micrathryria didyma in the yard  also.  
 
 
Terry Fuller
_TNMF AT aol.com_ (mailto:TNMF AT aol.com)    



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I forgot to add that I also collected Rhionaeschna psilus earlier this summer 
at Seminole Canyon (Val Verde Co.). This species is definitely on the move. 


John
----- Original Message ----- 
From: John C. Abbott 
To: Martin Reid ; TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2007 8:13 PM
Subject: Re: [TexOdes] Frio County abuzz with interesting bugs today


Hi Martin,

Looks like you had a great day. I just wanted to mention that with recent 
discoveries I don't know that we can call Rhionaeschna psilus a 
restricted-range species anymore. In addition to finding it here in Austin 
regularly (including now at my field lab), it was recently discovered in the 
panhandle by Jerry Hatfield and in California by John Avise. This isn't the 
only species that seems to be expanding its range rapidly. Orthemis discolor 
seems to be found everywhere these days including now in northern Oklahoma 
(discovered by Ken Williams). I found them today in Bastrop at Camp Swift. I 
wouldn't be surprised if the Macrothemis species start expanding like this as 
well. Macrothemis inequiunguis is a good example of what I considered a rare 
bug in Texas that seems to be popping up in multiple locations and the latest 
Argia has an article reporting Macrothemis pseudimitans new to the U.S. 
Greenland and Antarctica may be melting, but at least in the short-run we are 
benefiting from climate change in the number of subtropical dragonflies moving 
north! (Don't misunderstand though, I'm not insinuating that climate change is 
a good thing!). 


John

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Martin Reid 
To: TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2007 7:36 PM
Subject: [TexOdes] Frio County abuzz with interesting bugs today

Dear All,
Today I visited the Halff Brothers Ranch just west of Pearsall in 
Frio County - my first visit there for quite some time.
I only visited a small section of the property on the east back of 
the Frio River, and had:-

Turquiose-tipped Darner Rhionaeschna psilus 4 males (three 
collected) a NCR for this restricted-range species
Ivory-striped Sylph Macrothemis imitans 2 males (one 
collected) - I have found them here once previously
Straw-colored Sylph Macrothemis inacuta 1 male eluded my net on three 
tries. so a NCR gets away.... are there any other locations in the 
U.S. where two species of Macrothemis fly together? (today they 
occupied the exact same air space but 15 minutes apart).
Carmine Skimmer Orethemis discolor 100+ - far 
outnumbering Roseate ferruginea.
Slough Amberwing Perithemis domitia 40+
(no sign of Antillean Saddlebags Tramea insularis)

FYI all of these above species were seen within a 25 yard radius, and 
in that same location I also saw the following interesting 
butterflies:

Common Mestras Mestra amymone 1000+ (could have been five times 
this number - impossible to count)
Red Rim Biblis hyperia 41 (yes, that's forty-one - a minimum 
count; I suspect there were many more. one collected)
Blue-eyed Sailor Dynamine dyonis 5 (two males, three females. 
one male collected)
Malachite Siproeta stelenes 9 (one collected)
Mimosa Yellow Pyrisitia nise 3 (one collected)
Mazan's Scallopwing Staphylus mazans 2

Cheers,
Martin

-- 
>Martin Reid
>San Antonio, Texas
>mailto:upupa AT airmail.net
>http://www.martinreid.com

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Martin,

Looks like you had a great day. I just wanted to mention that with recent 
discoveries I don't know that we can call Rhionaeschna psilus a 
restricted-range species anymore. In addition to finding it here in Austin 
regularly (including now at my field lab), it was recently discovered in the 
panhandle by Jerry Hatfield and in California by John Avise. This isn't the 
only species that seems to be expanding its range rapidly. Orthemis discolor 
seems to be found everywhere these days including now in northern Oklahoma 
(discovered by Ken Williams). I found them today in Bastrop at Camp Swift. I 
wouldn't be surprised if the Macrothemis species start expanding like this as 
well. Macrothemis inequiunguis is a good example of what I considered a rare 
bug in Texas that seems to be popping up in multiple locations and the latest 
Argia has an article reporting Macrothemis pseudimitans new to the U.S. 
Greenland and Antarctica may be melting, but at least in the short-run we are 
benefiting from climate change in the number of subtropical dragonflies moving 
north! (Don't misunderstand though, I'm not insinuating that climate change is 
a good thing!). 


John


----- Original Message ----- 
From: Martin Reid 
To: TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2007 7:36 PM
Subject: [TexOdes] Frio County abuzz with interesting bugs today


Dear All,
Today I visited the Halff Brothers Ranch just west of Pearsall in 
Frio County - my first visit there for quite some time.
I only visited a small section of the property on the east back of 
the Frio River, and had:-

Turquiose-tipped Darner Rhionaeschna psilus 4 males (three 
collected) a NCR for this restricted-range species
Ivory-striped Sylph Macrothemis imitans 2 males (one 
collected) - I have found them here once previously
Straw-colored Sylph Macrothemis inacuta 1 male eluded my net on three 
tries. so a NCR gets away.... are there any other locations in the 
U.S. where two species of Macrothemis fly together? (today they 
occupied the exact same air space but 15 minutes apart).
Carmine Skimmer Orethemis discolor 100+ - far 
outnumbering Roseate ferruginea.
Slough Amberwing Perithemis domitia 40+
(no sign of Antillean Saddlebags Tramea insularis)

FYI all of these above species were seen within a 25 yard radius, and 
in that same location I also saw the following interesting 
butterflies:

Common Mestras Mestra amymone 1000+ (could have been five times 
this number - impossible to count)
Red Rim Biblis hyperia 41 (yes, that's forty-one - a minimum 
count; I suspect there were many more. one collected)
Blue-eyed Sailor Dynamine dyonis 5 (two males, three females. 
one male collected)
Malachite Siproeta stelenes 9 (one collected)
Mimosa Yellow Pyrisitia nise 3 (one collected)
Mazan's Scallopwing Staphylus mazans 2

Cheers,
Martin

-- 
>Martin Reid
>San Antonio, Texas
>mailto:upupa AT airmail.net
>http://www.martinreid.com


 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Dear All,
Today I visited the Halff Brothers Ranch just west of Pearsall in 
Frio County - my first visit there for quite some time.
I only visited a small section of the property on the east back of 
the Frio River, and had:-

Turquiose-tipped Darner Rhionaeschna psilus	4 males (three 
collected) a NCR for this restricted-range species
Ivory-striped Sylph	 Macrothemis imitans	2 males (one 
collected) - I have found them here once previously
Straw-colored Sylph Macrothemis inacuta	1 male eluded my net on three 
tries. so a NCR gets away.... are there any other locations in the 
U.S. where two species of Macrothemis fly together? (today they 
occupied the exact same air space but 15 minutes apart).
Carmine Skimmer Orethemis discolor		100+ - far 
outnumbering Roseate ferruginea.
Slough Amberwing Perithemis domitia	40+
(no sign of Antillean Saddlebags Tramea insularis)

FYI all of these above species were seen within a 25 yard radius, and 
in that same location I also saw the following interesting 
butterflies:

Common Mestras Mestra amymone	1000+ (could have been five times 
this number - impossible to count)
Red Rim Biblis hyperia		41 (yes, that's forty-one - a minimum 
count; I suspect there were many more. one collected)
Blue-eyed Sailor Dynamine dyonis	5 (two males, three females. 
one male collected)
Malachite Siproeta stelenes		9 (one collected)
Mimosa Yellow Pyrisitia nise		3 (one collected)
Mazan's Scallopwing Staphylus mazans 2

Cheers,
Martin


-- 
>Martin Reid
>San Antonio, Texas
>mailto:upupa AT airmail.net
>http://www.martinreid.com

If you are a member of DSA or had registered with OdonataCentral earlier, you 
will have already received this email and I apologize for the duplication. For 
everyone else: 


At long last the new OdonataCentral is now up and running.  It can be
reached by any of the following url's :  www.odonatacentral.org,
www.odonatacentral.net, www.odonatacentral.com

Please note that if you linked to the old site using
http://odonatacentral.bfl.utexas.edu you should be redirected to the new site, 
but only to the home page. 


The site has been completely overhauled and now uses php with Oracle as its
database backbone.  This provides for a much more efficient navigation and
delivery of information.

Some of the major improvements and additions to look for include, but are
not limited too:

(1)   a visual redesign

(2)   MyOC.  This feature allows users to login and use customized
interfaces.  Much like MyAmazon or MyEbay, the site remembers you and keeps
track of favorite locations and will allow you to easily track your record
submissions, or if you are a Record Administrator, manage the records in
your area.  We plan to implement much more with this, including a set of
preferences that will allow you to choose scientific, common or both names
to be used throughout the site.

(3)   The site is now worldwide.  The interfaces built will allow for the
addition of records from anywhere.  Features such as checklists, field
guides and the map distribution viewer are no longer limited in scope (just
in the underlying records!).

(4)   MyRecords interface is now much improved in terms of tracking and
submitting.  Submitted Records are automatically plotted and seen by all,
but tagged as "Pending" until they are vetted.  Users can change their
records at anytime as long as it is still pending.  A batch submission
process has also been developed.

(5)   OdonataDistributionViewer - this has been completely overhauled.  We
are still using GoogleMaps and GoogleEarth as our engine, but a completely
new application (like none I have seen) has been developed.  You can search
by taxa or geographic area.  It is world-wide in scope.  You can select to
view Google Maps or Satellite and choose to overlay (transparently or
opaquely) U.S. county boundaries on the map.  We are still facing speed
issues with this, but to overcome much of that, we have implemented a
"clustering" mechanism.  Basically, at broad zoom levels where there is a
lot of data, data is clustered instead of showing individual points.  You
wouldn't be able to discern the points anyway, so this helps speed things
up.  We are still looking at additional ways to improve speed with this
resource.  Records are indicated as clusters or points and pending or
accepted.  You can filter by the latter to increase data integrity.  We are
also now plotting data at their actual localities.  Dot Map data (indicated
as blue dots on the map) is plotted at county centers, but all other data is
plotted at the actual lat/long of collection.  This will allow users to
generate checklists and seasonality histograms for specific areas.  You can
also link to a specific species/geographic distribution and include them on
your own web pages.

(6)   Because OC has gone world-wide, we are now hosting a world catalog.
This is derived from several sources, but primarily from the Schorr et al.
list.  I have integrated Rosser Garrison's New World list into this however,
and have always defaulted to his list when there are discrepancies.  As a
result, you can now view/search either the World or New World catalogs.

(7)   I've added a "Resources" tab that will eventually contain all sorts of
useful information.  For now, there are subtabs that include the Taxonomic
Catalogs, OC Membership Directory, Taxonomic Notes, bibliography and Odonata
links.

(8)   There is now a tab for "Publications."  You can search and view the
DSA publications Argia and Bulletin of American Odonatology.  If you are a
current DSA member, all of these publications will be available to you.  If
you are not a member, then you will not be able to view the latest 3 years
of Argia or 3 volumes of BAO.

(9)   I have also added a tab for "Societies."  This has information
presently on DSA and the Odonata Survey of Texas.

Please change links on your web pages to reflect the new url,
http://www.odonatacentral.org.

We have worked hard to make the site compatible across platforms and
browsers. Not the following however.  Although the site looks gorgeous in
Safari, it appears that the Safari browser has an actual bug when dealing
with file uploads and there may not be a solution.  This has been reported
by others as well, basically it just hangs sometimes when trying to upload
files (which would apply to the record submission process on
OdonataCentral).

I welcome comments and feedback about the new improved site.  Please
remember OdonataCentral is a community-based server and project.  Its
success depends on users like you.  Thanks for looking at the new
OdonataCentral!

John

---------------------------------------------------------
John C. Abbott, Ph.D.
Curator of Entomology, Texas Natural History Collections
Section of Integrative Biology
1 University Station #L7000
The University of Texas at Austin
Austin, Texas 78712  USA

Office Phone:
Lab Phone:
Fax:
http://www.sbs.utexas.edu/jcabbott
http://www.odonatacentral.org
Email: jcabbott AT mail.utexas.edu



-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 



_______________________________________________
Odonata-l mailing list
Odonata-l AT listhost.ups.edu
https://mailweb.ups.edu/mailman/listinfo/odonata-l


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Have a nice Evening Skimmer gracing my yard.  The Evening Skimmer  was in the 
thicker portion of the backyard.  Distinctive amber wing  markings.   This is 
the second record for my yard of this  species.  The first was November 13, 
2004.  This sighting was  September 30, 2007.  They were at the same place in 
the yard.  This is  the same area where the Darners hang.  
 
Sharp forewing triangle and open handwing anal loop.  Distinct  amber nodal 
markings.
 
It has been immobile for about an hour.
 
 
Terry Fuller
_TNMF AT aol.com_ (mailto:TNMF AT aol.com) 



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi all,

There are many hundreds of Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata)
heading south this morning, surely thousands are involved.  They
have been the most abundant southbound Anisop most of this fall,
unlike prior 4 years.  There have been regular daily flights of them
southbound for over a month, consisting of at least a hundred 
every evening here, and smaller numbers throughout the day.  
This morning there are hundreds and hundreds if you scan with binocs.  
Many are up very high, 500' or so, and more.  A couple Kestrels were 
moving south over them.  Wonder what they were feeding on?  

Last weekend there were numbers of Protoneura cara Orange-striped
Threadtail flying at Utopia Park.  I also watched a Slough Amberwing
male patrolling there but it was neither photographable or catchable.
I also saw a "mosaic" type darner over the pond that looked most
closely to me to a Turquoise-tipped Darner.  Came close to getting
a boat out to chase these two but was too short of time, lucky for me.
I went back the next day with time to spend, and couldn't find either.

best,
Mitch

Took my four year old daughter out to the Hill Country State Natural 
Area for some ode hunting. The rubyspots were out in force today.  I 
got a fresh rubyspot to land on her hand and had an idea for shot. I 
know it's not your typical ID shot but I thought it looked pretty cool 
for a "daughter picture"
http://upload.pbase.com/jpenney/image//original.jpg
Jason

Dear all,
Thanks to Bob Behrstock I can tell you that M. didyma has been 
documented in Sonora, Mexico, so the Corpus record is not the 
northernmost ever.  I struggle to keep in mind just how far south we 
are of the California - Mexico border...
Regards,
Martin

-- 
Martin Reid
San Antonio, Texas
mailto:upupa AT airmail.net
http://www.martinreid.com

Dear All,
There I was, looking for migrant birds in Blucher Park, downtown 
Corpus Christi this afternoon, when the umpteenth small dasher (lots 
of Blue; a couple of Thornbush) landed nearby - but this one was a 
male Three-striped Dasher!  There followed an agonizing hour trying 
to relocate it and get pics, but finally I succeeded:
http://www.martinreid.com/Odonata%20website/odonate72.html - see 
bottom two images.
I am assuming (perhaps wrongly) that this species has not been 
documented from the thin strip of Tamaulipas that runs from the 
Falcon Dam to up above Laredo, so I guess that this is the 
northernmost record for the species.  I expect that others will be 
found, even further north, as the average winter temperatures in 
northern Mexico increase...  I'd put money on it being somewhere on 
the King Ranch.
Cheers,
Martin



-- 
>Martin Reid
>San Antonio, Texas
>mailto:upupa AT airmail.net
>http://www.martinreid.com

Hi all,

I was on a walk at Cook's Slough on Fri. eve, 
Sept 14, with Ken Cave and some Nature Questers.
I netted an ode to show them and really impressed
them with an "I don't know" on the first one I bagged.
:)
I did suggest what I thought it looked like to me, 
and let it go after photos were taken in the hand.
I saw a small number (6+) more of these same mystery
Anisops as we walked.  We ended up with 
23 species in 2.5 hours at the slough, and surely
some of the experts here on the list would have 
had a good number more than that.  I miss a lot of
Zygops.  The rest was all the expected species.  

Anyway, I sent my one picture to Tony Gallucci, 
who remarkably (to me) came up with the exact 
species I had suggested it might be when it was in hand:
Straw-colored Sylph (Macrothemis inacuta).

Apparently the second Uvalde Co. record, the 
prior being an "ID this bug" picture on a website that
Tony Gallucci found and ID'd, taken also at Cooks' 
Slough recently.  

But anyway, I think it safe to say there is a population of
Straw-colored Sylph at Cook's Slough, for now.

thought someone might be interested.....
and thanks to Ken Cave for Cook's Slough.

Mitch Heindel
Utopia

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Elizabeth Moon
> 
> While out on the land about noon today, I had just entered the creek 
> woods when a medium-large dragonfly flew suddenly in front of me.  I 
> knew I hadn't seen it before.
 
> I have posted its image at BugGuide.net: 
> http://bugguide.net/node/view/146891  if anyone cares to help 
> make the ID.

Hi Elizabeth,

It is a Pale-faced Clubskimmer, Brechmorhoga mendax. The elongated pair
of white spots on the clubbed abdomen are distinctive, I think. I have
yet to see this species in the LRGV, outside of one photo that Dave
Hanson took at Anzalduas a few years ago, but it was pretty common at
Hornsby Bend in Austin on my visit there earlier this summer.

I relocated your photo from BugGuide's "ID Request" section to the
section for that species.

Cheers,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park 
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml 
joshua.rose AT tpwd.state.tx.us  x 236

While out on the land about noon today, I had just entered the creek 
woods when a medium-large dragonfly flew suddenly in front of me.  I 
knew I hadn't seen it before.   I stood still; it settled on a dead twig 
of a nearby tree at about face level or a little below (roughly 5 feet), 
hanging vertically.  I got one good image of it before--as I tried to 
move in and to the side to photograph it from the side--it took off 
again and flew back and around several times before heading off deeper 
into the creek woods.

Its appearance in flight was of a dark, slender dragonfly with a 
prominent white "splash" near but not at the tip of the abdomen, and 
dark green/blue eyes. When perched, the blue marking on the front of the 
thorax was obvious.   I have posted its image at BugGuide.net: 
http://bugguide.net/node/view/146891  if anyone cares to help make the ID.

Otherwise:  The lower swamp pool was crowded with male Blue Dashers 
challenging each other (as many as ten adult males squabbling over 
perches) and Common Green Darners (one pair in tandem, the female laying 
eggs, several other males around.)   Two female Roseate Skimmers were 
just outside the woods, perching on tall grasses (Indiangrass) but did 
not see any males today.  Black Saddlebags were still flying over the 
open grass. 

Elizabeth Moon
Florence, Texas
Williamson County

I spent a few (mostly unproductive for odes) hours in San Jacinto County on
Saturday.  I found a couple of damselflies that I'm not sure about.  Please
help me identify them.  

 

Here's one that I can't match up in my resources:

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

 

I'm pretty sure that this one is a female Blue-tipped Dancer (Argia
tibialis).  Am I correct?  If so, it would extend the known flight dates by
one day.

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

 

Same species (?), different individual:

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

 

My other lifer of the day was the Ebony Jewelwing:

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3489128#-L-LB 

 

That species is very similar to this Beautiful Demoiselle that I saw in
Albania a couple of months ago:

http://lduhon.smugmug.com/gallery/3111621#-L-LB 

 

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

Lawrence Duhon

Fort Worth, TX



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

The 14-15th Sep saw the annual OK BioBlitz, an all-taxa
  inventory, take place at the Wichita Mountains Wildlife
  Refuge, Comanche Co. ... roughly 35 miles N of the 
  Red River ... or 45 miles N of Wichita Falls, TX.
   
  Here are the Ode results largely from my census work
  on Friday afternoon with an assist from Dr. Joe 
  Grzybowski on Sat. A warm sunny Friday, gave way
  to a chilly, breezy Sat. morning  ... overcast
  much of the time with almost no odonate activity prior
  to noon allowing only 2 hrs of quality observation before
  the inventory deadline. 
   
  Two species [in brackets] were contributed by others, with 
  three additional species (X) added shortly
  after the official inventory period or just off the property
  (but still within the Wichita Mtns ecosysytem).
   
  Numerical data are from a 3hr census on Friday (3-6pm
  constrained by BioBlitz parameters) taking in 120 meters 
  of pond (split across 3 ponds) shoreline and 120 meters of 
  stream habitat.
   
  KEY: PH - photo | IT = in tandem | EL = Egg-laying
   
  American Rubyspot - 39  {PH}
  Powdered Dancer - 211  {PH | IT | EL}
  Blue-fronted Dancer - (Sat. only)
  Blue-ringed Dancer - 3  (Sat. only)
  Kiowa Dancer - 22  {PH | IT | EL}
  Variable Dancer - 9  {PH}
  Dusky Dancer - 25  {PH | IT | EL}
  Springwater Dancer - 3  {PH | IT | EL}
  Familiar Bluet - 29  {PH | IT | EL}
  Double-striped Bluet - 45  {PH}
  Orange Bluet - 1  {PH | IT}
  Citrine Forktail - {PH}
  Eastern Forktail - 3  {PH}
  Fragile Forktail - 5  {PH}
   
  Common Green Darner - 14
  Four-striped Leaftail - X  {PH}
  [Prince Baskettail] 
  Halloween Pennant - 16  {PH | IT}
  Banded Pennant - 1 {PH}
  Checkered Setwing - 8  {PH}
  Swift Setwing - 5  {PH}
  Blue Dasher - 23  {PH}
  Common Pondhawk - 24  {PH | IT}
  Neon Skimmer - 2 (Sat. only; PH)
  Slaty Skimmer - 2  (Sat. only; PH)
  [Flame Skimmer] - X {PH}
  Widow Skimmer - 16 {PH} 
  Twelve-spotted Skimmer - X
  Eastern Amberwing - 21 {EL}
  Common Whitetail - 2 (Sat. only)
  Variegated Meadowhawk - 2 {IT | EL}
  [Red Saddlebags]
  Black Saddlebags - 8 (IT}
   
  A total of 32 species is a decent showing locally
  without venturing farther afield. Just because I could,
  I stopped by my local pond, a city park in Lawton
  just 2 miles away from the boundary with the Wichita
  rock formations, and added Four-spotted Pennant
  (one of three sites for the species in SW OK).
   
  Nothing much of note from the list ... no new county
  records ...but the Springwater Dancer was a lifer,
  and the Neon Skimmers made for my first photographic
  record. Had teams been available to cover an array of
  sites across the refuge, I am fairly certain another half
  dozen species would have been added.
   
  cheers
   
  Vic Fazio
  Lawton, OK
  http://aves.net/


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Subject line was shortened on my first post and did not include the present  
sighting date which I have appended.  
 
Pale-green Darner Triacanthagyna septima
 
San Benito Cameron Co Texas 
 
Terry Fuller
_TNMF AT aol_ (mailto:TNMF AT aol) . com



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

After a lull in the Darner action a Pale-green Darner Triacanthagyna  septima 
graced the yard.  With an interval of this  length and the fresh individual 
this may be a new individual.   Maximum number I could locate at one time was 
three in the earlier go  around.
 
 
Terry Fuller
_TNMF AT aol.com_ (mailto:TNMF AT aol.com) 
San Benito Cameron Co TX  



************************************** See what's new at http://www.aol.com


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

I created this cool friends network and added you to my friends network. Hit-up 
now: 

http://sexyrpnbirl.googlepages.com/girlfriends.htm

I was watching butterflies today at Zilker Botanical
Garden when I saw this dragonfly that looked a little
like a Blue Dasher, but it was REALLY small.  It was
about amberwing size.  I called Scott Young and he
came rushing back from Schlotzsky's.  

http://outdoors.webshots.com/album/560673471slIBbI?vhost=outdoors

The dragonfly didn't move very far from the full sun
garden near the main building.  It stayed fairly low.

It was first for Scott and me.

--- Dan Hardy


 
____________________________________________________________________________________ 

Fussy? Opinionated? Impossible to please? Perfect. Join Yahoo!'s user panel and 
lay it on us. http://surveylink.yahoo.com/gmrs/yahoo_panel_invite.asp?a=7 

Dear all,
Yesterday while on lunch in east Houston I made a quick visit to the 
Sheldon Lake outdoor Learning Center on H90; lots of commoner species 
flying, but on one pond with a nice boardwalk/gazebo over the center, 
I found lots of I. kellicotti Lilypad Forktails.  Interestingly they 
were all on a type of lily with small leaves that do not have the 
edge "split" that is characteristic of the forms in the genera Nuphar 
and Nymphaea - at least from my brief research into them. How unusual 
is this?; I have pics of them on the leaves.

While photographing the forktails, a male T. byersi Duckweed Firetail 
briefly landed on the same lily leaves, and I got a photo:
http://www.martinreid.com/Odonata%20website/odonate154.html
- this also being interesting it that it was not on duckweed, and no 
duckweed was present in this large pond or in any of the neighboring 
ponds. (although I expect that there was some duckweed present within 
the large complex of ponds). This location is a couple of miles south 
of where I found this taxon last year (and saw them again earlier 
this year.)  This seems to be a "late date" for Texas.

Here is an Argia Dancer from the Davis Mtns a few years back that I 
expect is nahuana Aztec, but looks rather different - more like the 
ones from Mexico?  I've never seen one like this before in Texas, 
that I recall; are these darker Mexican types (referred to in the 
Westfall and May account) also known from Texas or AZ/NM??:
http://www.martinreid.com/Odonata%20website/odonate155.html

Cheers,
Martin


-- 
>Martin Reid
>San Antonio, Texas
>mailto:upupa AT airmail.net
>http://www.martinreid.com

Ok, this is a bit off the topic of Texas odes, but I know that several of the 
members of this listserv have experience with odes in a variety of other states 
and countries. I have posted some pictures on my website 
(http://www.rkostecke.com/UnidentifiedOdes/index.html) of odes that I 
photographed in Maine this past July and in Vera Cruz, Mexico during October 
2006. For the Maine odes, I think I managed to ID most of the damselflies, 
except one pair of spreadwings, but confirmation of my IDs would be nice. I had 
more trouble with the 2 emeralds I photographed up there. For the Vera Cruz 
odes (marked with a "VC" in the title) I guess I did not know where to start. A 
few of them look like critters that can be found in central Texas and a few do 
not. 


Anyway, any suggestions on or confirmation of the IDs on these odes would be 
much appreciated. Thanks in advance. 


Richard Kostecke, Ph.D.
The Nature Conservancy
P.O. Box 5190, Fort Hood, Texas 
Phone: Fax:
E-mail: rkost73 AT yahoo.com or rkostecke AT tnc.org
Personal website: rkostecke.com

Howdy folks,

Tom Pendleton came by today and showed me a photo he had taken here on
Wednesday of a Bronzed River Cruiser (Macromia annulata), hanging in a
shrub in the butterfly garden! First park record of which I am aware,
though others (Dennis, I think) have seen it just down-river at
Anzalduas.

He also had a recent photo from Anzalduas of a Flag-tailed Spinyleg
(Dromogomphus spoliatus).

Tom came in hopes of seeing one of the Tawny Pennants I reported
yesterday. He was skunked on his first trip out to the boat ramp, but I
came out with him a second time. Still no luck at the ramp, but we
worked our way down the edge of the resaca and eventually found one a
ways down the shoreline.

We actually tallied four species of pennants, all three US Brachymesia
spp. plus a Halloween (Celithemis eponina)! Needham's Skimmer (Libellula
needhami) was still present as well. However, virtually everything we
saw was a Libellulid; only one darner (Anax junius), no clubtails at all
(though we did not stop at the irrigation canal nor visit the Rio
Grande), and only one single damselfly (Argia apicalis), and that one a
distance from the water! Eastern Pondhawks (Erythemis simplicicollis)
were abundant, maybe they were eating any damsel that strayed from deep
cover...

Cheers,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park 
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml 
joshua.rose AT tpwd.state.tx.us  x 236

Hi Group:
 
I am finally expecting the Color companion guide to the Damselflies of NA
any day now. I have been cross checking and labeling the shipping
containers.
Some of you ordered this book 2 years ago. Please let me know if you had an
address change. 
 
Also I have about 25 copies left of the DF of Central America. This will not
be republished.
 
For other books and envelopes please check the web site below.
 
 
Thanks.
 
Bill Mauffray
International Odonata Research Institute
PO Box 147100
Gainesville FL 
 cell
  iodonata AT bellsouth.net
  http://www.iodonata.net
 
 


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I'd like to ask for some suggestions for the best places to find odonates
within about 100 miles of Houston.  I have never been ode-hunting anywhere
in east Texas, so I know there are a lot of species from that ecosystem that
I've never seen.  I will only have about half a day (next Saturday morning),
so I want to maximize my time.  I'll also be on the lookout for butterflies
and birds.  Any suggestions, with detailed directions and species to look
for in mid-September, would be greatly appreciated!

 

Lawrence Duhon

Fort Worth, TX



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Howdy folks,

Eric Haley, an insect enthusiast from Florida, was here this morning to
look for butterflies and dragonflies with me. As we were scoping the
irrigation canal, Tom Langscheid and Jim Sinclair walked up with their
new King Ranch co-worker and joined us. We even picked up herper Gary
Nafis along the way. It was that sort of dragonfly walk today!

Best find of the day was 2-3 Tawny Pennants (Bracymesia herbida), my
first for the park! (I received reports of prior sightings, I think by
Bob Behrstock and Dennis Paulson, but had not seen one here myself in
nearly 2 years until today) They appeared to be males on territory, on
the resaca (La Parida Banco) near the boat ramp.

At least one male Caribbean Yellowface (Neoerythromma cultellatum) was
also near the boat ramp, on some floating mats of vegetation, recently
exposed as the resaca water level dropped. A Needham's Skimmer
(Libellula needhami) passed through the area briefly).

We also tallied three clubtail species, all around the HQ. Eric and I
first found a female Russet-tipped Clubtail (Stylurus plagiatus) in the
butterfly garden. Then all of us enjoyed a pair of Five-striped
Leaftails (Phyllogomphoides albrighti) on the canal near the bridge.
Finally, back in the butterfly garden, a female Ringed Forceptail
(Phyllocycla breviphylla) was eating something, possibly a bee, as we
watched.

Cheers,

Josh


Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park 
http://www.worldbirdingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml 
joshua.rose AT tpwd.state.tx.us  x 236

Dear All,
Sheridan and I completed a quick swing out west, and I found a couple 
of male E. compositus on a narrow water channel to the north of El 
Paso, right on the State Line - in fact had they been three feet to 
the west, they would have been in New Mexico.
While in Arizona i managed to find and photograph a handful of 
interesting odes, such as Canyon Rubyspot H. vulnerata; 
Black-and-White Damsel A. lais; Sierra Madre, Tonto, and the purple 
form of Springwater Dancers A. lacrimans, tonto, and plana; Riffle 
Darner O. armata;  White-belted and Serpent Ringtails E. compositus 
and lampropeltis; and Mexican Amberwing P. intensa.  While briefly in 
SW California I also photographed what I assume is Vivid Dancer A. 
vivida.
I may have made a mistake or three, so I'd appreciate any feedback - thanks:
http://www.martinreid.com/Odonata%20website/dragind.html
Cheers,
Martin
-- 
>Martin Reid
>San Antonio, Texas
>mailto:upupa AT airmail.net
>http://www.martinreid.com

Pretty cool Scott. Greg Lasley and Eric Isley recently found them in Lockhart 
and we have all been down there snapping photographs. Fantastic that there is 
another close population and in Travis County too! Incredible how once these 
uncommon/rare odonates are found in the state, they seem to show up repeatedly 
in different locations...I'm curious, were you looking for these after the 
recent discovery in Lockhart? 


John

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Scott Young 
To: TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com 
Sent: Sunday, September 02, 2007 3:35 PM
Subject: [TexOdes] Travis County Jade-striped Sylph, Macrothemis inequiungui


Hi Yall,

Today at Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park I caught and photographed what I 
believe is a Jade-striped Sylph, Macrothemis inequiungui. It was flying amongst 
a group of about 15 Pale-faced Clubskimmers, Brechmorhoga mendax in a small 
opening in the trail along a creek. I have posted pictures at 
http://tinyurl.com/3xfjzn . As you can see in the pictures, the jade was very 
pale. According to Odonata Central, this species is previously known from only 
three Texas counties; Bandera, Real, and Comal. 


Scott Young

South Austin, Texas

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Hi Yall,

Today at Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park I caught and photographed what I 
believe is a Jade-striped Sylph, Macrothemis inequiungui. It was flying amongst 
a group of about 15 Pale-faced Clubskimmers, Brechmorhoga mendax in a small 
opening in the trail along a creek. I have posted pictures at 
http://tinyurl.com/3xfjzn . As you can see in the pictures, the jade was very 
pale. According to Odonata Central, this species is previously known from only 
three Texas counties; Bandera, Real, and Comal. 


Scott Young

South Austin, Texas

 

 

 

 


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Orthemis ferruginea is known from at least one record from Cuba but seems to
be rare there.  Most of the Orthemis in Cuba are the undescribed antillean
purple and antillean red.  Discolor is known from several records from
western Cuba.,
 
I have never seen a ferruginea from the Bahamas.  All Orthemis in these
islands seem to be the undescribed antillean red and antillean purple.  This
is now based on a fairly large sample.
 
Antillean red in Florida is known as far north as Ft Lauderdale.  When I
went through the FSCA holdings in 1995 I found that the antillean red was
quite commonly represented among the included specimens from the vicinity of
Miami.  I would judge the two species to be about equally present in the
immediate Miami area.  

  _____  

From: TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Dennis Paulson
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 4:19 PM
To: TexOdes
Subject: [SPAM]Re: [TexOdes] Early Texas Orthemis ferruginea records



Folks, I have to add one more thing, overlooked in the idea that 
Roseate Skimmers have moved north in Florida in historic times. That 
may well be true, but this is a species of Mexico and Central 
America, not the West Indies, so if anything it probably moved up 
into Texas long ago, then ALONG THE GULF COAST into Florida, and then 
perhaps farther north along the Atlantic Coast. It is presently known 
from northern Cuba and the Bahamas in the West Indies, according to 
Nick Donnelly, but it may have moved into those islands from Florida 
rather than the reverse. It might also have spread into western Cuba 
from the Yucatan Peninsula and then moved into Florida; we'll 
probably never know.

Dennis
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115

dennispaulson AT   comcast.net

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



 


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

When I was reviewing the distributions of Orthemis ferruginea and discolor
for my 1995 ARGIA article, I went over a large number of museum specimens of
the two species (the discolor was inevitably all labeled ferruginea, of
course. . .).  I found ferruginea well distributed in the Gulf Coast among
these specimens.  In particular, EB Williamson found a number of them in
coastal Texas in his famous trip in 1908 (plus or minus a year).  
 
The Odonata of Texas were so poorly known when I arrived in Houston in 1959
that it really is not fair to say that  "new records" after that date
represented spreading ranges of any odonate.   During my seven years in
Houston I found a number of ferruginea.  The collected specimens were all
that species.  I may well have seen discolor among then, but during this
time interval no odonatist in the world recognized discolor as a valid
species.
 
If you want to follow up on historical information on Texas ferruginea I
suggest you inspect the masters thesis of Philip Albright at Trinity College
(now University).  Forther informnation may come from the records of Alice
Ferguson of Dallas who was acrive in the late 40's and 50's.
 
Nick Donnelly

  _____  

From: TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com [mailto:TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of
Joshua Rose
Sent: Monday, August 27, 2007 11:28 AM
To: TexOdes AT yahoogroups.com
Subject: [SPAM]RE: [TexOdes] Orthemis discolor (Carmine Skimmer) in Travis
Co.



Just wondering, how much is known about the historical distribution of
Roseate Skimmmer (O. ferruginea) in Texas? Sid Dunkle's 1990 book on
Florida dragonflies indicates that the species was known only from the
Keys from 1875 to 1930, but then spread statewide by 1949, and now has
an unbroken range from the Carolinas, along the entire Gulf Coast, west
to California, and inland to Arkansas and Kansas. Probably has spread
even further in the 17 years since that book was published.

Are there any similar indications of a historic spread of O. ferruginea
across Texas? Or has it been occurring just about statewide for as long
as dragonfly collecting records exist?

Joshua S. Rose, Ph.D.
Program Specialist
World Birding Center
Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park 
http://www.worldbir

dingcenter.org/sites/mission/index.phtml 
joshua.rose AT   tpwd.state.tx.us  x 236

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Greg Lasley
> 
> Last week I collected a male O. discolor (Carmine Skimmer) in 
> Travis Co., near Austin (specimen to U.T.). That specimen 
> represented the first documented record for the county. 
> Two days later Eric Isley found a bumper crop of this species 
> at Richard Moya Park, a small county park near the Austin- 
> Bergstrom International Airport. I went out there with him 
> yesterday and we counted at least 30 individuals. Several of 
> us have thoroughly checked Travis Co. for odes for 3-4 years 
> without finding this species, and now it seems to be 
> showing up at several places. I have seen them at three 
> different locations south of Austin this week alone. These 
> are the northern-most records I am aware of, but who knows how 
> far north of here they may now be. Interesting. Whether they 
> have been here all along and we missed them, or whether the 
> species is moving north provides food for thought.


 


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Folks, I have to add one more thing, overlooked in the idea that  
Roseate Skimmers have moved north in Florida in historic times. That  
may well be true, but this is a species of Mexico and Central  
America, not the West Indies, so if anything it probably moved up  
into Texas long ago, then ALONG THE GULF COAST into Florida, and then  
perhaps farther north along the Atlantic Coast. It is presently known  
from northern Cuba and the Bahamas in the West Indies, according to  
Nick Donnelly, but it may have moved into those islands from Florida  
rather than the reverse. It might also have spread into western Cuba  
from the Yucatan Peninsula and then moved into Florida; we'll  
probably never know.

Dennis
-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115

dennispaulson AT comcast.net





[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

To add to Robert's great store of information, I should say that  
early records of Roseate Skimmers from southern Florida (e.g.,Key  
West) are compromised, because people until very recently didn't  
distinguish the so-called "Antillean Skimmer" (an Orthemis that is  
considered either O. schmidti or an undescribed species by different  
researchers) from the Roseate, and someone would have to go back and  
examine specimens from those days to be absolutely certain. So far,  
the Antillean species isn't known from north of the Miami area, so  
probably all records north of Miami could safely be attributed to  
ferruginea.

Probably most of you have seen the photo in Sid Dunkle's Dragonflies  
Through Binoculars of the "red form" Roseate Skimmer he photographed  
in Alachua County, Florida, in 1974. I have never seen such a  
creature. Because it has a purplish face, it is presumably  
ferruginea, not discolor or the Antillean species, and I think what  
it represents is probably a ferruginea that became sexually mature  
but for some reason didn't develop any pruinosity.

Sorry, this seems to have deviated from Texas..... ;-)

Dennis

On Aug 27, 2007, at 11:43 AM, Robert Larsen wrote:

> By 1904 Orthemis ferruginea had been reported from
> Dallas, Waco, San Antonio, Shovel Moutain, Carrizo
> Springs, and Brownsville Texas according to Calvert.
> Those O. ferruginea from Key West, Florida and the
> ones from Dallas and Waco, Texas were reported by
> Hagen in 1875 with the others in Texas reported by
> Needham in 1904. The Key West ferruginea reported by
> Hagen in 1875 was taken in 1864, but I can't remember
> where I read that.
>
> There was an Odonata newsletter out of Florida in the
> 1960s that I have in boxes someplace about the house
> and perhaps I read about the Key West ferruginea
> there. Dennis would remember the name of that
> newsletter as I remember reading something by Dennis
> in the newsletter about collecting along highways.
>
> The Orthemis ferruginea from along the Pecos River
> here in New Mexico reported by Calvert in (Biologia
> Centrali-Americana) dates from 1868 along with that
> from the Gila River in Florence, Arizona. So, they
> have been in Texas and New Mexico for quite some time.
>
> Robert Larsen
> Roswell, New Mexico






























-----
Dennis Paulson
1724 NE 98 St.
Seattle, WA 98115

dennispaulson AT comcast.net





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