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Eastern Ringtail - Erpetogomphus designatus
State Rank Reason (see State Rank above)
This dragonfly is currently listed as an "S1" Species of Concern in MT due to extremely limited and/or rapidly declining population numbers, range and/or habitat, making it highly vulnerable to extirpation in the state. It has only been reported from a large warm springs pond in eastern Montana.
General Description
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Diagnostic Characteristics
Eyes spaced apart like most clubtails, moderate club with darker brown segments on the club than most other clubtails in Montana.
Species Range
Montana Range
Range Descriptions
Native
Range Comments
This species has so far only been collected at a large warm spring in the Little Rocky Mountains (Miller and Gustafson 1996).
Observations in Montana Natural Heritage Program Database
Number of Observations: 11
(Click on the following maps and charts to see full sized version)
Map Help and Descriptions
Relative Density
Recency
(Observations spanning multiple months or years are excluded from time charts)
Habitat
Eastern Ringtails prefer habitats of sandy and gravelly streams and rivers with flow and riffles. Both sexes can be found some distance from breeding sites often perched on the ground, twigs, or even barbed wire of fences (Dunkle 2000, Nikula et al. 2002, Paulson 2009). In Montana, they have only been found at a warm spring (Miller and Gustafson 1996).
National Vegetation Classification System Groups Associated with this Species
Wetland and Riparian
Riparian and Wetland Forest
Riparian Shrubland
Food Habits
Larvae feed on a wide variety of aquatic insects, such as mosquito larvae, other aquatic fly larvae, mayfly larvae, and freshwater shrimp. Adult damselflies will eat almost any soft-bodied flying insect including mosquitoes, flies, small moths, mayflies, and flying ants or termites.
Reproductive Characteristics
Male Eastern Ringtails patrol over riffles for short periods then hover and continue on. After copulation, females oviposit in stream pools with erratic taps at the water (Dunkle 2000, Nikula et al. 2002, Paulson 2009).
Stewardship Responsibility
References
- Literature Cited AboveLegend:
View Online Publication
Miller, K.B. and D.L. Gustafson. 1996. Distribution records of the Odonata of Montana. Bulletin of American Odonatology 3(4):75-88.- Nikula, B., J. Sones, D.W. Stokes, and L.Q. Stokes. 2002. Stokes beginner's guide to dragonflies and damselflies. Boston: Little, Brown. 159 pp.
- Additional ReferencesLegend: View Online Publication
Do you know of a citation we're missing?- Dunkle, S.W. 2000. Dragonflies through binoculars: A field guide to dragonflies of North America. New York, NY. Oxford University Press. 266 pp.
- Paulson, D.R. 2009. Dragonflies and Damselflies of the West. Princeton University Press, Princeton. 535 pp.
- Paulson, D.R. and S.W. Dunkle. 2009. A checklist of North American Odonata including English name, etymology, type locality, and distribution. Originally published as Occasional Paper No. 56. Slater Museum of Natural History, University of Puget Sound, June 1999; completely revised March 2009.
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