Out of Nowhere: The Dragonfly Invasion Begins

Male Comet Darner, Homer Lake Wetland, May 26, 2021

On Thursday and Friday May 20 and 21st I was at the wetland early to mid mornings and saw the same dragonflies as have been there so far this season: common green darners and Carolina saddlebags, both migratory species that have arrived from the south--common green darners were there by March 22nd and Carolina saddlebags by April 9th. Then I was out of town for four days and when I got back to the wetland on Wednesday May 26th, five days after my previous visit, there were four more species present, two of them in abundance.

There is no evidence, nor any likelihood given that the wetland was dry three to four months at the end of last year, that these dragonflies came from the wetland itself. Dragonflies are strong fliers and leave the waters they emerge from until they reach sexual maturity. This takes a few days and then they search out suitable waters, preferences varying by species, to take on the challenge of reproduction. It is therefore possible -- and the multitude of dragonflies that suddenly appear at the wetland bears witness to this -- that they do not necessarily find their way back to the waters they came from but end up in other suitable locations, such as the Homer Lake Wetland.

Seemingly suitable locations.  If my hypothesis is correct and none of these dragonflies can survive their aquatic phase of life without water, and if the offspring of these dragonflies now depositing eggs in the wetland will require a year (or more) to reach adulthood, their efforts are almost certainly in vain.  There are a couple of exceptions for later blog posts, but of the many dragonfly species that breed at the wetland pond, it is almost certain that only two or three species will produce offspring that will successfully emerge as adults.

Meanwhile, sometime between Thursday and Friday of last week and Wednesday of this week, the air above the wetland began to fill with male twelve-spotted skimmers and blue dashers marking off and defending territory waiting for females to arrive. In addition, on Wednesday there was the first male common whitetail and a male comet darner (pictured above). 

The comet darner was a particular surprise because it is the first one documented in Champaign County (a new county record) and the nearest records I'm aware of is one recorded near Charleston about 70 miles away in 2016 and other records near Chicago and Indianapolis. Closely related to the common green darner (same genus), comet darners are strong fliers, but not known to be migratory. This one is likely an anomaly and unlikely to meet up with a female.

Photos of the other three new dragonfly species observed on Wednesday 5/26 are included below.

Male Twelve-Spotted Skimmer, Homer Lake Wetland, May 26, 2021

Male Blue Dasher, Homer Lake Wetland, May 26, 2021

Male Common Whitetail, Homer Lake Wetland, May 26, 2021


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