Who says a bumbling amateur can’t contribute? Somehow, I did just that.
Despite cloudy weather, I ventured out on 4 November 2024 around1:34PM searching for dragonflies in Carteret County, North Carolina. In fact, I was looking for Meadowhawks. I know: it was not only cloudy but late in the season. I know. In fact, It had been cloudy for several days and I was getting frustrated, but there were intermittent periods of sunshine and the temperature was in the upper 70s/lower 80s Fahrenheit so there was a chance I’d see something. In fact, I previously observed an Emerald as well as the ubiquitous Anax junius (Common Green Darner) so there were definitely a few species still flying.
Despite the challenges, I wandered around, trying to avoid (unsuccessfully) both chiggers and mosquitoes when low and behold, I noticed a fairly large dragonfly ahead of me on a trail near a pond. It was a Darner–at least I thought it was. The Darner flew back and forth about 30 to 40 cm above the mossy depression. Several times, it reached up and flew at a 45-degree angle as it caught small insects which I believe were mosquitoes given how many were biting me at the time. After several passes over the wet depression, the dragonfly flew off through the thin line of shrubs separating the trail from the pond. It disappeared into the woods on the opposite side of the pond.
When I got home and had a chance to download the photos, I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had photographed a Triacanthagyna trifida (Phantom Darner). The identifying traits were all present: green thorax with thick brown shoulder stripes and thin lateral stripes; blue eyes; long slender abdomen with constriction at S3; and blue spots between the wings. In the first photo, the blue eyes and thick brown shoulder stripes are evident.
In the side view below, the thinner brown lateral stripes are obvious as well as some of the blue spots between the wings.
The view of the Darner’s back makes more of the field marks obvious. The small blue spots between the wings are clearly present, as is the constriction of the abdomen at S3 (near where the abdomen meets the thorax). The marks on the abdomen are only on the dorsal side, not all the way around the abdomen, so that is another good field mark. The abdomen was long and thin as opposed to many of the other Darners which have much thicker abdomens.
Nonetheless, when I checked the NC Odonate Website, I thought I was wrong or confused. There hadn’t been a record of this species in North Carolina since 1971. In fact, it was listed with a State Status of Historical occurrence (SH) as of 2020. However, I posted it on iNaturalist and the observation was soon confirmed as a Triacanthagyna trifida. Wow! Thank goodness for all the experts on iNaturalist.
While I haven’t posted in a while, I can only say: I’ve been busy stumbling around the swamp.
I hope everyone has a happy and healthy holiday season and a wonderful New Year!
