Libellula vibrans Fabricius (Odonata: Libellulidae) is a large dragonfly previously known in Michigan only from sight or literature records. In 2005, two small populations were found in Wayne County, Michigan

Craves, Julie A

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The Great Lakes Entomologist 
Volume 39 
Numbers 1 & 2 - Spring/Summer 2006 Numbers 
1 & 2 - Spring/Summer 2006 
Article 13 
April 2006 
First Michigan Specimens of Libellula Vibrans Fabricius (Odonata: 
Libellulidae) 
Julie A. Craves 
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Craves, Julie A. 2006. "First Michigan Specimens of Libellula Vibrans Fabricius (Odonata: Libellulidae)," 
The Great Lakes Entomologist, vol 39 (1) 
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2006 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 91
115911 Andover Drive, Dearborn, MI 48120. (email: jcraves@umich.edu).
FIRST MICHIGAN SPECIMENS OF LIBELLULA vIBRANS 
FABRICIUS (ODONATA: LIBELLULIDAE)
Julie A. Craves1 
ABSTRACT
Libellula vibrans Fabricius (Odonata: Libellulidae) is a large dragonfly 
previously known in Michigan only from sight or literature records.  In 2005, 
two small populations were found in Wayne County, Michigan. 
____________________
Libellula vibrans Fabricius (Odonata: Libellulidae), the Great Blue Skim-
mer, is not mentioned in historical lists of Michigan Odonata (Byers 1927, 
Kormondy 1958, O’Brien 1997).  Prior to 2005, there are no specimens in the 
University of Michigan Museum of Zoology’s (UMMZ) insect collection, where 
voucher specimens from the Michigan Odonata Survey (MOS) are housed.
A published report of L. vibrans for Michigan was by Nishida (1999) find-
ing one individual on 22 June 1995 at a small wooded wetland in Westland, 
northwestern Wayne Co., Michigan.  His paper also includes a photograph of 
a male from this location dated 10 July 1995.  If he obtained a specimen, its 
whereabouts are unknown.  A report of a sight record from Wayne County from 
1999 (Hudson et al. 1999), as well as two sight reports from Washtenaw County 
from early July 2005 (M. F. O’Brien, pers. comm.) prompted me to search for 
this species, focusing on the Westland area.
On 9 July 2005, Darrin O’Brien and I observed a single male in a small 
wooded swamp in the Holliday Nature Preserve in Westland, Wayne County, 
Michigan.  As Westland is a highly developed suburb of Detroit, I believe this is 
the same spot in which Nishida (1999) made his observations; in fact, I checked 
this spot periodically in 2003 searching for L. vibrans.  The site itself is a wooded 
wetland of less than one hectare.  About 20% of the site is open water, and the 
rest liberally interspersed with buttonbush (Cephalanthus occidentalis) and 
many fallen trees.  Water is shallow, probably not more than a half-meter deep 
in wet years, and is covered by duckweed (Lemna sp.) by mid-summer.  Water 
overlays thick organic muck which also lines the shore.  The wetland is situated 
in an ~40 ha forest fragment that is part of a larger (200-ha), somewhat linear 
forest preserve in northwestern Wayne County.
We were able to clearly observe a male L. vibrans on our initial observation 
on 9 July but it flew off and could not be relocated.  We returned the following 
day and made a systematic search of the area.  After a half-hour, we located 
three to five male L. vibrans, characteristically hunting from perches in dappled 
shade and allowing close approach (Dunkle 2000, Abbott 2005).  We took two 
voucher specimens which have been deposited in the Insect Collection at the 
UMMZ.  Coincidentally, this was ten years to the day that Nishida photographed 
a male in what is presumably the same spot.
On 29 August 2005, O’Brien and I were able to access another small (<2 
ha) wooded pond on the north end of Willow Metropark, located in southwestern 
Wayne County, and ~20 km nearly due south of the Westland site.  Earlier in 
the season this pond had been too wet for close approach.  By late August, the 
pond itself had areas of standing water only a few centimeters deep surrounded 
by soft muck becoming overgrown with wetland plants such as Lobelia cardina-
lis and Polygonum coccinea.  The area is ringed by forest and connected by an 
intermittent stream to the Huron River, <100 m away.  We immediately saw 
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Craves: First Michigan Specimens of <i>Libellula Vibrans</i> Fabricius (O
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92 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST Vol. 39, Nos. 1 & 2
several male L. vibrans perched on fallen trees overhanging the pond.  When 
one would fly close to another, they would give chase but not far or vigorously. 
We took one voucher for this location.
DISCUSSION
Libellula vibrans has been recorded in 28 states and the province of On-
tario.  It is most common in the southeastern U.S. and southern Atlantic coast 
(Needham et al. 2000, Donnelly 2004).  In Wisconsin, it is a species of special 
concern, represented only by historical records (~100 years old) from the Mil-
waukee area (Smith et al. 2004).  There are 25 specimens (22 from Cook Co.) in 
the Illinois State Museum from the northern third of Illinois (ISM 2003).  The 
species is considered uncommon in Indiana with records for 15 counties (Curry 
2001).  The status in Ohio is uncommon and limited (Glotzhober and McShaffrey 
2002).  Its status in the northeastern part of the state is rare (Rosche 2002). 
There are only six records in Ontario, all from Essex and Kent counties in the 
extreme southwestern part of the province (OOA 2005).
This is a species that would be difficult to overlook, being the largest 
libellulid in North America, with a total length of 56-63 mm (Needham et al. 
2000).  Female L. vibrans might be mistaken for female L. incesta Hagen, Slaty 
Skimmer, which is 50-52 mm long; however, the white face of both sexes of L. 
vibrans distinguishes it from the darker faces of the other species (Needham 
et al. 2000, Abbott 2005).
Wayne County is heavily urbanized.  When I began surveying its Odonata 
in 2000, there were only 43 species confirmed by specimens (Craves 2002).  L. 
vibrans represents the 40th new county record I have confirmed since that time, 
demonstrating how much we have to learn about Odonata distribution even in 
previously well-surveyed, urbanized areas with limited habitat.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Mark O’Brien and Darrin O’Brien for their comments on this 
paper.
LITERATURE CITED
Abbott, J. C.  2005.  Dragonflies and Damselflies of Texas and the South-central United 
States. Princeton Univ. Press, Princeton, NJ.
Byers, F. C.  1927.  An annotated list of the Odonata of Michigan. Occ. Pap. Mus. Zool. 
Univ. Mich. 183: 1-15.
Craves, J. A. 2002.  A preliminary list of the Odonata of Wayne Co. Mich. Birds and Nat. 
Hist. 9: 7-16.
Curry, J. R.  2001.  Dragonflies of Indiana.  Indiana Acad. Sci., Indianapolis, Indiana.
Donnelly, T. W.  2004.  Distribution of North American Odonata. Part II: Macromiidae, 
Cordullidae, and Libellulidae. Bull. Am. Odonatol. 8: 1-32.
Dunkle, S. W.  2000.  Dragonflies Through Binoculars. Oxford Univ. Press, New York, 
NY.
Glotzhober, R. C., and D. McShaffrey, eds.  2002.  Dragonflies and Damselflies of Ohio. 
Ohio Biol. Surv., Columbus, OH.
Hudson, P., M. Chriscinski, and K. Tennessen.  1999.  Libellula vibrans – a new Odonata 
record for Michigan.  Williamsonia 3(4): 7.
Illinois State Museum. [ISM]  2003.  ISM Online Illinois Dragonfly and Damselfly Col-
lection. <http://webdev.museum.state.il.us/ismdepts/zoology/odonata/display.html?
Genus=Libellula&Species=vibrans> Accessed 14 July 2005.
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2006 THE GREAT LAKES ENTOMOLOGIST 93
Kormondy, E. J.  1958.  Catalogue of the Odonata of Michigan. Misc. Pub. Mus. Zool. No. 
104. Univ. Mich. Mus. Zool., Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Needham, J. G., M. J. Westfall, Jr., and M. L. May.  2000.  Dragonflies of North America, 
revised edition. Scientific Publishers, Gainesville, FL.
Nishida, T.  1999.  The Odonata collected in the United States of America, mainly in the 
State of Michigan. Aeschna 36: 1-20.
O’Brien, M. F.  1997.  Michigan Odontata Survey Collector’s Handbook. Univ. Mich. Mus. 
Zool., Ann Arbor, MI.
Ontario Odonata Atlas. [OOA]  2005.  Natural Heritage Information Centre, Ontario 
Ministry of Natural Resources. <http://www.mnr.gov.on.ca/MNR/nhic/odonates/ohs.
html> Version 15-02-2005. Accessed 14 July 2005.
Rosche, L.  2002.  Dragonflies and Damselflies of Northeast Ohio. Cleveland Mus. Nat 
Hist., Cleveland, OH.
Smith, W. A., T. E. Vogt, and K. H. Gaines.  2004.  Checklist of Wisconsin dragonflies. Wis. 
Entomol. Soc. Misc. Pub. 2. <http://www.entomology.wisc.edu/wes/pubs/dragonfly.
htm> Version Nov 2004. Accessed 14 July 2005.
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Craves: First Michigan Specimens of <i>Libellula Vibrans</i> Fabricius (O
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First Michigan Specimens of \u3ci\u3eLibellula Vibrans\u3c/i\u3e Fabricius (Odonata: Libellulidae)

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First Michigan Specimens of \u3ci\u3eLibellula Vibrans\u3c/i\u3e Fabricius (Odonata: Libellulidae)

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