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Claret Pondhawk
Erythemis mithroides
The Claret Pondhawk (Erythemis mithroides) was first discovered in the U.S. in 2004 by Martin Reid. The species is known from South America as well as an isolated population in central America (Guatemala and Mexico). The very few Texas records since 2004 apparently represent this northern population. The northern population is lumped in with E. mithroides at present but these northern populations are thought to actually be an undescribed species. Once the species has been described and the relationship of the Texas records clarified, I will post that information here. I was with Martin Reid at Santa Ana N.W.R., in June, 2009, when he spotted a male Claret Pondhawk foraging over a pond. With some effort we were able to get a number of nice images of this beautiful dragon which certainly must be one of the brightest red dragonflies I've ever seen. We saw at least 3 separate males on this same pond. The first 10 shots on this page were taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mark III and EF 300mm F/4 l IS lens and 2X extender and 580 flash.