The Boghaunter
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THE BOGHAUNTER Occasional News About the Dragonflies and Damselflies of Vermont Volume 3 • Number 2 In color online at: www.vermontbirdtours.com/boghaunter Spring 2004 The Fab Five: Vermont’s Next Odes By Mike Blust when. That is the rationale t’s mid June. Mosquitoes buzz in your behind this ear as you slog through a shrubby I article – to wetland bordering a swampy area. A increase our large dragonfly zips out from the trees awareness on and back in again. At the same time, a the eve of a brilliant green spreadwing damsel flutters new field past. Which do you pursue? season. In the There is no wrong answer, of course, spirit of fun, because all records are valuable. They The contribute to our knowledge of odonate Boghaunter range and abundance – both in space and asked me to time. BUT! If you knew that the date and predict the habitat were just right for Epiaeschna next five heros (Swamp Darner), and if you knew species to be that Epiaeschna heros had never before encountered in been recorded in Vermont, and if you Vermont. knew that the likelihood of that What’s here Jackie Sones spreadwing damsel being a new state that hasn’t yet Cordulegaster obliqua (Arrowhead Spiketail) record was almost nil – would that been dis - influence your decision? covered. I things work to the point where we can agreed to the task, knowing that my own Although there is always an element of make educated predictions about the “awareness factor” would be greatly luck, people with the most interesting future. So, how does one attempt to enhanced in the process. discoveries often succeed because they’ve predict the next species to be found in done their homework. They know in One of the primary goals of science is to Vermont? advance what to watch for, where, and improve our understanding of the way (Continued on page 2) Big Turnout Expected For DSA Meeting By Bryan Pfeiffer Here’s a tentative agenda for the DSA meeting: Odonatists from as far away as Virginia and Maine will converge Thursday, June 24 – DSA members convene in Hartford, either at on Hartford, Vermont, for a regional gathering of the Dragonfly free reserved campsites at Quechee State Park or at local motels. (Directions and motel information is on the web site.) Group supper. Society of the Americas from June 24-27. Friday, June 25 – Collecting trips to various locations in the Details on collecting outings, food, lodging and evening Connecticut River Valley, including checks for Gomphus vastus (Cobra Clubtail) and Neurocordulia yamaskanensis (Stygian presentations are falling into place. There is still time to register Shadowdragon). Evening speaker: Mark McPeek will cover 10 before the June 7 deadline. Details are at <www.vinsweb.org/ million years of damselfly evolution in a single evening. Group BioBlitz/DSA-NE.html>. Or email Bryan Pfeiffer at supper at local restaurant. [email protected]. Saturday, June 26 – Collecting and investigations at the BioBlitz site. Evening Event: BioBlitz grand tally cookout supper (free for The DSA gathering will coincide with the Vermont BioBlitz DSA members). <www.vinsweb.org/BioBlitz>, which will be the greatest Sunday, June 27 – Optional field trips, including a bog visit for gathering of biologists and naturalist ever assembled in Vermont. northern species. Fab Five (Continued from page 1) don’t recognize. My goal here is for us to Fab Five (Gomphus abbreviatus) only to The first criterion is “gappiness.” Does avoid odonate complacency. ignore what might have been a Vermont represent a gap in the Williamsonia lintneri (Ringed Got a Libellula incesta (Slaty known range of the species? Boghaunter) flying up off the path. Of Skimmer) in the net? Before Thankfully, my efforts have been course, all our mistakes and risks should you let it go, be sure to greatly simplified by the publication, be so perilous. check the wings for in the Bulletin of American extra black Author’s Note: Information on flight Odonatology, of Nick markings, seasons and habitats are based on the Donnelly’s dot maps for the or Maine Damselfly and Dragonfly Survey dragonflies of North website; Sidney Dunkle’s Dragonflies America and by Ed Lam’s Through Binoculars; Ed Lam’s stellar book on Damselflies of the Damselflies of the Northeast; and Northeast (reviewed in this issue), Needham and Westfall’s Dragonflies of complete with county-level range maps. North America. Range information is Eyeballing the maps, I rated species from from Nick Donnelly’s dot maps in the zero to 10, with a grade of 10 being Bulletin of American Odonatology applied to a species that has been found (Volumes 7:4 and 8:1) and Ed on several of our borders, but not yet Lam’s Damselflies of the within the state. Zero would represent a Northeast. species found only in, say, San Diego. Mike Blust, a regular Next I used my relatively scant field contributor to The Boghaunter, experience to put a number on the Progomphus obscurus has a doctorate in entomology, not-so-scientific concept of did his masters work on the life (Common Sanddragon) “findability.” In other words, history of Stylogomphus albistylus, and they may be here, but how easy is teaches biology at Green Mountain College it to find them? This combines the the eye color to see if it’s dark or in Poultney. He runs the Odonata of Vermont availability of suitable habitat with light. He might turn out to be a Libellula Web Site (http://campus.greenmtn.edu/dept/ behavioral characteristics that make a vibrans (Great Blue Skimmer). How NS/Dragonfly) and still manages to spend species easy or hard to find and identify. about that Calopteryx aequabilis (River many hours in the field. Jewelwing)? Does the extent of the black Overall, this is a rather crude approach. on the wingtips appear less than normal – But it’s a tool to get us looking. Let us get THE BOGHAUNTER is an occasional newsletter about especially if the front and hind wings the dragonflies and damselflies of Vermont. It is out, swing some nets and see if it works. show equal amounts of black? Check the available for no charge, although contributions to So (the envelope, please), the winners face for white on the “upper lip” (labrum) help offset postage and printing are welcome. are, in order of probability: and the base of the antennae. And to think CONTRIBUTIONS to THE BOGHAUNTER can take two · Cordulegater obliqua (Arrowhead Spiketail) you might have passed that Calopteryx forms: financial and editorial. The newsletter · Epiaeschna heros (Swamp Darner) dimidiata (Sparkling Jewelwing) had you appears two or three times per year. Even a donation of $5 to $10 would help offset printing and · Gomphus abbreviatus (Spine-crowned Clubtail) not been aware. postage expenses, which are borne entirely by the · Nasiaeschna pentacantha (Cyrano Darner) Let me re -emphasize that there is much editor. Your articles, photos, and ideas are welcome and... wait! We have a three-way tie for fifth place: value in “ordinary species” records. In as well. The next issue should appear in July. · Progomphus obscurus (Common Sanddragon) large part, searching for new state or THE BOGHAUNTER is on the web in color at: county records stimulates us to get out · Neurocordulia obsoleta (Umber Shadowdragon) www.vermontbirdtours.com/boghaunter. and about, investigate new habitats and · Enallagma divigans (Turquoise Bluet) generally increase our knowledge of THE BOGHAUNTER If I had to break the tie (luckily, there are species abundance and distribution. There 113 Bartlett Road no real rules here), I would go with is also a lot to be said for spending time at Plainfield, VT 05667 [email protected] Progomphus obscurus. I have seen it not one location to gain a deeper knowledge too far away in New York State, and I of odonate interactions and behaviors. Editor …………….……………...… Bryan Pfeiffer have trouble believing it is not here as But however you decide to relate to THE BOGHAUNTER expresses gratitude to Paul- well. odonates or other critters, it never hurts to Michael Brunelle and the Maine Department of be on the lookout for something different. I’m keen to see how my predictions pan Inland Fisheries and Wildlife for inspiration and out. But, from a broader perspective, I There is of course the confounding factor use of the Williamsonia fletcheri image the front- page banner, and to Blair Nikula and Jackie have included a table of 26 additional that by publishing the “Fab Five” we Sones for the use of their fine images. species on a sort of “watch list” (table on might be more likely to search next page). This should further help us specifically for them, thus leading to a © The Boghaunter 2004 determine where to focus out attention in degree of “self-fulfilling prophecy.” I’d Nothing from this newsletter can be reproduced without permission from the editor (which is fairly easy to get). the field when faced with something we hate to have pursued a potential #3 of the Page 2 THE BOGHAUNTER Volume 3 • Number 2 The Vermont Watch List Page 3 When To Look Sections of Vermont Family Genus species Common Name Where To Look M J J A S to Search Petaluridae — — — — — — — — — — Aeshnidae Epiaeshna heros Swamp Darner X X Entire state Swamps, shady ponds or slow streams Nasiaeshna pentacantha Cyrano Darner X X Southern and Eastern Ponds, slow streams, lake coves Aeshna juncea Sedge Darner XX XX Northern Waters with emergent vegetation, esp. sedges Aeshna mutata Spatterdock Darner XX XX Southern Ponds and marshes, esp. with yellow water lily Gomphidae Gomphus abreviatus Spine-crowned Clubtail XX X Southeastern Connecticut