Somdutt Bhaggan

ID#: 808000448

BIOL 2266- Entomology

BIOL 2266- Entomology Species Account

Erythemis simplicicollis (Eastern Pondhawk) Family: Libellulidae (Skimmers) Order: Odonata (Dragonflies and damselflies) Class: Insecta

Figure 1: Female specimen of Erythemis simplicicollis (Eastern Pondhawk).

By R. A. Nonenmacher (Photographed by me) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY-2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Introduction:
This is a species of dragonfly know as the Eastern Pondhawk, it is commonly known as a more abbreviated form of its name, the Pondhawk or sometimes the Green Jacket. It belongs to the dragonfly family called Libellulidae that prefers the topographical areas which includes the regions of the eastern North America, The Great Plains, south to Texas, Southern Canada, spotted distributions over Arizona and New Mexico. The males and females are easily distinguishable, females are bright green and males have a blue abdomen with hints of green on their faces and thorax. They usually grow to the approximate size of 38- 48 mm in length.

Somdutt Bhaggan

ID#: 808000448

BIOL 2266- Entomology

Identifying sexes between Erythemis simplicicollis

Figure 2: A female specimen of Erythemis simplicicollis (eastern pondhawk) at rest.

By R. A. Nonenmacher (Photographed by me) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Commons

Figure 3: A male specimen of Erythemis simplicicollis (eastern pondhawk) at rest.

By R. A. Nonenmacher (Photographed by me) [GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC-BY2.5 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5)], via Wikimedia Common

From both figures 1 and 2, is easily distinguishable that the male and female have similar and generalized body characteristics including head, thorax, abdomen, supported wings and legs. But there is a very obvious color feature which identifies and distinguishes the adults from one another, but it is difficult to distinguish sexes at the immature stage since all the immature Erythemis simplicicollis dragonflies appear bright green, the males gradually turn blue as they continue to grow. In the adult phase the females are bright green and males have a blue abdomen with hints of green on their faces and thorax, these are the clues that make it an easy task of identifying the sex of the species.

Habitat:
Their Habitats include primarily ponds areas, mostly quiet waters, including slightly brackish waters that are usually associated with algae mats, duck weed, water lilies and other flat floating plants (Sidney W. Dunkle, 2000). These types of habitats usually associate with still water and make it appropriate for their egg laying and larvae survival. Males are territorial and will be observed flying around at random within their territory. They are also active predators who have the ability of catching prey in flight.

Somdutt Bhaggan

ID#: 808000448

BIOL 2266- Entomology

Courtship and Reproduction:

The male dragonflies after reaching maturity establish territories and greatly defend it from other male intruders. While patrolling he territory he produced spermatophores which are packets containing sperm at the tip of his abdomen (10th segment). The male dragonfly then moves the tip of his abdomen containing the spermatophores towards a depression in the second segment of his abdomen and stores the packets of sperm there. This storage area is also called the sperm receptacle segment.

Figure 4: picture showing the wheel formation where the process of sperm is transferred.
By D. Gordon E. Robertson (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons

The male fly out to patrol his territory and catches a female by grasping their head with his clasping genitalia at the tip of his abdomen; this tail to head copulation is very specific since these areas differ in different species of dragonfly and he does this in tandem. Once this copulation occurs the male may continue flying while the female rest or the both may rest. The female use the tip of her abdomen and reaches the second segment of the males sperm receptacle segment and takes up the spermatophores placed there. The formation of male and female during this retrieval process is called the mating wheel; it is a circular, heart shape pose that is kept for almost fifteen minutes until the spermatophores are transferred.

Somdutt Bhaggan

ID#: 808000448

BIOL 2266- Entomology

Oviposition (egg laying behavior):

Figure 5: Ovipositing Pondhawk - Erythemis simplicicollis

GMNWR, Concord, Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA July 8, 2007 Attribution: Copyright 2007 Jason Forbes

Once the separation of male and female occurs, the female sometimes leaves the male but stay close to him while she deposits her eggs within his territory of still water, this process is called Oviposition. Oviposition in this species can be done in 2 ways, in the above photo the female dragon fly simply sits on a mat of floating vegetation and deposits her eggs in the water. They may be cases where there is no floating vegetation to land on for laying, in this case the female hovers in mid air above the water and continuously touch the tip of her abdomen to the surface of the water, in this motion eggs are deposited.

Somdutt Bhaggan

ID#: 808000448

BIOL 2266- Entomology

References:
Sidney W. Dunkle, 2000, Dragonflies through Binoculars: A Field Guide to Dragonflies of North America, Oxford Press, ISBN: 0-19-511268-7, Cite: 2474.