Return of the Spangled Skimmer!

Male Spangled Skimmer at the Homer Lake Wetland, June 14, 2021

First, I apologize to those who thought they were going to be reading about a much-anticipated sequel to a movie about a superhero in glittery tights. Spangled skimmers (Libellula cyanea) are not superheroes per se, but like all dragonflies, they are cool in their own rights.

In my fifth year of documenting dragonfly diversity at the Champaign County Forest Preserves, last year on June 12th I saw at the Homer Lake Wetland two spangled skimmers . That was a new county record for Champaign County. Those two were the only ones I saw last year. This year on June 14th I was excited to see a half dozen male spangled skimmers hanging out at the wetland, guarding territories in hopes that the females would be stopping by.

A first conclusion would be that the two I saw last year, a male and a female, met up at some point and successfully produced a new generation at the wetland. However, bear in mind that for most dragonflies, the first lifecycle stage requires a permanent body of water, which this wetland does not provide. In fact, one of my goals for this year of looking closely at the wetland is to see if there are any surprises with regard to what dragonflies emerge from its waters. So far there have been no surprises -- only meadowhawks have emerged so far, which is expected because they lay their eggs in late summer and fall where water is expected to be in the Spring, a different strategy than most dragonflies, which overwinter as naiads in the water. I also expect to see common green darners soon -- the offspring of the very early arrivals in late March and early April. Whether or not anything else successfully emerges from the wetland waters before they have evaporated remains to be seen.

Wherever the spangled skimmers came from last year, therefore, is probably where these came from this year, apparently in greater numbers. The fact that the vast majority of the dragonfly species that show up at the wetland cannot successfully reproduce there is an indication of the great degree to which dragonflies disburse from the locations where they emerge as flying adults. I began monitoring dragonflies at the wetland in 2017 and have documented 26 species there over the years. 

Of the sixteen species I have documented at the wetland so far this year, four are species I've never seen there before. Two of them are, in fact, new county records never before documented in Champaign County. The comet darner, a new county record, was mentioned in the blog post of May 29th. The other new county record so far this year, the four-spotted skimmer (Libellula quadrimaculata) showed up on the same day as the return of the spangled skimmer, June 14th. 

Four-Spotted Skimmer at the Homer Lake Wetland, June 14, 2021


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