Possibly Ruby Meadowhawk

bugman

February 22nd, 2009 at 9:30 am

Categories

Dragonfly Some kind of Meadowhawk?
Thu, Feb 19, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Can you help me identify what kind of Meadowhawk dragonfly this is. I found this one late July, Hennepin County, Minnesota.
Jeanne
Richfield, Hennepin Cty., MN, USA

Meadowhawk

Dear Jeanne,
We have often mentioned that the exact identification of Dragonflies and Damselflies is not our strongest area, but just yesterday, Renaud Bernhard of Switzerland was kind enough to write to us and provide corrections to many of our unidentified or misidentified postings. We will post your letter and photo and hopefully Renaud can provide you with a correct answer.

Meadowhawk

Update: Monday, February 23, 2009
Hi Daniel,
That one is tricky. There are three north american meadhowhawks species with female that are troublesome to ID
without close examination, all three shows those black triangles on the side of the abdomen and more or less extended
amber patches on the wings: Cherry-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum internum), Ruby Meadowhawk (Sympetrum rubicundulum) and
White-faced Meadowhawk (Symeptrum obtrusum). There I would say Ruby Meadowhawk but that’s only because the guide I have
says that female of it can have as much extended yellow patch on the wings.
I’m just an amateur wildlife lurker but I’m fascinated with dragonflies-damselfies so I have collected a few
identification guides.
Renaud Bernhard

Comments 2

grev wrote:
OUCH!
Posted 22 Feb 2009 at 6:38 pm ¶
RenaudB wrote:
Good morning,
That one is tricky. There are three north american meadhowhawks species with female that are troublesome to ID without close examination, all three shows those black triangles on the side of the abdomen and more or less extended amber patches on the wings: Cherry-faced Meadowhawk (Sympetrum internum), Ruby Meadowhawk (Sympetrum rubicundulum) and White-faced Meadowhawk (Symeptrum obtrusum). There I would say Ruby Meadowhawk but that’s only because the guide I have says that female of it can have as much extended yellow patch on the wings.
Renaud, Switzerland
Posted 23 Feb 2009 at 5:24 pm ¶