[Odonata-l] Another U. S. record at Bentsen

[Azurebluet@aol.com]

Fabrice de Lacour and I are currently in the middle of a two week trip to 
observe, photograph, and collect dragonflies in Texas. We spent the first couple 
of days in the Austin area then headed to the Lower Rio Grande Valley on 
Tuesday. We had been following with great interest the recent string of "firsts" 
for the Valley particularly the first U. S. record of Planiplax sanguiniventris 
at Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park. Under permit from Texas State Parks 
we sought to collect a specimen of the Planiplax for the Odonate Survey of 
Texas at the University of Texas.

So on Wednesday morning, June 11, we were wading in La Parida Banco resaca in 
Bentsen State Park just west of the boatlaunch where Planiplax has been seen. 
This species has a dark gray thorax, a bright red abdomen, and dark patches 
at the base of the hindwing. On the resaca there were a number of dragonfly 
species flying that are somewhat similar in color and pattern including two 
Tramea species, Libellula needhami, Dythemis fugax, Orthemis ferruginea, and lots 
of Brachymesia furcata. 

Fabrice netted a dragonfly with a red abdomen, dark patches on the hindwing, 
but the thorax was a deep red. We puzzled over its identity. It certainly was 
not the Planiplax which we later did manage to collect. 

I suggested it might be Tauriphila australis Garnet Glider but consulting our 
trusty Needham, Westfall, and May, it's strongly curved cerci identified it 
as Tauriphila argo, a neotropical species not previously known to the U.S. The 
common name listed in NWM is Bow-tailed Glider.

We returned to the site the next morning, June 12, and observed at least 2 
dozen male Tauriphila. We saw tandem pairs that could have been this species but 
were unable to catch any. Males fly short beats along the water's edge often 
chasing and being chased by other dragonfly species. They were best observed 
while wading but probably can be spotted through the considerable screen of 
cane along the shoreline.

Additionally we observed 5 male Planiplax on June 12.

Photographs and scans of the Tauriphila:
http://homepage.mac.com/edlam/T_argo.html

Photograph and scan of the Planiplax:
http://homepage.mac.com/edlam/planiplax.html

Ed Lam
Eastchester, NY
currently in Mission, TX



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