A Rare Dragonfly Encounter

Denise Greaves and Sheldon Greaves

Last fall we had a unique dragonfly experience at Great Swamp Management Area near South Kingston, Rhode Island.

Although temperatures were beginning to cool, it was pretty good dragonfly weather. Flushed with our success at finding a green darner (Anax junius), we thought we would go elsewhere and try our luck.

One other darner species that is highly elusive is the Canada darner (Aeshna canadensis), which, like A. junius, is constantly on the wing. Moreover, according to the literature, they perch high in the trees. So finding one perching that is easily visible from the ground is very rare. Even rarer is seeing a Canada darner "mating wheel" up close.

As we approached the main body of water (Worden Pond), we passed through a well-lit area, and suddenly we were mobbed by Canada darners. I sort of lost it and bellowed for a few seconds before my brainstem relinquished control back to my forebrain. These guys were friendly! The actually landed on us as well as the surrounding vegetation.

But the corker came when I spotted a pair of Canada darners in a mating wheel perched on Denise's back! I took the nearby picture with my little digital camera. After a few moments, they flew away, still locked together, and landed on the branch of a low sapling, where Denise used her SLR to take the second picture.

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