Clje Cannttiatt ^nlomolujbt 



Vol. XLIV. LONDON, SEPTEMBER, 1912. No. 9 



THE ODONATA OF THE PRAIRIE PROVINCES OF CANADA. 



BY E. M. WALKER, TORONTO. 



With the exception of the short h'sts of captures in the Entomological 

 Record, published in the Annual Reports of the Entomological Society of 

 Ontario, and a few other isolated records, no information appears to be 

 extant on the Odonata of the vast territory between Ontario and British 

 Columbia. Before the section on the Odonata of the new Catalogue of 

 Canadian Insects is issued, it seems, therefore, desirable to place on record 

 in detailed form all the information we have been able to obtain on the 

 distribution of the dragonflies of this region. 



The source of this information is mainly to be found in the collections 

 made by Messrs. J. B. Wallis, N. Criddle, T. N. Willing and N. B. 

 Sanson, and to these gentlemen the writer wishes to express his sincere 

 thanks for the privilege he has enjoyed of retaining specimens foi study 

 for an indefinite length of time, or permanently for his collection. The 

 list is of a preliminary nature, and no doubt many species will be added 

 to it in the future. 



In looking over almost any collection of dragonflies from the prairie 

 country one is apt to be struck with the large preponderance in individuals 

 of the genera Lestes^ Sympetrum, Enallagma and ^shna. These genera 

 are also best represented in number of species, Leticorrhi?iia coming fifth. 

 The latter genus is probably nowhere better developed in North America 

 than here. There are doubtless al-o more species oi Somatochlora from this 

 region than appear in the present list, particularly in the less explored 

 northern parts. Apart from this genus, the Corduliviœ are apparently 

 poorly developed. The absence of Agi'iofiinœ ( Calopterygifiœ Auctt.) 

 and Cordulegasterinœ is probably also due to insufficient exploration. 

 The occurrence of two species of the genus Coenagrion (Agrion 

 Auctt.) is of much interest, one of the species being almost identical with 

 the Palsearctic C Itinulatum. Finally, attention may be drawn to the 

 fact that if we include ^s/ina cœrulea septentrionalis, which has been 



