Hine's Emerald Dragonfly

Somatochlora hineana

Description

This is a fairly large dragonfly with a yellow labrum (upper part of the mouth), metallic green frons (front of the head capsule), and black leg segments. On its dark thorax (body segment between head and abdomen) are two yellow stripes, the second slightly wider and shorter than the first. The species is also known as Ohio emerald dragonfly.

Behavior

Information regarding the diet and reproductive biology of this species is unavailable.

Habitat

Most of the known specimens were found in bogs, but some were found along a dredged channel of a small stream flowing through heavy swamp woods. Breeding places were in wilder districts where original conditions had not been disturbed.

Distribution

The Hine's emerald dragonfly has been found primarily in Logan, Lucas, and Williams Counties in northwest Ohio and in northwest Indiana's Lake County. Specimens have not been collected at those locations since 1953, however, and the species was thought to be extinct until recently, when a population was discovered at a site in Wisconsin.

The largest number of specimens were collected from Oak Openings State Park at the western end of Lake Erie in Lucas County, near the urban and heavily industrialized Toledo area. Because of the habitat requirements of this species, its survival in that area is questionable. It has not been found in Logan County since 1930, in spite of intensive collecting of similar species. A single, probably stray, male was recorded from Gary, Indiana, but it is doubtful if a viable population was ever present there, since the area is heavily polluted from steel mills and associated industries.

Threats

Habitat destruction is the principal cause of the decline in this species' population.

Conservation and Recovery

An intensive search should be made for any remaining populations in Ohio and Indiana, especially in Lucas County, where the creation of Oak Openings State Park has provided incidental habitat protection. If a population is found there, efforts could be made to maintain the relatively undisturbed conditions in the park. The Wisconsin population is jeopardized by the proposed construction of a garbage compacting and hauling facility near its habitat. Efforts should be made to ensure that the habitat of this and any other surviving populations be protected.

Contact

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Regional Office, Division of Endangered Species
1 Federal Drive
BHW Federal Building
Fort Snelling, Minnesota 55111
Telephone: (612) 713-5360
http://midwest.fws.gov/

Reference

U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 13 July 1999. "Avail-ability of a Draft Recovery Plan for the Hine's Emerald Dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana ) for Review and Comment." Federal Register 64 (133): 37806.