Hine's emerald dragonfly
| Hine's emerald dragonfly | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Odonata |
| Family: | Corduliidae |
| Genus: | |
| Species: | S. hineana |
| Binomial name | |
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Somatochlora hineana Williamson, 1931 |
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| Current Range | |
The Hine's emerald dragonfly (Somatochlora hineana) is a dragonfly in the family Corduliidae.
Globally, the species is extremely rare. The largest breeding population known is in Door County, Wisconsin. The only other known populations occur at small sites in northern Michigan, northeastern, the Des Plains River Valley, Illinois, and recently discovered sites in Missouri and south-central Ontario. In particular, Michigan’s known sites of Hine’s emerald dragonfly are in Mackinac, Alpena, and Presque Isle counties. The dragonflies may be found in other places that have soils that are rich in lime or other minerals and also in discrete fen and wet meadow habitats.
One site where the species is present in good numbers is The Ridges Sanctuary in Baileys Harbor, Wisconsin.
This particular dragonfly's body is on average 2.5 inches long. Meanwhile, the wingspan is about 3.3 inches wide. The insect is noticeable with a metallic green body and bright green eyes. Often, there are yellow stripes down the sides of this dragonfly's body.
Male Hine's emerald dragonflies will take over a territory seven to ten days after emerging from nymph stage in the water and mate with the females who enter their area of water. When pregnant, the female will proceed to deposit the eggs into the water by repeatedly sticking her butt into the water around 200 times to place the eggs nearly 500 eggs under the water. The eggs will hatch later in the year or in the spring following when they were placed into the water by the female dragonfly. For two to four years, the immature dragonfly, or nymph, will live in the water until maturity. After shedding it's skin many times, the nymph will emerge from the water to shed once again before flying off to live for four to six weeks.
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Wikipedia