Shadow Darners (Aeshna umbrosa) live throughout most of North America (except the very southern edges of the U.S. and a few Rocky Mountain states), and their range stretches well north into the boreal forests of Canada. They’re found in a variety of wetlands, from the still waters of bogs, pools, and ditches, to slow streams.
The fourth Annual chorus of “The Twelve Bugs of Christmas,” the BugLady offers a Bakers’ Dozen of Bug Portraits that were taken this year but are unlikely to appear in future BOTWs because their stories have been told in past BOTWs (hence, the links, for BugFans who want to know “The Rest of the Story”).
The Black Saddlebags (Tramea lacerata) is found throughout the U.S., into Canada, and south of the border well into Mexico. Black Saddlebags also have a presence on the Hawai’ian and the Caribbean Islands. They choose fish-free still/stagnant/very slow-moving water with lots of vegetation for their nurseries and will oviposit in roadside ditches.
The BugLady would like to dedicate this episode to the late (great) Cornell Professor Richard B. Fischer (January 19, 1919 – August 7, 2005) who taught the BugLady how to sneak up on insects (no bobbing or weaving, just slow and steady and straight ahead.
Springtime Darners (Basiaeschna janata) are not mosaic darners (genus Aeshna); they are a monotypic genus—the only member of their genus in the world. At about 2 ¼” to 2 ½” (females are larger than males) they are a bit smaller than the mosaics. Springtime darners are commonly seen cruising around in woodland clearings, and along sunny edges of lakes, bogs, and slow streams in eastern North America.
Most Emerald Dragonflies are dark with long, slender abdomens, metallic iridescence, a somewhat hairy thorax, and big, green eyes that meet at the top of the head. They are strong fliers that patrol tirelessly at the edge of woods and wetlands; and they often form feeding swarms as high as 30 feet off the ground.
There are 20 or so Aeshna darners in North America. The Green-striped Darner (Aeshna verticalis) is a Northeastern darner, found from Minnesota/northern Iowa/southern Canada to Nova Scotia to New Jersey; it is rarely found south of Ohio. Its life story is similar to that of other mosaics.
It’s time again for the Annual “Twelve Bugs of Christmas” event (and, coincidentally, episode #350 in the series, by the BugLady’s numbering). Here are a (Baker’s) dozen insects that will not be getting (or who have already had) their own BOTWs. Feel free to hum along, and have a lovely Holiday.
As the Bug Season winds down, the BugLady would like to celebrate summer by sharing a baker’s dozen of the pictures she’s taken in the past few months.
Red Saddlebag Dragonflies is in a large group of often-flashy dragonflies. They are definitely migratory, traveling south along the Lake Michigan shoreline each fall with masses of Green Darners. Life begins when eggs are deposited in the warm, quiet, shallow waters of a lake or pond (they are known to use temporary/seasonal/rain ponds where fish are absent). Males patrol territories, flying and hovering over areas as large as 3,000 square feet.