Carolina vs Red Saddlebags - Point Pelee National Park

[Bill Lamond]

Hi everyone,
 
 I have attached two photos of a female "red" saddlebags that myself, Kevin McLaughlin and Mike Nelson saw near the Tip of Point Pelee on Sunday 22 September. I initially thought this must be a Red Saddlebags as the saddle did not include the entire anal loop (boot) - not even close. However, I'm not sure if there are any other features to support a Red Saddlebags ID. 1) There did not appear to be any clear opening in the saddle of this individual. 2) There is no separation in the red along the leading edge of the hind wing and the rest of the red in the hindwing. 3) The black spotting on the abdomen in a female should be less extensive than in a male (in this individual the black is more extensive than in a male Red Saddlebags). 4) The face and eye colour is perhaps better suited for a female Carolina Saddlebags.
 
I think this is a Carolina Saddlebags with restricted black in the anal loop area of the hindwing.
 
Any comments are welcome.
 
Bill

[Jones, Colin (MNR)]

Hi Bill,

 

Distinguishing between these two species is certainly challenging – even more so in females since some of the characters don’t work with females. For example, even though the black spots on the tip of the abdomen average slightly larger in Carolina Saddlebags (Tramea carolina) these are variable and are therefore not a fully reliable field mark. Also, face and eye colour cannot be used in females – colour on the face can be used (with some caution) in males but there is little to no difference in females.

 

I believe that the individual in your photo is a Red Saddlebags (Tramea onusta) for the following reasons:

 

1)      The saddle does not cover the foot of the anal loop – this is a good character and even though in some Carolina Saddlebags the saddle can fall slightly short of totally encompassing the anal loop it is never to the extent seen in your photo

2)      The subgenital plate is visible in your one photo and it is clearly about as long as the 9^th abdominal segment – a feature consistent with Red Saddlebags – it is shorter than the 9^th segment in Carolina.

 

As for the clear opening in the saddle (close to the body), this feature is often not visible in perched individuals because the anal margins of their wings often arch downward in saddlebag species, thus obscuring this feature. You can see from your photos that the anal margins are arched downward and, unfortunately, neither of the angles allow the critical part of the wing to be seen. See the last two photos on the following link for an example of how much the wings can arch downward and the angle necessary to see the pattern…

http://www.america-dragonfly.net/globalResults.php?Species=3984

 

In order to confirm my thoughts on this I asked Dennis Paulson for his views since Dennis certainly has far for experience and expertise with saddlebags than I do and he also agrees that, although this is a tough one, there is nothing about it to suggest it isn’t a Red Saddlebags.

 

Cheers,

Colin

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