Variegated Meadowhawk - Sympetrum corruptum

Patti and I joined a dragonfly outing led by Tim Manolis on July 12th at Bear Creek, which is along route 20, east of Williams. It's usually hot there in the summer, and even this dry year produced an abundance of dragonflies. By far the most common species was the Variegated Meadowhawk, a rather easy species to observe as it frequently chooses an open perch and tends to ignore the approach of humans. Contrast that with the Giant Darner, a green darner with the distinction of being the largest dragonfly in North America. Our group got to see several Giant Darners, but they patrol along the creek tirelessly and never seem to land. This digiscoped shot shows the distinctive thorax marking, with pale blue stripes ending in a yellow dot. Lack of red color on the abdomen suggests it is either a young male or a female.

The mature male Variegated Meadowhawks, with red on their abdomens, were present in good numbers and showed a lot more red on the abdomen. Here's an example taken at Ellis Creek a few years ago.

Last shot (below) is another one lacking red on the abdomen. Perhaps an experienced ode lover could better determine the age and sex, as the terminal appendages are seen more clearly here. See taxonomy below.

Taxonomy-

Family: Libellulidae, the Skimmers. Big family, worldwide.

Genus: Sympetrum, the Meadowhawks. 15 species in the U.S., 10 of them found in California (T. Manolis, Dragonflies and Dragonflies of California, a must-have reference for California odonata).

Species: Sympetrum corruptum, the Variegated Meadowhawk. A widely distributed and common migratory meadowhawk, found from southern Canada and to points south, and across to Asia.

Migration in dragonflies is a fascinating and a relatively new area of study, where we can all contribute valuable observations. See: http://blog.nature.org/science/2013/09/16/dragonfly-migration-a-mystery-citizen-scientists-can-help-solve/

Variegated Meadowhawk - Sympetrum corruptum

After I sent the recent photos of the Common Green Darner, May Chen reminded me that I could have mentioned that this is one of the few dragonfly species that migrates. Another migratory species that we see locally is the Variegated Meadowhawk, Sympetrum corruptum. We saw this one at Ellis Creek the same day we watched the Green Darner.

The Variegated Meadowhawk is very common, and although the colors can vary (duh…), several features make it easy to identify. On the sides of the thorax you can usually see 2 diagonal white stripes, each ending in a bright yellow dot. On the wings you may be able to see that the small stigma on each wing near the end is bicolored, darker in the center and lighter at the ends.  Red veins near the leading edge can be seen in some photos. On the abdomen there is row of white spots, or "portholes" (Manolis), and two dark spots on the top of the 2 segments near the end (8-9). Red/coral rings on the abdominal segments add color and interest, and he has a pretty face as well!

Another view:

May Chen sent this great link to a remarkable TED talk of how a scientist discovered the migration patterns of the Wandering Glider in Asia (from India to Africa!) - it is well worth your time, providing a great example of how a scientist gradually put observations together to paint a full picture:

Charles Anderson: Dragonflies that fly across oceans | Video on TED.com

The Xerces Society has initiated a project for gathering data on 5 species of migratory dragonflies, including the Common Green Darner and the Variegated Meadowhawk. If you'd like to learn about how you can help gather data for the project:

http://www.xerces.org/dragonfly-migration/migration-monitoring/

Brief Taxonomy-

Family Libellulidae is huge, with over 1,000 species wordwide. These are the Skimmers and allies.

Genus Sympetrum is big too, with over 50 species.

Species Sympetrum corruptum, the Variegated Meadowhawk. Seen widely across much of Canada and the US and south into Central America.