Libellula lydia

The common whitetail (Libellula lydia) is a fairly regular visitor of our farm here in Fresno, California. The male with its striking white abdomen is more often photographed (and more approprioately named). The female (like the one below) lacks the bright abdomen but the wing markings are more intricate. This one landed in one of our apricot trees a few weeks ago. The nearest standing water is a small pond half a mile away - not much a distance, really, for these strong fliers. 

Libellula saturata

Not all wildlife sitings occur in truly wild places. Especially among insects, sometimes an unusual species shows up in your backyard or in some other developed place. Even weedy abandoned lots can surprise you. I ran into this female flame skimmer (Libellula saturata) about a month ago along a windy road above Dinuba (California).

This is a sere landscape in May and only a narrow belt of vegetation lined the road. I had stopped the car to look at a few phaenopeplas near a distant oak and discovered the dragonfly. There was no water nearby that I could see. Supposedly it had ventured from some other canyon or cattle pond nearer to town. It just goes to show that it pays to keep your eyes open – no matter where you might be.

Twelve-Spotted Skimmer

Here is a picture of a beautiful dragonfly - literally and taxonomically. It's common name is the twelve-spotted skimmer. It's scientific name is Libellula pulchella - or the beautiful little dragonfly. It isn't uncommon but it does catch the eye wherever it occurs - which is throughout most of the continental United States. It is only absent from much of Nevada and smaller areas of the SW.

I found this one a couple of weeks ago protecting its territory which consisted of an area on a large pond located near the border of Wasatch County and Utah County a few mile up Utah Canyon. I'm not sure the pond even has a name.

It is pretty much an extension of the Provo River and can be reached by crossing the bridge at Wildwood. But be careful, The famous Heber Creeper (train) is often chugging along the tracks (q.v.). You don't want to be on the bridge when it is passing. Jon and I had a close call.

Black Petaltail

The black petaltail dragonfly (Tanypteryx hageni) is one of only a handful of species in the family Petaluridae. This is an ancient group of dragonflies which makes them truly ancient since dragonflies themselves have a long history in the fossil record. There are only two species of this family in North America. One is eastern the other is western.

I saw this individual a couple of weeks ago just above Wishon Reservoir in eastern Fresno County (California) at an elevation of about 6,700 feet. This is near the highest point known for the species (as recorded in Sidney Dunkle's useful book Dragonflies through Binoculars). It is also further south than the known range which is the general area of the northwest.

We (Spencer, Michael and his friend Zack, and I) were camping along Little Rancheria Creek when we saw it. It was a very scenic spot surrounded by 100 foot (and higher) red firs. The place just felt primeval and was a perfect spot for such an antediluvian creature.

Agabus grisseipennis

Three weeks ago, in the middle of November, we had a warm spell in Fresno and the thermometer rose to the high 70's. I took a walk outside to enjoy the day and was surprised by a singular raindrop as I passed a large puddle by the road. The sky was clear and yet I was certain that something had fallen from above into the water. As I stopped to see what was going on, another drop landed on the puddle but this time I could tell that it wasn't water. It was a beetle.


To be more precise, it was a diving beetle (Agabus grisseipennis) a fairly common diving beetle of the Western US. It was obviously taking advantage of the warm day but I was curious about the temporary pool. Why would the predatory beetles be landing in a temporary puddle in November. Obviously this was no place to complete a life cycle.

Then I noticed the dragonflies - lots of them. They were variegated meadowhawks and at one point I noticed ten mating pairs in copula bobbing up and down over the water - the females dropping eggs when the pair got close enough to the puddle. Some dragonflies species are known to drop eggs in temporary ponds or by the side of streams in moist soil. The eggs can survive out of water for quite some time until water returns and covers them up and they hatch.




Then I noticed a backswimmer (a true bug of the genus Notonecta) drop into the water, and I started to figure out what was going on. Both the diving beetle and the backswimmer are predators and I suspected that they were attracted by the dragonflies - and the chance of eating their eggs.

The picture of the backswimmer is a bit out of focus but it is unusual enough that I'm posting it anyway. Backswimmers live almost all of their lives underwater with their bottom (ventral) side up. When they swim, they kick their legs somewhat like a human swimmer doing the backstroke - hence their name. I have been around ponds and puddles for about 30 years watching insects and this is the first time I ever remember seeing a backswimmer resting on top of the water with its backside up. I even found one individual resting beside the puddle on moist soil in the same position. It seemed that these insects were behaving in a peculiar way because of an opportunity - a warm autumn dragonfly fest.




These sorts of entomological spectacles have to be appreciated when you come across them. You may never see the likes of them again. Sadly, they often happen and nobody notices. I saw a couple of people pass the puddle and not notice a single insect. I left for a couple of hours and when I returned the buzz of activity was over. All I saw was a lone backswimmer resting on the muddy bottom - backside down.

Hoary Skimmer

This picture of a hoary skimmer (Libellula nodisticta) was lucky in a couple of ways. Most lucky of all was that we even found it. Hoary skimmers are not commonly encountered dragonflies. Kathy Biggs considers it "sporadic" and "sparse" (see her Dragonflies of California).




















We came across this individual near Lone Pine, California (in Inyo County) last August as we drove by a small slow-moving stream. Michael and I decided it was worth stopping to see. We were glad we did. The hoary skimmer was triangulating back and forth among the tall cattails and I managed to get close enough for the picture. One never has the appropriate wading boots available at times like this but I managed to get the picture with a bit of lucky maneuvering.





















The area around Lone Pine is famous in old westerns. Several movies were filmed in the area. If you stop to eat in one of the local restaurants, you'll see old pictures of celebrities all along the walls. Here's a shot of some of the local landscape.

Two Meadowhawks

Over the weekend, Jon Quist and I made our way to the small and secluded Fish Creek drainage just north of Kerckhoff Lake in Madera County (California). There is no easy access to the creek and it's narrow valley - only a difficult dirt road and dusty trails lined with cow patties. Gray pines and oak trees provided shade but the grass was sere and the day was warm. Kerckhoff Lake, after all, is still pretty much a valley lake though nestled in the foothills above Fresno - with an elevation of just under 1,000 feet above sea level.

But Fish Creek itself was full of water and near the lake it was backed-up with cattails and blackberries growing along the margin. There were also a lot of dragonflies flying about - including two kinds of meadowhawks: the striped meadowhawk (Sympetrum pallipes) and the variegated meadowhawk (Sympetrum corruptum). Both are late summer/fall species with attractive red markings along the thorax and abdomen. They are medium-sized dragonflies and quite striking.

The two species are fairly easy to tell apart - at least the males are. Striped meadowhawks have distinct stripes on the side of the thorax and the dorsal side of the abdomen is predominantly red. Variegated meadowhawks on the other hand may have stripes on the side of the thorax but they also have a more distinct spot at the base of the stripes. More noticeable is that the abdomen is ringed with red, white and gray markings. The forewing also has a pale reddish pink color in some individuals.

We found the striped meadowhawks mating and laying eggs by the stream. They go about things a bit different than most other dragonflies that drop their eggs directly into the water. The meadowhawks remained in copula with both male and female "bouncing" up and down above the moist grass near the creek, with the female dropping eggs into the grass. The timing is quite appropriate as the fall rains are due in just a month or two and the stream bank should be at least a few inches higher than it currently is - flooding the area where the eggs are resting.

The variegated meadowhawk is known to be a migratory species making its way from Mexico north into the US in the spring. Individuals in the US are also known to fly north into Canada in the spring. I'm not sure where these individuals from Madera County will go but more than likely, they'll complete their life-cycle right here in Central California where we only get a few light frosts each year.

The picture of Jon wading in the water is a habitat shot where both species were flying.

The Blue Dasher

Last Saturday I was lucky to get this picture of a blue dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis) feeding on a planthopper. We had a couple of thunderstorms during the previous week - which is quite unusual in the Central Valley this late in the year. The dragonflies, however (along with the rest of us) were quite happy for the rain.

I had been beating a few willows in a backwater area near Lost Lake (just below Millerton Reservoir in Fresno County) looking for beetles and had scared up several planthoppers from their resting place (you can see one of them in the second picture). They're apparently quite tasty to the blue dashers, which are known to feed on small insects. You can see a few uneaten parts of one in the mouth of the pictured dasher. It was so intent on finishing its meal that it let me get close enough for the candid shot.