The Dragonflies of Drag Lake

Drag Lake is located about 7.25 km west of Tweed , at 44.443129°, -77.391084° along the trans-Canada Trail according to Google Maps. The lake appears to be rock-bottomed – calcerous, judging by the surrounding geology – with relatively shallow water, and the parts of the shoreline are bordered by marshes. Some odonates can be particular with regard to their habitat requirements and for whatever reason the Dusky Clubtail is plentiful at this body of water.

With a length of 50 mm ± 5 mm, Gomphus spicatus is larger than the Lancet Clubtail (44 mm ± 5 mm). As its name suggests the Dusky Clubtail tends to be darker than its cousin, lacking the Lancet Clubtail's yellow dorsal stripe on S9.

However, the dragonflies can vary in color and Gomphids are notorious for their mutable chromatic complexions in any event, with yellow becoming green and eventually changing to bluish-gray with increasing age. Both the Dusky and Lancet Clubtails can sport a pale yellow streak on S9 making this unreliable means of separating the two species. For a positive ID it's necessary to examine the claspers and/or genitalia.

Like most Gomphidae a.k.a. Clubtails, Dusky Clubtails perch on the ground or other horizontal surfaces such as low leaves. They are fairly tame (the individuals in these photos were captured by hand) and can often be approached closely, whereupon the lateral spines on the male's cerci are clearly visible.

The cerci also have a distinct ventral spine.

The male's secondary genitalia, looking at this picture the words such as baroque, labyrinthine and convoluted come to mind ...

The abdomens of the females tend to be more robust than those of males. The distribution of the sexes was rather odd, with thirty one males but only two females being encountered.

A macro of the female's genital plate.

There were plenty of exuviae scattered along the shoreline but none belonging to the Dusky Clubtail were in evidence. Although unconfirmed as yet (the images are at BugGuide.Net) the largest exoskeletons probably belonged to Epitheca princeps, the Prince Baskettail – but no Prince Baskettails were seen flying.

EDIT ... the response from BugGuide.Net: if there are four setae on the edges of the palps (which there are) the exuviae belong to Epitheca princeps. Also, according to this key at Odonata Larvae of Michigan the dorsal surface of prementum should be setose, which is the case in the specimens. So Epitheca princeps it is.

Four teneral female Calico Pennants (Celithemis elisa) were also sighted perching in the tall grasses, and apparently this dragonfly also finds the atmosphere of Drag Lake convivial. The Calico Pennant is not uncommon at other wetland habitats in south-central Hastings County, but in the coming summer months uncountable numbers of these colorful little skimmers can be found flying at Drag Lake.

The Belted Whiteface (Leucorrhinia proxima) and the Frosted Whiteface (Leucorrhinia frigida) are another pair of dragonflies that can be tough to distinguish at a glance. They are very similar in size, coloration and patterning, and both species develop pruinosity on the first few abdominal segments.

This Belted Whiteface was captured near a marsh a couple of kilometers east of Drag Lake, and examination of the hamules (top) and claspers (bottom) is the best means of distinguishing it from the Frosted Whiteface.

The Smallest, the Largest and a few things in between ...

At a mere 20 mm in length, the Elfin Skimmer (Nannothemis bella) holds the record for being North America's smallest dragonfly. The black-and-yellow striped females can easily be mistaken for wasps. Several of these diminutive dragonflies were seen foraging near a marsh along the Potter Settlement Road, about a kilometer east of Actinolite ... to date, this is the only site other than the Stoco Fen that I've encountered this species.

Mature males are covered in a blue-gray coat of pruinosity.

Until recently I only knew of this dragonfly from remnants of individuals that had collided with vehicles. While not uncommon, the Prince Baskettail (Epitheca princeps) cruises non-stop high in the air, so unless it makes one of its infrequent pit stops it's seldom encountered by mere land bound entities. When it does rest it seems to prefer a shady location, making it a difficult subject to photograph. At 60 to 65 mm this dragonfly is the by far the largest of our local baskettail species. This the female ...

... and this is an immature male; except for the claspers it looks much like the female. As it ages its eyes will turn a deep translucent green like those of many other emeralds.

Another Giant Swallowtail sighting around noon on June 8th near the Stoco Lake boat ramp. No picture; it was moving too fast. But it looks like North America's largest butterfly is definitely a breeding resident, even if temporarily, in this area. Indeed, they've been in this neck of the woods long before I noticed them: the following two photos were taken by Ildiko Olive west of Thomasburg in August of 2006. I'm going to keep an eye on the stands of Prickly Ash and see if there are any larvae.

A Common Snapping Turtle on a mission: she's digging a nest along the side of the road. Chelydra serpentina is our largest local turtle and this one looks close to 50 cm long. The length is a guesstimate; I didn't actually take measurements as snappers have somewhat antisocial dispositions that tend to discourage one from getting close up and personal. After "snapping" a couple of pictures I backed off and let her get on with her business. In two or three months, depending on the weather, the hatchlings will emerge from the eggs.

Not the smallest moth but with a wingspan of only 12 mm the Spotted Thyris (Thyris maculata) qualifies as being tiny. These minute moths seemed to have a preference for nectaring at Robin Plantain (Erigeron pulchellus), a type of fleabane.

Grasshopper growth: a nymph shedding its exoskeleton

Two grasshopper nymph instars; the larger one is less than 5 mm long. I'm not sure what species these are.

One of our bantam butterflies, the Silver-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene) has a wingspan of 45 to 50 mm.