Documentation of Diurnal and Nocturnal Migratory Activity of the Dragonfly Anax junius (Odonata: Aeshnidae) on Sapelo Island, Georgia, USA

C. Scott Clem^1,2,* and Joseph V. McHugh¹

¹Department of Entomology, University of Georgia, 120 Cedar Street, 413 Biological Sciences Building, Athens, GA 30602. ²Current address - School of Biological Sciences, Illinois State University, Julian Hall 210, Campus Box 4120, Normal, Il 61790-4120. *Corresponding author.

Southeastern Naturalist, Volume 23, Issue 3 (2024): N54–N57

First published early online: 28 September 2024

Abstract
Here we report an incidental observation of migration of the dragonfly Anax junius (Common Green Darner) on Sapelo Island, GA, while conducting field work on 6–7 October 2023. Hundreds of dragonflies were observed moving in a western direction away from the Atlantic Ocean during daylight hours. That evening, ~35 individuals landed on a white sheet that was amplified using a mercury vapor lamp, suggesting that they were still active after sunset. This incident occurred simultaneously with a large southeasterly cold front that blew through that weekend. We suspect that the dragonflies were headed south and attempting to course-correct at ground level, after being blown out to sea at a higher altitude. Backwards-trajectory analyses of the air mass suggest that these insects could have flown hundreds of kilometers within a 24-hr period. To our knowledge, this is the first published record of dragonfly migration on Sapelo Island, GA, and possibly the first evidence of nocturnal migratory activity in this specie.

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