A quartet of pennants (dragonflies)

A Calico Pennant, Celithemis elisa, tees up on an old rush stalk. The pure brown bokeh (background) is caused by the water of the pond.

The pennant is obelisking - pointing its abdomen directly at the sun. They do this as a means of minimizing heat absorption on very hot days, and hot it was. Uber-dragonflier Jim Lemon and I ventured down to Jackson County yesterday, and hot and sunny it was. The temperature climbed into the 90's F by early afternoon, and it seemed like the humidity was 100%. Great for dragonfly action, not so great for humanoids.

Jim showed me a few special sites that I had heard about, but had not clapped eyes on until yesterday. Both places were amazing: exceptional in species diversity and rare species that were present. We were afield from around 9 am until 1 pm or so, when it really began to scorch. That's a typical schedule for me when things really begin to bake in summer. Out early, wrap it up in the early afternoon (at least sometimes).

We found 26 species of damselflies and dragonflies between the two sites that we visited. The pennants featured here were all (except the Halloween Pennant) at one tiny, quite ordinary pond. It was rimmed with common plants, primarily Soft Rush, Juncus effusus (an excellent dragonfly plant!), and was nearly round and rather deep. Just like scores of other farm ponds that dot the southeast Ohio landscape. This one was remarkable in its abundance of the small dragonflies in the genus Celithemis known as pennants. One of those species is a major rarity, and has only been found a few times in the state. That one - read on for a photo and information - was our primary target.
 

I was pleased to see numerous Banded Pennants, Celithemis fasciata. This ornately marked animal is not common up my way in Central Ohio, thus it always a treat to see them. While Ohio's other two common pennants - Calico and Halloween - are common statewide and probably in all 88 counties, Banded Pennant is much more range restricted. It is found in about 27 counties, mostly in southeastern Ohio. Pennants like to tee up on the tips of prominent perches as this one is doing. Securing images could be challenging, though, as there were so many pennants and other dragonflies that skirmishes were frequent. Often, as soon as I'd have acquired focus, another guy would shoot by and my subject would light out after it.

A pair of Banded Pennants locked in the mating wheel, making more of their kind.

This unassuming little bluish-black fellow was the primary reason for our visit to this pond. It is a Double-ringed Pennant, Celithemis verna. This species was discovered at this site in 2019, the first record for Ohio. That year, I think about seven males were tallied. Jim and I counted about 20 males, so it isn't a fluke involving a few wayward insects. I wonder how long they were present at this pond prior to their 2019 discovery.

Double-ringed Pennant is a species of the southeastern U.S., apparently primarily along coastal plains. The Ohio site might be the furthest north it is currently known in the interior, at least as an apparently established population. It will be interesting to see if this population remains stable over the years, and if new sites come to light. There was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary regarding this pond and its vegetation, at least to my eye. Probably hundreds if not thousands of very similar ponds dot southeastern Ohio, and it's hard to imagine that Double-ringed Pennants haven't colonized other sites.

Finally, for the sake of completeness, I threw in this showy male Halloween Pennant, Celithemis eponina. I made this photo a few years ago, at another site. Surprisingly, Jim and I did not see this species anywhere on this day, but I imagine if we had hit other sites we could have come up with one. It is the fourth of Ohio's Celithemis pennant species.

Riverside dragons and damsels

This weekend marked the annual Great Lakes Odonata Meeting, which was held right here in central Ohio. I attended Friday night's festivities, even giving a program on the Forest Giant, Megaloprepus caerulatus, the world's largest damselfly (7+ inch wingspan!). But I really wanted to spend more time in the field with all of the experts that were assembled, but other commitments wouldn't allow for it.

Inspired by Tom Arbour's outstanding photography in his presentation, I found a few hours late on Sunday afternoon to hit my local patch along the Scioto River and seek some dragons.

A large, lush patch of Water-willow, Justicia americana. An excellent habitat to slosh through seeking dragonflies and damselflies.

Exotic and orchidlike, the flowers of Water-willow are probably not all that often seen, as one typically has to get their feet wet to get at them.

I saw lots of these tiny beauties - Stream Bluets, Enallagma exsulans. If you are up for photographic challenges, try directing your lens towards dragonflies. They present several obstacles. One, they are possessed of outstanding vision and extraordinary flying ability. It is sometimes quite difficult to sneak within range. Two, they are long and narrow. It can be nearly impossible to get the entire critter in focus, so go for the eyes. Chances are if those are in focus the pic will be OK. Three, getting down on their level often means entering the water. I was kneeling in a couple of feet of water to work with these bluets.

A Powdered Dancer, Argia moesta. This is a very common streamside species, and is often found resting on rocks in the water or on logs and branches. Note how the wings are held well above the abdomen, a characteristic of dancers.

Face to face with a Blue-fronted Dancer, Argia apicalis. The thorax appears to be plated with turquoise armor.

One of our tiniest damselflies is this, the Eastern Forktail, Ischnura verticalis. This is an adult male, and the blue-tipped abdomen really stands out as they flutter weakly through the vegetation.

About as fresh a Common Whitetail, Plathemis lydia, as you'll ever see. This is a male, and it's not yet even mated. If it had, there would be telltale scars on the chalky-white abdomen where the female's legs would have rubbed off the pruinose covering during coupling. Whitetails nearly always perch prostrate on the ground, log, or rock.

Female Widow Skimmer, Libellula luctuosa, in typical repose. This species tends to perch low in rather dense herbaceous plan growth. Widow Skimmers are very common, and occur in all manner of wetland habitat, and are often found in meadows far from water.