How to know
the Odonata of Alaska plus where they live and other fun facts
Odonate Biodiversity
• Worldwide 5,400+ • N.A. 450 • Mexico 347 • California 112 • Oregon 89 • Washington 80 • B.C. 87 • Yukon 33 • ALASKA 35
Field Guides Suborders Anisoptera Zygoptera
An-iso-ptera = un-equal-wing Zygo-ptera = joined-wing
27 Species 8 Species FIVE FAMILIES in AK Anisoptera
Corduliidae – Emeralds (9) Aeshnidae – Darners (7) Libellulidae – Skimmers (8)
Zygoptera
Coenagrionidae – Pond damsels (6) Lestidae – Spreadwings (2) Corduliidae - Emeralds
Somatochlora – striped emeralds (8)
Cordulia – common emeralds (1)
Is there a spot at the base of the hind wing?
Delicate Emerald Whitehouse’s Emerald (Somatochlora franklini) (Somatochlora whitehousei) Does it have rings on the abdomen?
Ringed Emerald Hudsonian Emerald (Somatochlora albicincta) (Somatochlora hudsonica) No abdominal rings or wing spots.
Treeline Emerald American Emerald (Somatochlora sahlbergi) (Cordulia shurtleffii)
Delicate Emerald*
No abdominal rings or wing spots.
Mountain Emerald (Somatochlora semicircularis) Kennedy’s Emerald (Somatochlora kennedyi) No abdominal rings or wing spots.
Ocellated Emerald (Somatochlora minor)
Kanuti National Wildlife Refuge
The Mosaic Darners
Aeshnidae Aeshna (7) Darner ID (It’s about the stripes)
Subarctic Paddle-tail (A. subarctica) (A. palmata) Lake (A. eremita)
Variable Zig-zag & Azure (A. interrupta) (A. sitchensis & septentrionalis) Sedge (A. juncea)
Libellulidae - Skimmers
Leuchorrhinia – Whitefaces (5) Libellula – King skimmers (1) Sympetrum – Meadowhawks (2)
Is it less that 28 mm long?
female
Canada Whiteface (Leucorrhinia patricia)
mature male Is it greater than 36 mm long?
Immature female
Boreal Whiteface (Leucorrhinia borealis)
Mature male Hudsonian Whiteface (Leucorrhinia hudsonica)
Mature male
Immature female No abdominal spots beyond segment 3?
Crimson-ringed Whiteface (Leucorrhinia glacialis)
Belted Whiteface (Leucorrhinia proxima)
Warning: females similar to Hudsonian Whiteface Dragonflies
Female vulvar laminae Male hamules Mature male
Black Meadowhawk (Sympetrum danae)
Immature female Cherry-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum internum)
Four-spotted Skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata) Suborder: Zygoptera
Coenagrionidae – Pond Damsels Enallagma - American Bluets (2) Coenagrion - Eurasian Bluets (3) Nehalennia – Sprites (1) Coenagrion - Eurasian Bluets
Subarctic Bluet (C. interogatum)
Taiga Bluet (C. resolutum) Prairie Bluet (C. angulatum) Bluets male terminal appendages
Taiga Subarctic Prairie
Enallagma – American Bluets
Boreal (Enallagma borealis)
Northern (Enallagma annexum) Sedge Sprite
Nehalennia irene Suborder: Zygoptera
Lestidae – Spreadwings Lestes – Pond Spreadwings (2) Spreadwings - Lestidae
Northern spreadwing
Emerald spreadwing Rare or Occasional Visitor?
Dave McShaffrey Ian Lane Common Pacific Spiketail Green Darner
G.W. Lasley Spot-winged Glider Sagwon (3?)
Kanuti NWR (25)
Galena- Koyukuk NWR (25) Fairbanks (20) Delta Junction (22) Tetlin NWR (23)
Anchorage-Palmer (18) Kenai (13) Juneau (18) King Salmon (8) Odonate species Ketchikan (15) diversity around the state Thank you
The Alaska Odonata Survey 16445 Point Lena Loop Road Juneau, AK 99801 907-790-2227 [email protected] …while the Anisoptera are usually larger and more sturdily built, swift and bold of The Zygoptera are flight, with an slender insects of appearance delicate appearance calculated to inspire and relatively feeble fear in the minds of flight…. most people.