STRIPED MEADOWHAWK
Sympetrum
pallipes
|
|
Striped Meadowhawk is one of the three
common meadowhawks in Monterey County. Like other meadowhawks, males
sit near water, wings swept forward, waiting to launch themselves at a
female, or to defend their territory.
|
|
| The male Striped Meadowhawk (above & below)
has a tomato-red abdomen when it is a full adult, often with white
pruinescence on the underside. The wings are typically clear
(occasionally washed with amber at the base) with a reddish-brown
pterostigma that is paler at both ends. |
|
Photo (top) 17 July
2006 Laguna Grande
Photo (above) 5 Aug 2006 Arroyo Seco
|
 |
Many meadowhawks have stripes on the sides
of the thorax, but Striped also has a pair right on top the brown
thorax.
Photo (left) 14 Aug 2006
Indian Valley Reservoir, ALP
|
|
|
Leg color can be important in some
meadowhawks but not this one. Legs can be black (above) or yellow to
tan (right in a close-up). In both cases, though, the thorax is brown;
the eyes are brown; and the face is pale cream.
Photo (right) 3 Sep 2006 Frog
Pond Nature Area Reserve
|
|
|
|
|
|
Female Striped Meadowhawk (above)
is paler and browner than males, and shows a black line down the sides
of the abdomen. She also has a pair of stripes atop the thorax, and has
brown eyes, pale face, and clear wings wing (sometimes) a slight rusty
wash at the base.
|
|
Photo (above) 12
Aug 2006 South Lake Tahoe, ED
Photo (below) 14 Aug 2006 Indian Valley Reservoir, ALP
|
|
| Although in many respects Striped Meadowhawk is
"just a brown meadowhawk," it can be dramatic when perched above red
leaves (above). It appears to be widespread in MTY. It was also common
in an August visit to the Lake Tahoe area, which provided a number of
nice photos for this page. |
|
 The map shows a selection of sites at which
Striped Meadowhawk has been found. It is probably widespread throughout
the county in the lowlands, although as yet no records are right along
the Big Sur coast. It is possible that the species doesn't like the
summer fog so typical of this area.
In MTY flight dates stretch from 20 May to
10 Aug. Elsewhere in California flight dates range from Apr –Nov
(Manolis 2003), so its flight span in MTY is likely longer than
currently reported.
|
|
Literature cited:
- Manolis, T. 2003. Dragonflies and Damselflies of
California. Univ. of Calif. Press, Berkeley.
Web resources:
Major identification web sites with much information on California
odes include:
For sites with excellent photos to compare for identification or to
simply
enjoy, see:
Many of these sites have links to other useful pages. Kathy Biggs's
site
is particularly useful in her selection of links. |
