Seasons are noticeably changing as summer releases its hold on us (for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere). Children in my area have returned to school and the weather has cooled off quite a bit.
Many summer dragonfly species are starting to disappear or decrease in numbers. Fortunately, some new species appear late in the season to take their places, like this handsome Russet-tipped Clubtail dragonfly (Stylurus plagiatus) that I spotted on Monday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Russet-tipped Clubtails are a late season species and are seen most often in August and September in my area. Unlike many of the dragonflies that I see regularly that seem to prefer pole-like perches or perch flat on the ground, Russet-tipped Clubtails like to hang from the leaves of vegetation at an angle or almost vertically—members of the genus Stylurus are sometimes called “Hanging Clubtails.”
I am not quite ready to welcome “autumn,” but there are signs everywhere that the seasons are inexorably changing. Autumn is probably my favorite season of the year, but I am still holding on to the remnants of summer—this year autumn begins on 22 September.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
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