I just got back from the Southeastern Meeting of the Dragonfly Society of the Americas in Crestview, FL. Or survey area was in the Blackwater Wildlife Management Area and Blackwater Forest Fishheries Area near Holt, Florida. Our target species was the Say's Spiketail (Cordulegaster sayi). I saw one but didn't get a shot of it. It is one of the most poorly known dragonflies of the Southeastern US. The other target species were Twin Striped Clubtail (Hylogomphus geminatum), Westfall's Clubtail (Phanogomphus westfalli) and Hodge's Clubtail (Phanogomphus hodgesi). Those are shown below. These dragons are of the Gomphidae family. Most Gomphidae will perch on the ground making for a cluttered background. The Twin Striped however, wil usually perch about three feet off the ground near their clear sandy bottom stream. They were formerly in the Gomphus genus. The subgenera have now all been elevated to genera in the US. Of the original 53 Gomphus genera there are only 11 left with that designation, none of which are in the Western hemisphere. (That will keep the interns busy changing identification labels). It was a great meeting. I got to catch up with a lot of friends, see a part of Florida I had not seen before and make a few new friends. Enjoy. I will be posting more.
-Doc

Twin Striped Clubtail

Twin Striped Clubtail (Hylogomphus geminatum) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr

Westfall's Clubtail

Westfall's Clubtail (Phanogomphus westfalli) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr



Hodge's Clubtail

Hodge's Clubtail (Phanogomphus hodgesi) M by Tony Schoch, on Flickr