First Sullivan sighting of a dragonfly species

Posted 8/21/12

In last week’s Rivertalk column, Sandy Long told us that the 2016 Upper Delaware BioBlitz will be held this coming weekend at the Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp in Tusten, NY. On Saturday, June 25, …

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First Sullivan sighting of a dragonfly species

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In last week’s Rivertalk column, Sandy Long told us that the 2016 Upper Delaware BioBlitz will be held this coming weekend at the Ten Mile River Boy Scout Camp in Tusten, NY. On Saturday, June 25, there will be many programs for the public by the various teams of scientists and volunteers that collected data and specimens, and you will be able to see flora and fauna of all types. There are even activities for children on Saturday.

When the BioBlitz was held at Ten Mile River in 2014, I was checking for dragonflies during the data collection phase. I went to one of the docks where there was aquatic vegetation close by, and I found a dragonfly just emerging out of its exuvia, the now unneeded exoskeleton of its nymph stage. As in all freshly emerged dragonflies, the wing and body color patterns were very faint, making this specimen hard to identify.

As time went on, the dragonfly’s wings slowly hardened for flight, colors got a little more pronounced, and there was a pattern on the wings that looked unfamiliar. One of the dragonfly experts looked at what I had found and told me that there was a reason it looked unfamiliar; I had found an emerging banded pennant (Celithemis fasciata), and this is the first time it was ever seen in Sullivan County.

The pennant genus of dragonflies include such species as the colorful and common Halloween pennant. The banded pennant stays mostly south of this region, with sightings in New Jersey and south. In New York, there have been sightings in Long Island and a cluster of sightings near the Rockland and Orange County border. Nationally, the bulk of this species is abundant in the southeast U.S.; one could wonder if the more northern sightings could be normal distribution spread or the effects of climate change.

For folks coming up to the Upper Delaware BioBlitz this coming Saturday, there will be walks for dragonflies and birds and other animals, insects, plants and fungi; we’ll see if the banded pennant still is present. As described in last week’s Rivertalk, Sandy Long, Dave Soete, Roy Morsch and I will be doing programs and walks for photographers on Saturday morning. Hope to see you there!

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