Swamp Darner dragonfly wing

Epiaeschna heros

Description:

A lost wing from an unknown species of dragonfly, spotted along the boardwalk that goes through the central wetland area at Huntley Meadows Park. I call upon all members of Odonation -- please rise to the challenge and help me identify the type of dragonfly that lost a wing!

Habitat:

Huntley Meadows Park, a 1,425 acre wetland area in Fairfax County, Virginia USA. Related Resource: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/huntl...

Notes:

1 Species ID Suggestions

matthewryanre 11 years ago

Swamp darner

Epiaeschna heros Species Epiaeschna heros - Swamp Darner - BugGuide.Net

2 Comments

matthewryanre 11 years ago

I began by looking back at Needham's "A Genealogic Study of Dragonfly Wing Venation" (1903) in order to figure out what I should be looking at as far as veins to determine the species. Then I turned to "Dragonflies of North America" by Needham and Westfall (1953) to find the Species. After looking at a few hundred wings, I determined that the Swamp Darner, Epiaeschna heros on page 286-287 was an exact match. Looking at the photos on bugguide.net confirmed the diagnosis.

Geodialist 11 years ago

Good detective work, Matt! I agree with your ID, especially in light of the fact that I spotted the wing on the boardwalk near the forest margin -- good Swamp Darner habitat. The wing in my photos is a perfect match for the wings shown in the following photo: http://bugguide.net/node/view/211417/bgi...