End of June
Headed for a big weekend to finish the month. DSA meeting in Marietta.
We now have over 17,000 observations for the year. While June 2024 isn't yet at the high mark set last year (11,487 last year, just over 8,000 this year), we are ahead of 2023 at this point year to year. And we still have a few June days.
120 species have been observed. Glad to get Riffle Snaketail, Common Sanddragon, and Golden-winged Skimmer - those are a few we missed last year. 3 species are now reported in 80 or more counties (Eastern Forktail/85, Common Whitetail/83, and Fragile Forktail/80). We only need Eastern Forktail observations from Adams, Brown and Trumbull counties to be complete.
39 species have new county records in 42 counties, for a running total of 66 new county records. Leaders are Spatterdock Darner, Variegated Meadowhawk, Emerald Spreadwing, and Comet Darner - all with 4 new counties. Lawrence, Medina, Mercer, Seneca, and Van Wert all have 3 new species.
We started the year with 25 counties below 1,000 total observations. That count is now 14, and 5 counties are now very near the mark. So making progress. close ones are Noble/998, Allen/989, Brown/988, Guernsey/988, and Belmont/982. We've also moved 4 counties to 60 species - Fayette, Huron, Mercer, and Putnam. Noble is still on the low end at 51 species.
Comments
Four-spotted Skimmer (Chaser in Europe)
I was reading a couple of websites about this dragonfly that we got to enjoy last year in fairly large numbers. A couple of websites state that larvae have a two-year developmental cycle. Is this why we haven't seen many this summer in Ohio? There are only four observations in iNat in Ohio this year. So, is it possible that we will see more next year? The eggs were layed last year and the nymphs will develop this year and next?
Hello Ken, you pose a good question. We have 6 confirmed observations in Ohio for 2024. We’re still looking. This year’s observations are northern counties. It could be these also came on the winds from Ontario as they did last year - albeit in fewer instances. A number of places that reported mating and oviposition in 2023 have not had 2024 observations may of these are central or west-central. So, these sites will bear scrutiny in 2025 to see if the 2-year development is happening in Ohio.
I know one spot in my area where 14 individuals were seen last year by a local naturalist. But, it has been very dry this year.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/168543943
I guess we'll just have to keep searching.
Add a Comment