Thursday, April 8, 2010

cardinal meadowhawk ~ 04/08/10 ~ Garland Ranch

cardinal meadowhawk
Sympetrum illotum

Other than the obvious bright red, I was unsure how to identify this dragonfly species. Thanks to my handy little Common Dragonflies of California, I distinguished this from the neon skimmer (Libellula croceipennis) based on the fact this cardinal meadowhawk perches with its wings held down and forward - a trait that definitely caught my eye!

ps 02/20/12 - Jim of Northwest Dragonflier has a recent post about cardinal meadowhawks.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Katie, you've got the ID right. You can see a well-defined white spot on the side of the thorax (there's another one hidden by the wings) which is characteristic of this species. Jim

Katie (Nature ID) said...

Thanks for the confirmation, Jim!