Yellow-legged meadowhawk

Status

Populations are widespread, abundant, and secure.

Habitat

You can see this dragonfly in, and around marshes, ponds and slow-moving streams throughout the eastern United States, southern Canada, the Great Plains, and the west coast of North America. This species has two separate populations in North America. One is found from Ontario east to Nova Scotia, extending south into the U.S. to Texas and Florida. The other population occurs in British Columbia, Washington, and Idaho.The naiads live in the debris of the bottoms of lakes and ponds. They do not actively pursue prey but wait for it to pass by, a strategy which affords them protection from other predators. The naiads emerge, or make the transition to adult dragonflies, at night. Adults fly from early August through October. This species flies later in the fall than any other species in the Northwest, with observations as late as October 29 in Idaho, and into November in Washington. The adults of this species hunt flying insects from perches on rocks or bare branches. The Latin name for this genus, Sympetrum, means "with rock" and refers to their habit of basking on rocks to absorb heat early in the day. This dragonfly is extremely abundant where it occurs, with large numbers of pairs flying and laying eggs in tandem.

Reproduction

The female flies with the male still attached after mating and lays her eggs near the shoreline of lakes and ponds by dipping the tip of her abdomen on the surface of the water. Large-mouth bass have been observed following mated pairs of dragonflies as they fly just above the surface, and then eating them as they touch the surface to lay eggs.