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11
Argia 28(3), 2016
On June , DOB was surveying dragonies at
ree Rivers State Game Area, Cass County, Michigan
(.°, -.°). Many Epitheca were ying along a dirt
road that passed over Wood Creek. Netting a few, they
were determined to be E. cynosura, Common Baskettail,
the expected species at this location. A short time later,
a baskettail-sized dragony with pronounced dark wing
tips ew by. Upon capture, it was identied as a female E.
cynosura, with the identication conrmed later via closer
examination of the shape of the vulvar lamina and various
measurements.
Epitheca cynosura normally has clear wing tips. However,
this individual had dark, smoky coloration that extended
from the tip to the nodus on the forewings and nearly
to the nodus on the hindwings. It was most intense at
the tip to just past the pseudostigma, fading closer to the
nodus and trailing edge of the wings. To our knowledge,
this wing tip color pattern has not been reported in E.
cynosura, or any North American Epitheca in the subgenus
Tetragoneuria. Prince Baskettail (E. princeps), in the sub-
genus Epicordulia, does have dark wing tips which, while
they vary in extent among individuals (Paulson, ;
Tennessen, ), are not as extensive as in our individual.
Common Baskettails also have a basal hindwing spot
that varies from nearly absent to quite extensive depend-
ing on the individual (Curry, ; Westfall and May,
; Paulson,
). e basal
hindwing spot
of this female
extended to
just beyond the
rd antenodal
crossvein,
although the
cell between
the nd and rd
crossveins was
not completely
opaque. e
th crossvein
was marked
with pigment.
Pigment also
lled the trian-
gle, although it was completely opaque only about a third
of the way into the cell. Individuals with brown hindwing
markings reaching the tip of the triangle and lling it (or
extending beyond) have been designated as E. c. simulans
(Muttkowski, ; Davis, ). is form is not unex-
pected in southern Michigan, where the size of the basal
spot runs the gamut (Kormondy, ). e function of
the wing spot is unknown, and there no apparent assortive
mating between clear and spot-winged forms (May, ).
e June date of this female was towards the end of
the peak ight period for Common Baskettails in south-
ern Michigan, where they are rare after July (Kormondy,
, MOS, ). Odonata wings may become more pig-
mented with age in some families, including corduliids,
perhaps indicating sexual maturity (Corbet, ). How-
ever, this usually involves the entire wing, rather than just
a portion as in our individual, and is not typical for E.
cynosura. Wing pattern and coloration are important cues
for species and partner recognition in Odonata (Svensson
et al., ; Futahashi, ). It would seem that even
if the darkened wing tips indicated sexual maturity, this
female would not be recognized by male Common Bas-
kettails due to the abberant pattern.
Most reports of atypical wing pigmentation are of a
reduction in dark bands or patches (e.g., Bailowitz and
Danforth, ; Fliedner, ; Nirschl, ; but see
Common Baskettail, Epitheca cynosura (Odonata: Corduliidae), with Extensive
Dark Wing Tips
Julie Craves, Rouge River Bird Observatory, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, Michigan <jcraves@
umich.edu> and Darrin O’Brien, Paririe Oaks Ecological Station, Ann Arbor, Michigan <urbanodes@gmail.com>
Epitheca cynosura (Common Baskettail) with dark wing tips.
Detail of Epitheca cynosura (Common
Baskettail) dark wing tips.
12 Argia 28(3), 2016
Arthur, ) rather than the addition of novel pigmen-
tation. Further documentation and vouchers of odonates
with abnormal wing patterns—especially supplementary
pigmentation—could shed light on the frequency and dis-
tribution of this phenomena. e voucher has been depos-
ited in the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology
insect collection.
Acknowledgments
e authors thank Dennis Paulson and Ken Tennessen for
their comments on this specimen.
Literature Cited
Arthur, N. . An unusual form of the Hoary Skimmer
(Libellula nodistica) from the northern California coast
ranges. A (): .
Bailowitz, R. and D. Danforth. . Libellula pulchella
(Twelve-spotted Skimmer) without black wingtips.
A (): –.
Corbet, P.S. . Dragonies, Behavior and Ecology of
Odonata. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
Curry, J.R. . Dragonies of Indiana. Indiana Acad-
emy of Science, Indianapolis.
Davis, W.T. . Dragonies of the genus Tetragoneuria.
Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society ():
–.
Fliedner, H. . Two remarkable observations from
Puerto Rico. A (): –.
Futahashi, R. . Color vision and formation in drag-
onies. Current Opinion in Insect Science : –.
Kormondy, E.J. . e systematics of Tetragoneuria,
based on ecological, life history, and morphological
evidence (Odonata: Corduliidae). Miscellaneous Pub-
lications of the Museum of Zoology of the University
of Michigan : –.
May, M.L. . e subgenus Tetragoneuria (Anispo-
tera: Cordullidae: Epitheca) in New Jersey. Bulletin of
American Odonatology (): –.
[MOS] Michigan Odonata Survey. . Michigan
Odonata Survey database. University of Michigan
Museum of Zoology, Insect Division, Ann Arbor.
Muttkowski, R.A. . Studies in Tetragoneuria
(Odonata). Bulletin of the Wisconsin Natural History
Society (): –.
Nirschl, R. . Banded Pennant (Celithemis fasciata)
with greatly reduced wing markings. A (): .
Paulson, D. . Dragonies and Damselies of the East.
Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.
Svensson E.I., K. Kar lsson, M. Friberg, and F. Eroukhman-
o. . Gender dierences in species recognition and
the evolution of asymmetric sexual isolation. Current
Biology : –.
Tennessen, K. . A Prince Baskettail trifecta. A
():.
Westfall, M.J., Jr. and M.L. May. . Damselies
of North America, nd ed. Scientic Publishers,
Gainesville, Florida.
e Allegheny River Cruiser (Macromia alleghaniensis) in Oklahoma
Michael A. Patten <mpatten@ou.edu> and Brenda D. Smith-Patten <argia@ou.edu>, Oklahoma Biological Survey,
University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma
In many regions in the United States and Canada, the
status of Macromia species, the river cruisers, is unclear,
chiey because the various species are dicult to distin-
guish in the eld, with correct identity of individuals on
the wing challenging at best and often impossible. Even
in hand, some individuals are problematic. As an example,
we reported (Patten and Smith-Patten, ) a putative
M. illinoiensis georgina × M. annulata (the Bronzed River
Cruiser) because this individual has the hamules of the
former species but the yellow vertex, extensive antehu-
meral stripes, and abdominal pattern of the latter. We
do not know if this individual is instead an aberrant M.
illinoiensis (Swift River Cruiser), even with a specimen in
hand. Add to these diculties the possibility that some
species hybridize (Abbott, : ) and the lack of
clarity is understandable. Positive identication generally
requires good images of perched individuals and often
requires in-hand examination of structural details—such
as, on males, the shape of the hamules or extent of the
mesotibial keel—impossible to discern in photographs,
let alone on a free-ying individual. Still, a recent spate
of high-quality eld guides and attendant increases in
observer sophistication has combined to advance incre-
mentally our knowledge about the status and distribution
of Macromia species.
Perhaps a “poster child” for this advancement is M.
alleghaniensis, the Allegheny River Cruiser, a species easily
confused with M. illinoiensis, the Swift River Cruiser, of
either subspecies (taxonomy per Donnelly and Tennessen,
). As observers began to appreciate and discern subtle
variation in the pattern of yellow, in particular whether
yellow encircled the seventh abdominal segment (S)
completely or nearly so or the yellow antehumeral stripes
