Dragonfly id confirmation?

david156 · #1 (**permalink**) 05-08-2010, 07:53 PM

Hi all,

This poorly Dragonfly crash landed in our yard at work this afternoon. It was very sluggish and had half a front wing missing! I'm sure its a female common darter, but can someone confirm that for me.

Cheers David.

Michael A · #2 (**permalink**) 05-08-2010, 07:59 PM

It's a Common Darter

GuyF · #3 (**permalink**) 05-08-2010, 08:30 PM

This is an immature male, at the front of the abdomen on the underside you can see the genitalia which females would lack!
Guy

david156 · #4 (**permalink**) 05-08-2010, 08:50 PM

Cheers all for confirmation.

Quote:

Originally Posted by GuyF

This is an immature male, at the front of the abdomen on the underside you can see the genitalia which females would lack!
Guy

I see what you mean Guy. Didn't really study it too much. I was trying to lock up and go home after a bad day at work. (hormonal printers and crashing computors as well as collapsing racking!) Believe it or not this dragonfly was the highlight of my day!

David

RoyW · #5 (**permalink**) 06-08-2010, 06:55 AM

Hi David,

This is definitely an immature male, as Guy says, but I'm not convinced that this is a Common Darter.
Is this the only photo that you have, or did you take any others? (I've already checked your flickr page!).

Roy.

david156 · #6 (**permalink**) 06-08-2010, 05:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RoyW

Hi David,

This is definitely an immature male, as Guy says, but I'm not convinced that this is a Common Darter.
Is this the only photo that you have, or did you take any others? (I've already checked your flickr page!).

Roy.

Hi Roy.

The only other different angle I have is this one

I hope this helps but i'm thinking you may want a front on view!

David

RoyW · #7 (**permalink**) 06-08-2010, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by david156

I hope this helps but i'm thinking you may want a front on view!

I think that the additional photo is very useful, and I'm now happy to agree that this is a Common Darter (which was of course the most likely identity).

You obviously have an idea about what I was thinking, but I'll explain for the sake of anyone else who may be interested, but perhaps confused!
The other possibility was Vagrant Darter (also known as Moustached Darter), a species which has been identified in the country a few times as a rare migrant. This species is very similar to Common Darter, with one of the most distinctive features being more black on the face which extends down the sides of the eyes as 'moustaches'. The original photo appears to show a lot of black on the face, but I was concerned that this was even more extensive than would be expected on a typical Vagrant Darter, and not exactly the right shape. On the second photo there is no black visible down the sides of the eyes although it should usually be visible in a typical Vagrant Darter seen from this angle (+ certainly visible on one with face markings as extensive as they appear in the first photo). I am now certain that this is a Common Darter and that the apparent dark face markings are no more than shadow (or some other photographic effect) - and other minor features seem to confirm this Id.
The chance of finding a Vagrant Darter in this country is almost certainly still very small - but in this case I felt like it was worth considering the possibility!

Roy.