Final Fine-lined Emerald

Several Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies (Somatochlora filosa) were spotted during a photowalk with Michael Powell at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA. At least six S. filosa were spotted along two dirt/gravel roads at the site; this is the last one we saw.

This individual is a male, as indicated by his “indented” hind wings and terminal appendages.

Decisions, decisions!

I shot 37 photographs of the following dragonfly perched in several places: two photos are out of focus; most of the rest are flawed in some way (in my opinion), for example I don’t like the background, or the composition, etc.

As it turns out, the last group of photos is my favorite. Within that group, I selected a subset of three photos that I like. Although the photos are similar, they are subtly different. I think one of the images is the clear winner, but I suffer from decision paralysis sometimes. The photos are shown in the order in which they were taken. Which one is your favorite?

No.1

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

No. 2

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

No. 3

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Sidestory

I think I might have figured out the habitat/breeding habitat for Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies. As Mike Powell and I were walking along one of several roads at the site that lead to hotspots for hunting Fine-lined Emerald, I noticed shallow pools of “black water” in the forest, beginning about halfway down one of the dirt/gravel roads at the park. I mentioned to Mike that I think the black water pools are habitat for S. filosa.

Sure enough, that’s exactly where we spotted the male featured in this post — the last one we saw as we were walking back to Mike’s car. It’s worth noting we have never seen a Fine-lined Emerald that far from the main hotspots. Mike saw several more S. filosa in the same area a few days later. Hey, I might be onto something!

Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Yet another male Fine-lined Emerald

The following images show the third Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora filosa) that I photographed during a photowalk on 18 September 2019 at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA.

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

This individual is a male, as indicated by his “indented” hind wings and terminal appendages. The following photo shows both field marks clearly.

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Personality

Do dragonflies have personality? Who knows? I’ll say this: Some individuals within the same species seem to behave in ways that are distinctly observable and slightly atypical.

For example, this guy was hyperactive. He flew from perch-to-perch as though he were searching for the perfect perch. After brief stops at several spots, he disappeared into the tree canopy.

Before Mike Powell and I spotted the male featured in this post, we watched another male patrol back-and-forth between us for more than 30 minutes without landing! Mike and I were standing along a dirt/gravel road, about 20-30 yards apart. We had a lot of fun “redirecting” the dragonfly in the opposite direction toward each other. Several times the dragonfly “pulled up” in front of me and appeared to be thinking about landing on my head, but we were never so lucky. Eventually, the male must have tired of the game because he simply vanished!

Perhaps I’m guilty of personification of dragonflies, but I think they have lots of personality!

Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Another male Fine-lined Emerald

The following gallery shows the second Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora filosa) that I photographed during a photowalk on 18 September 2019 at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA.

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

This individual is a male, as indicated by his “indented” hind wings and terminal appendages. The following photo shows both field marks clearly.

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Male Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies typically patrol back-and-forth along relatively short segments, about waist high; in this case, they were patrolling along dirt/gravel roads in the forest. They perch about head high on tall grasses or bare tree branches.

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly (male)

A Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora filosa) was spotted during a photowalk at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA. Several specimens were spotted along two dirt/gravel roads at the site; this is the first one I saw.

This individual is a male, as indicated by his “indented” hind wings and terminal appendages.

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

18 SEP 2019 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Adult Flight Period

According to records for the Commonwealth of Virginia maintained by Dr. Steve Roble, Staff Zoologist at the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage, the adult flight period for S. filosa is from July 10 to October 15. The species is classified as rare to uncommon. Its habitat is “boggy streams, swamps, and marshes.”

Bear in mind, Dr. Roble’s records are for the entire state, therefore the adult flight period for S. filosa seems to be longer than it is in reality. The adult flight period for a single site is probably shorter. For example, according to records for Northern Virginia maintained by Kevin Munroe, former manager of Huntley Meadows Park, the adult flight period for Fine-lined Emerald is August 23 to October 04.

Rare to Uncommon

A distribution map of official records for Fine-lined Emerald helps to illustrate its classification as a rare to uncommon species of odonate.

DSA Distribution Viewer | Fine-lined Emerald (Somatochlora filosa)

Source Credit: Abbott, J.C. 2006-2019. OdonataCentral: An online resource for the distribution and identification of Odonata. Available at http://www.odonatacentral.org. (Accessed: September 19, 2019).

Key: blue dots = Dot Map Project; green dots = Accepted records; yellow dots = Pending records.

Related Resource: Posts tagged ‘Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly’

Copyright © 2019 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

New discoveries in 2017 (odonates)

There’s always more to discover/learn! My odonate-related new discoveries in 2017 are presented in reverse-chronological order.

Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly

10 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

A Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora filosa) was spotted at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA. This individual is one of several males spotted during a period of a week-or-so in mid-September 2017.

Immature male Calico Pennant

20 JUN 2017 | OBNWR | Calico Pennant (immature male)

A Calico Pennant dragonfly (Celithemis elisa) was spotted at Painted Turtle Pond, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Prince William County, Virginia USA. This individual is an immature male. Notice its coloration is similar to female Calico Pennants.

Allegheny River Cruiser dragonfly

11 JUN 2017 | Fluvanna County, VA | Allegheny River Cruiser (male)

An Allegheny River Cruiser (Macromia alleghaniensis) was netted by Mike Blust at Hardware River Wildlife Management Area, Fluvanna County, Virginia USA. This individual is a male.

Harpoon Clubtail dragonfly

09 JUN 2017 | Highland County, VA | Harpoon Clubtail (male)

A Harpoon Clubtail dragonfly (Phanogomphus descriptus) was spotted at “Straight Fork,” Highland County, Virginia USA. This individual is a male. Sincere thanks to fellow Virginians Karen Kearney and Mike Boatwright for guiding me to this unique high-elevation habitat.

It’s worth noting that I saw two more new species during the same trip: Riffle Snaketail (Ophiogomphus carolus); and Dot-tailed Whiteface (Leucorrhinia intacta).

Those who know me well are familiar with one of many “Walterisms”: “I haven’t ‘seen’ something until I have photographed it.” My rationale is two-fold: 1) A photograph verifies a sighting. 2) The detail visible in a good photograph exceeds the acuity of the human eye. Suffice it to say I saw two other species but haven’t seen them. Makes sense to me!

Swift River Cruiser dragonfly

27 MAY 2017 | Riverbend Park | Swift River Cruiser (emergent) female

A Swift River Cruiser dragonfly (Macromia illinoiensis) was spotted at Riverbend Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. This individual is an emergent/teneral female.

Spine-crowned Clubtail dragonfly

03 MAY 2017 | HORP | Spine-crowned Clubtail (male)

A Spine-crowned Clubtail dragonfly (Hylogomphus abbreviatus) spotted along Bull Run at Hemlock Overlook Regional Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA. This individual is a male. A female was spotted on the same day at a nearby location.

Epitheca cynosura exuvia

13 APR 2017 | Common Baskettail (Epitheca cynosura) | exuvia (lateral)

A Common Baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca cynosura) exuvia was collected at Painted Turtle Pond, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Prince William County, Virginia USA.

Epitheca princeps exuvia

05 MAR 2017 | Prince Baskettail (Epitheca princeps) | exuvia (face-head)

A Prince Baskettail dragonfly (Epitheca princeps) exuvia was collected from an unknown location. This specimen was on temporary loan from Huntley Meadows Park, Fairfax County, Virginia USA.

Copyright © 2017 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly redux (Part 2)

The same Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora filosa) was photographed while it perched on grasses located in two shady places along one of the trails at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA.

This individual is a male, as indicated by his terminal appendages and prominent hamules.

Set 3

A busy background of thigh-high grasses made it challenging to find a pleasing composition.

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Set 4

Photo Set 4 is my favorite, in terms of both quantity and quality. The dragonfly is shown perching on a grass stem that is estimated to be more than six feet high.

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

The next three photos are uncropped, that is, full-size images (4,000 x 3,000 pixels). This individual has a distinctive eye injury to the top of his left eye (facing forward) that enabled me to recognize the same male dragonfly is the subject in all four photo sets.

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Did you notice the male Big Bluet damselfly (Enallagma durum) that photo-bombed the preceding image?

The last photo was cropped lightly in order to improve the composition, and Adobe Photoshop CC 2017 was used to remove a distracting element from the lower-right corner of the image.

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Related Resources

• Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies (males)
• Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly redux (Part 1)

Copyright © 2017 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly redux (Part 1)

Several Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies (Somatochlora filosa) were spotted during a photowalk at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA.

The same dragonfly was photographed while it perched in several shady places along one of the trails at the site. In my limited experience, Somatochlora filosa seems to prefer perching on bare tree branches or long stems of wild grass. Part 1 features two photo sets showing Fine-lined Emerald resting on other types of perches; Part 2 will feature two more photo sets showing the dragonfly perching on grasses.

This individual is a male, as indicated by his terminal appendages and prominent hamules.

Set 1

The first photograph is a strong contender for my Odonart© Portfolio. I like the way the green vegatation complements the dragonfly’s emerald colored eyes. Can anyone identify the type of plant on which the dragonfly is perching?

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Post Update: Sincere thanks to Drew Chaney for identifying the green plant shown in the preceding photo. According to Drew, “It’s common evening-primrose, probably Oenothera biennis.”

Set 2

The second set of photos shows the dragonfly perching on a Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) seed pod.

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

The next photo was taken a step-or-so closer…

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

This individual has a distinctive eye injury to the top of his left eye (facing forward).

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

And after a few side steps, I was able to take a good ventral-lateral shot.

16 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

Editor’s Note: Sincere thanks to several members of the Capital Naturalist Facebook group for identifying the species of milkweed plant shown in photo Set 2. “Capital Naturalist” is administered by Alonso Abugattas, Natural Resources Manager, Arlington County Parks, Virginia.

Related Resources

• Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies (males)
• Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly redux (Part 2)

Copyright © 2017 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.

Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies (males)

Three Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies (Somatochlora filosa) were spotted during a long photowalk at an undisclosed location in Prince William County, Virginia USA. All three individuals are males, as indicated by their terminal appendages and prominent hamules.

If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. Source Credit: Sir Isaac Newton.

Sincere thanks to Jim Waggener, Wildlife Survey Coordinator for The Audubon Society of Northern Virginia, as well as other members of Jim’s survey group for sharing information that enabled me to find this rare to uncommon species of dragonfly. The group has surveyed four sites in Northern Virginia regularly for many years, including the one where I shot the following photographs.

No. 1

Fine-lined Emerald dragonflies seem to prefer perching on bare tree branches or long stems of wild grass, typically at chest- or head-height although not exclusively. For example, this guy was perched about waist-high on a cluster of fallen tree branches.

10 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

(See a full-size version of the original photo, without annotation.)

Fine-lined Emerald seems to prefer perching in sun rather than shade, unlike Mocha Emerald (Somatochlora linearis) — another species from the Family Corduliidae (Emeralds) found in Northern Virginia that prefers shady places.

The following ventral-lateral shot shows the lines on the thorax for which this species is named.

10 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

(See a full-size version of the original photo, without annotation.)

No. 2

The male shown in the next photo is perched on a long grass stem, about chest-high. He posed for two shots, patrolled back-and-forth a few times, and then disappeared.

10 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

No. 3

The last male was the most cooperative model. The first photo was taken at a distance of approximately six feet.

10 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

The next photo was taken a step-or-so closer…

10 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

And after a few side steps, I was able to take a good lateral shot.

10 SEP 2017 | PNC. Wm. County | Fine-lined Emerald (male)

The Backstory

This might be one of those stories in which the take-away is “persistence pays dividends.”

I made two trips to this site during Fall 2016 when Fine-lined Emerald was my target species. On 21 September 2016, I spotted one or more dragonflies (species unknown) patrolling the treetops along one of the trails at the park. I didn’t see any signs of Fine-lined Emerald on 25 October 2016, consistent with records for late-date maintained by Kevin Munroe (04 October for Northern Virginia) and Dr. Steven Roble (15 October for the Commonwealth of Virginia).

In retrospect, I realized I started searching too late in the year during 2016 so I started earlier in 2017. My first trip to the site was on 30 August 2017; it turned out to be fruitless. I hit the jackpot on 10 September 2017! Fine-lined Emerald is a new species for my life list of dragonflies.

Rare to Uncommon

A distribution map of official records for Fine-lined Emerald helps to illustrate its classification as a rare to uncommon species of odonate.

DSA Distribution Viewer | Fine-lined Emerald (Somatochlora filosa)

Source Credit: Abbott, J.C. 2006-2017. OdonataCentral: An online resource for the distribution and identification of Odonata. Available at http://www.odonatacentral.org. (Accessed: September 14, 2017).

Key: blue dots = Dot Map Project; green dots = Accepted records; yellow dots = Pending records.

Related Resources

• Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly redux (Part 1)
• Fine-lined Emerald dragonfly redux (Part 2)

Copyright © 2017 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved.