Emeralds at Westfield Heritage Village Conservation Area, Flamborough, Hamilton

[Bill Lamond]

Hi,

Yesterday (15 June) on the trails at Westfield, I encountered a handful of Somatochlora. I managed to catch two of them, a female Brush-tipped and a female Kennedy's. I noted one very large individual high overhead that based on size alone was likely a Mocha Emerald. Attempts to net it failed. Despite its apparent size I have been odeing long enough to know that size can be easily misjudged. The individual could have been a Williamson's. Both species occur in this area although Clamp-tipped does not occur in this area of Flamborough. 

Interestingly about 15 years ago, Kennedy's was assumed to not occur south of the Shield in Ontario. Paul Smith caught a male Kennedy's Emerald SE of Valens Conservation Area on 8^th Conc, Flamborough on 15 June 2010. Since then, the species has been caught at three other locations in the vicinity including at Westfield several years back. Stephanie Allen caught a male Kennedy's at the Oakland Swamp, N of Scotland, Brant County on 6 June 2020. This is the most southern record of the species in Ontario although I note that Paulson (D&D of the East) maps this species for the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and extreme NW Ohio, so the species could potentially be found in the SW counties of Ontario.

Bill