Dot-tailed white-faced dragonfly

Main:  Dot-tailed white faced-dragonfly photographed June, 2025 in Creston, BC.
Inset:  Same species photographed July, 2020 near Princeton, BC.

One of the amazing things about insects is their ability to spread over great distances.  One species, many locations.  Since most insects can fly they have an inherent ability to change locations.  It may take years, decades, or even centauries, but they often manage to spread past their immediate range.  The limiting factors may be competition, geographic isolation, predation, or difficult environments.  

This particular dragonfly, scientific name Leucorrhinia intacta, has a broad range across much of the northern US and southern Canada.  They tend to stay near the pond/slow stream where they emerged from, but that's not to say that they never travel.  Some dragonflies, such as the common green skimmer, can travel over 2000 km.  All adult dragonflies need to survive is the availability for food and it be warm enough to move and hunt.  The fact that this particular species has such a broad range must be partially attributed to its movements as an adult.  There would also be some relocation in large water bodies or streams where the naiad may move a long way from where it hatched.

Dot-tailed whitefaces tend to stay within the local area as they have a habit of remaining near a water body.  Both naiads and adults are carnivorous where the naiad is an ambush predator and the adult a winged terror that will take on all kinds of soft-bodied prey.  Males do not have yellow markings along their abdomens while females do; the inset above is of a female.  The yellow markings along the side fade over time.

Dragonflies may spend several years under water as naiads, the length of time affected by water temperatures and food availability.  Adults of some dragonflies may live for many months, but for this species it seems to have a relatively shortened time as an adult ranging from a week to a month.  Males tend to die after mating while the females can live on for longer periods.  

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Harjit Bahia - Science teacher and colleague from Garibaldi died August 2, 2024

Image
You will be missed Mr. Bahia.  You made a difference and we are sad you are gone. I keep in loose contact with my fellow retired teachers from Garibaldi Secondary School.  I talked with my long-time friend, Mike Lynch, today, and discovered that Hargit died over the summer.  Unbeknownst to him, he had an underlying heart condition and passed away after working out on his treadmill.  The date was August 2, 2024. I was shocked to hear this.  He was only 49 years old, turning 50 some 3 months later.  It was a shock to everyone, for he was loved by all who knew him.  As a teacher, Mr. Bahia was kind and fun.  He contributed to students in many ways and was always available to help those in need.   For myself, I knew him as a fellow science teacher and taught in the adjoining room to him.  He was always available to help, share ideas, and work together.  Easy to approach, I found that I could talk to him about anything and appreciat...
Read more

I found a black widow spider in a plant pot today

Image
The spider I found is a western black widow spider, one of three species of black widow that occur in North America.  The fact that this one has another red patch on the back of its abdomen above the spinnerettes tells us that it is an immature individual. The one thing that people know about black widow spiders is that they are extremely poisonous.  Their venom is something like 15x more toxic than that of a rattlesnake.  The saving grace is that there is very little venom injected from a black widow bite than what a rattlesnake can deliver.   The good news is that black widow bites seldom lead to death.  You are more likely to suffer nausea, muscle pain, and swelling around the bite.  Symptoms usually last only 12 hours or so.  Death may be a result in people with compromised immune systems or in the very young or the elderly.   In 2018, it was reported that there were 1015 cases of people bitten by black widows.  Of those, there ...
Read more

Mountain Bluebird - out of the blue.

Image
Mountain Bluebird photographed near Princeton, BC. While camping at a resort near Princeton, BC, I had a chance to visit a wildlife refuge that was nearby.  There are about 5 km of trails there and it took me two days to cover them all.  That may sound like an unreasonably slow rate of progression, but I took several hundred images during my time there and did a fair amount of step retracing.  The end result was the opportunity to get some great hiking in and see three bird species I have never encountered before. On the first day, I saw and photographed a pygmy nuthatch.  I have seen the white-breasted and red-breasted varieties but never this species.  The second day caught me completely off guard, as within the span of 30 seconds I saw the other two, a Bullock's oriole and a mountain bluebird.  It was a stunning discovery, for me anyway, and I can still feel the thrill of the moment thinking back on it.  Many of you may think this a bit odd, t...
Read more