Red-Tailed Pennant - Brachymesia furcata

Moved

… Ron Hemberger, 20 September, 2006 - 8:06pm

not sure Cliff

Ron and Cliff,

Not sure about this being a pennant see John Abbott's female photo of a Red-tailed Pennant at http://www.aeshna.com/insects/odonata/Brachymesia%20furcata/brachymesia%20furcata%20005.htm
The whitish face and overall jizz points to it being a Meadowhawk.

… Randy Emmitt, 15 September, 2006 - 5:52am

The photo you referenced is a male

Check out these female photos: http://www2.ups.edu/biology/museum/Brachymesia_furcataF.jpg http://www.odolep.com/d_libelluinae/Brachymesia_furcata1.jpg. In both photos, note the somewhat dorsally compressed abdomen, resulting in a strong lateral keel down the abdomen. Compare this to a typical Sympetrum, which has a thinner, rounded abdomen, without a lateral keel. Also note the black lines on top of S8 and S9, indicative of Brachymesia furcata.

By the way, it's great talking with you again, Randy. I hope to see you at a future DSA conference! Please post more of your awesome photos.

… Cliff Bernzweig, 15 September, 2006 - 10:15am

Wow, this gets complicated!

I shoulda stuck with butterfiles, but I'm in the dragonfly, syrphid, and bee fly mires now. Thanks, Randy and Cliff, for your assistance. I'll keep plugging away and, hopefully, will get lucky. More and more, I see why people net insects, tho I'm still a take-no-prisoners guy.

… Ron Hemberger, 15 September, 2006 - 10:49am

It's not that bad

There are a few real challenges in ode identification (Sympetrum, Lestes, Enallagma) but overall it is really not that difficult. I will take this kind of stuff over skipper identification ANY day!

Let me edit this to say not that difficult when you have a crisp photo like this or a bug in the hand. Otherwise all bets are off. The title of the book "Dragonflies Through Binoculars" is misleading because the majority of bugs in that book will need to be caught just to get a decent look at them, let alone an ID. That's what makes oding so fun.

… Cliff Bernzweig, 15 September, 2006 - 11:36am

I take your point on skippers.

I've stumbled into that mess as well. See this post for some interesting comments, including "aerial dissection":

… Ron Hemberger, 15 September, 2006 - 9:40pm

Sympetrum spp

Ron,

I know mostly eastern odes. This is a meadowhawk likely in the family Sympetrum. Meadowhawks are one of the harder odes to seperate.

… Randy Emmitt, 13 September, 2006 - 9:27pm

How about Red-tailed Pennant?

Brachymesia furcata, female.

… Cliff Bernzweig, 14 September, 2006 - 11:56pm

Looks quite good, Cliff

This appears to be the best bet, though mine's on the dull side in color. I've gone through all the meadowhawks on site and haven't found a match. Will now Google both possibilities.

BTW, if you have a couple minutes, see below. At this point, I'm looking for opinions on teneral vs. adult, rather than an ID.

… Ron Hemberger, 15 September, 2006 - 12:48am

Thanks so very much, Randy

I often notice a decided silence when I post something tough and am really glad to receive your input. You've given me plenty to get started, and I hope to take the ID further now that you've narrowed the field. (Lists indicate only 11 meadowhawks in California.)

If you get a chance, take a look at the following, another post that has so far met with silence. What I'd like is your opinon on whether this is a teneral dragonfly.

… Ron Hemberger, 14 September, 2006 - 1:30pm