WPC Surveys the Hawks of the Insect World                                                                The First Day of Autumn

Today's photo is of a female common whitetail (Plathemis [Libellula] lydia), and was taken at Cole Run Bog in the Allegheny National Forest (ANF), Elk County, by WPC Zoologist Ryan Evans.

This individual is using the dead tree limb as a perching spot. Dragonflies, especially males, can be seen defending a territorial area from a perch. They will also hunt insects from perches. Since dragonflies are poikilothermic (cold-blooded), they have to maintain their body temperature using external heat from the environment, or by modifying their behavior to warm up, such as fluttering of the wings. This female may have been either warming up or hunting from the perch.

Today's photograph was taken during a visit to Cole Run as part of a research project WPC has undertaken for the U.S. Forest Service. Biologists from WPC's Natural Heritage Program are working in collaboration with scientists at Carnegie Museum of Natural History (Pittsburgh) to document the Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) in wetlands and streams of ANF. Odonates are a diverse group of species and often indicate environmental quality.

The dragonfly
can't quite land
on that blade of grass.

Matsuo Basho
Japanese Poet
(1644 - 1694)

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