SHADOW Darner
Shadow Darners are our most common mosaic darners. These dragonflies are frequently seen from late August through October. My personal early and late sightings are July 4th and November 6th. (The July sighting was unusually early for this species.)
The photo at left and the image above are of the same individual. I found this Shadow Darner early in the morning, perched in the prairie at Koogler Reserve in Beavercreek.
Shadow Darners are very common and widespread dragonflies. The Beaver Creek Wetlands parks are a particularly good place to find them.
This is a female Shadow Darner, photographed at Jacoby Road Canoe Launch (south of Yellow Springs in Greene County). She was probably fairly newly emerged, judging by the eye color and the early date (early for this species): August 22, 2018. Also, the cerci often break off in older females, but they are intact here.
The wings turn brown in older individuals like this one.
Shadow Darner in flight, photographed October 9, 2021, at Siebenthaler Fen.
This female Shadow Darner was photographed October 2, 2021, at Grant Park in Centerville. The cerci are broken off in this older female.
One more flight photo of a male Shadow Darner at Siebenthaler Fen!