Dragonflies

The Common Baskettail and Spiny Baskettail are among the early dragonflies of spring, their flight periods usually completed by mid-summer. They are described as agile and acrobatic flyers that often form feeding swarms in clearings away from water and that can consume their prey while in flight.

At just under an inch in length, the Eastern Amberwing is the second smallest dragonfly around. Where do you find them? Over most of the U.S. east of the Great Plains and south into Mexico. Look for them near quiet or very slowly-moving waters, or far from water, hunting at grass-top-height over weedy fields or perched on vegetation at a woodland’s edge.

Eastern Pondhawks are brilliantly green, with dark-tipped abdomens that are decorated by “square,” black spots/bands/chevrons. As they age, males develop a waxy surface layer called pruinosity that hides the green and makes them look blue. Like all dragonflies, EPs are carnivorous. Naiads “sprawl” on pond bottoms or climb on submerged vegetation looking for invertebrates to eat. Adults hunt from the ground or from perches, snatching out of the air a variety of flying insects including butterflies and moths, damselflies, and other dragonflies.

Many Clubtail species (but not all) are adorned with three noticeably-flared segments at the end of their abdomen. What Clubtails have in common is that their eyes (usually green, blue or gray) do not touch each other on the tops of their heads. They generally rest, hunt and fly close to the ground, but they will perform vertical loop-the-loops when disturbed. Thirty-four species of Gomphids live or have lived in Wisconsin (there are about 1,000 species worldwide).

Wandering Gliders are considered the most widely-distributed dragonfly species, and because of that have been featured on postage stamps around the globe. Found on 6/7 of the earth’s continents, they occur between 40 degrees north and 40 degrees south latitudes, in areas where there is seasonal rainfall. They are found near temporary, even brackish, ponds and very slow streams, and flying over grasslands. Their range in Wisconsin is erratic.

Swamp Darners are impressive insects—large, broad-headed, brown/maroon abdomens ringed with thin, green lines. They range over eastern North America, more-or-less from Maine through Michigan to East Texas. They are one of approximately 15 species of dragonflies (out of about 400) that migrate, and they move down the Atlantic Coast in large numbers, sometimes as far as Mexico and the Bahamas. But they are very rare in Wisconsin; rare enough to be labeled a species of Special Concern.