ICO 2019: Five-striped Leaftail

Here's another species we saw on the trip to Texas for the International Congress on Odonatology (ICO) last July that we were not even aware before the trip—the Five-striped Leaftail. This male is perched on his favorite twig near the Guadalupe River in the town of Gonzales, TX:



The five stripes in the name refer to the five dark stripes on the side of the thorax, the fifth one being rather small and hard to see underneath the wings. The next photo shows the five stripes from a different angle:



The leaftail part of the name is more obvious, due to the shape of the tip of the abdomen. In the next picture, we see a male elevating his abdomen and expanding the "leaves" from either side of the abdomen.



Here's a closer look at this feature. Notice that the leaves were hanging downward in the first couple of photos.



This is an impressive dragonfly, especially when you consider that it has "moveable parts" on its abdomen—something you don't often see in dragonflies.

ICO 2019: Eastern Amberwing

Another species we saw on our Texas trip, the Eastern Amberwing, was one we were familiar with from our visits to the east coast. Here's a male from the east coast:



Notice the hamules under the second segment of the abdomen. Also, note the appendages, which are small in this species, but larger in the male than in the female. Here's another look at an east coast male:



Again, take note of the appendages. Also, notice that the wings are basically uniform amber, and the stigmas are red.

For comparison, here's the female of the species from the east coast:





Notice the broad abdomen, the tiny, vestigial appendages, and the splotchy wings. We also see that the stigmas are brownish in the female.

In Texas, we saw only females, and they were all obelisking like crazy in the intense heat. Here's a side view:



Here's another obelisking female, this time from behind:



Note again the broad abdomen, and the tiny appendages.

As I said, we didn't see any males on this trip, and the females were all well away from the water perching in the vegetation.

ICO 2019: Halloween Pennant

Another striking species we saw on the Texas trip was the Halloween Pennant. We've seen this species before, but it's always a treat to see it again.

Here's a male patrolling his territory:



Notice the beautiful coloration and bands in the wings. In addition, note the pink stigma near the tips of the wings.

Here we see a couple males vying for the same territory:



The female is a lighter-colored version of the male, with yellow stigma:



Next, we see a female Halloween Pennant perched near a Red Saddlebags, also a common species on the Texas ponds we visited.



We always enjoy seeing the Halloween Pennant.

ICO 2019: Widow Skimmer

Another beautiful dragonfly we saw in Texas during the ICO meeting was the Widow Skimmer, so named for the dark patches in its wings that look a bit like mourning cloaks. We saw this species at both the retention pond in Austin, and at the Southeast Metropolitan Park south of Austin, near the airport.

The males are most commonly seen, since they are always on patrol to defend their territories and search for females. Here's a male at the retention pond:



The black patches on the wings were impressively deep and dark, in striking contrast to the white pruinosity.

Here's a side view of a male at the Southeast Metro Park:



Notice the prominent hamules on the underside of the abdomen, near where the abdomen joins with the thorax. The hamules are a sure sign we're looking at a male.

Now for a top view of a different male at this park:



Finally, we did manage to spot one female, resting inconspicuously in the bushes. Here she is:



Notice her tiny, well-separated appendages, wide abdomen, and pale dark patches.

We've seen this species before in a number of places, but I think the most strikingly beautiful individuals were the ones we saw in Texas.

The Whisperer Speaks!

This coming week, July 14-19, the International Congress of Odonatology meets in Austin Texas. Here's a poster for the event:



Here's an overview of the schedule of events:



The dragonfly whisperer will be there. In fact, I'll be giving two separate talks on Tuesday morning. The talks will focus on the two species seen in the following photo, the Paddle-tailed Darner (right) and the Autumn Meadowhawk (left):



The Paddle-tailed Darner, the Happy-face Dragonfly, is featured in the first talk, Spin-Dry Dragonflies: Nature's Fastest Spinners. This talk explores the splash-dunk/spin-dry suite of behaviors, and includes many slow-motion videos.

The second talk, Egg Laying in Autumn Meadowhawks, describes the unique egg-laying behavior of Autumn Meadowhawks. Again, slow-motion videos show the behavior in full detail.

Stop by and say hello if you're in attendance.