BRN 9-2 (uncompressed) - Flipbook - Page 58
or so he had observed a male damselßy and began
collecting photographs with his motor drive whirring. He
carefully checked his images to assess their quality and also
to make a positive identiÞcation of this damselßy from
diagnostic characteristics. They met Jonathan's parameters,
and we then documented the habitat geolocation using a
hand-held Global Positioning System receiver (Garmin Etrex
SE). Jonathan's images and habitat/location information will
soon adorn the Odonata Central database!Ó
Spine-tipped Dancer Field
VeriÞcation
Volume 2: The Damselßies of the two set Odonata of Do–a
Ana County and the Black Range was published in
September 2025. It and its companion volume on the
dragonßies is available for download at the Black Range
website.
Von LohÕs photo at the bottom of this page is captioned:
ÒFirst contact between the affable Spine-tipped Dancer and
fully-focused Jonathan Batkin. It's kind of a tight Þt for a
human, a spacious home (with running water and a view) for
a damselßy. And the habitat visit became a total success in
the mid-morning light - thanks to our gracious damselßy
host.Ó
During the last stages of our edit of that volume Jim Von Loh
captured some images of a Spine-tipped Dancer, Argia
extranea, (Hagen, 1861) near the Aguirre Springs
Campground in the Organ Mountains. One of his photographs of this record is shown at the center right.
This is his (Von LohÕs) account of what happened following
his posting of the observation to iNaturalist.
ÒFollowing my posting (07/24/25) of a damselßy image to
iNaturalist that was identiÞed as Spine-tipped Dancer, I
received an email communication from Jonathan Batkin, as
follows: ÔJack Holloway texted me late last night about your
post on iNaturalist of a Spine-tipped Dancer. ThatÕs yet
another great Þnd, as there are only two fully accepted
records of it in New Mexico. I am considering driving over
there to check the area where you found it. It looks like the
trailhead is accessed quite easily. How much water is in this
location, and is there any permanent or at least reliably
seasonal water in the area? This specimen looks so fresh
that itÕs hard to believe that it blew in from somewhere else.Õ
ÒJonathan, Gordon Berman, and I met at the Dripping
Springs Visitor Center, then drove over San Agustin Pass to
the Aguirre Springs Campground parking area to commence
the short hike up Pine Tree Recreation Trail, into Sotol Creek.
I showed the exact habitat to Jonathan and within a minute
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