AESCHNA 135 
to a complete constriction of the stripes into two pairs of small 
spots. 
The abdomens of fresh specimens are conspicuously patterned with 
yellow, blue or green, but this color was so faded in our specimens 
that it is not here described, (see Walker 712). 
These strong-flying dragonflies may be found foraging miles away 
from their breeding places. In the humid East they fly unceasingly 
on the hottest days, and take prolonged rests in the shade when the 
weather is cool; but in the arid West, according to Kennedy (’17): 
Both A. californica and multicolor hang in the shade from the underside of 
leaves of trees on very hot days..... I have not noticed them resting when 
the temperature was less than 100. These rests last for a few minutes only but 
occur at short intervals. It is only at such times that they are easily taken away 
from the water. 
While ovipositing the female is not accompanied by the male. She 
lays her eggs a little beneath the surface in the tissues of soft stems, 
making oblique rows of punctures with her ovipositor. Walker (’12) 
says that: 
In most species the males seize the females while ranging over the reeds and 
rushes which grow in their breeding places. Very frequently the females are 
picked up while ovipositing. If copulation ensues, the pair usually fly off to the 
nearest trees, often circling about in the air a few times. 
The Known Nymphs 
Species Length Lat. sp. of 91 ap. bX1?2| Lat. lobe Described by 
californica 36 6-9 3/5 subequal | rounded | Walk. ’12, p. 188 
canadensis 37 6-9 1/2 5/7+ | hooked Walk. ’12, p. 141 
truncate 
constricta 37 6-9 2/5 6/7 pointed | Ndm. ’01, p. 470 
clepsydra 38 6-9 2/3 5/7 hooked Walk. 12, p. 134 
eremita 45 5-9 3/5 7/9 truncate | Cabot ’81, p. 233 
interrupta 40 5 or 6-9 3/5 of 10 5/7 truncate | Walk. ’12, p. 109 
juncea 41 6-9 r.on6 | 1/2 of 10 3/5 truncate | Lucas ’00, p. 193 
multicolor 38 6-9 r.on9 1/2 8/9 squarely | Walk. ’12, p. 195 
truncate 
palmata 41 6-9 3/5 or 2/3 4/5 squarely | Walk. ’12, p. 162 
’ * truncate 
subarctica 40 6-9 r.on9 | 1/2 of 10 3/5 truncate | Walk. ’12, p. 98 
tuberculifera 41-45 6-9 r. on 9 1/2+ | truncate} Walk. ’14, p. 370 
umbrosa 40 6-9 1/2 3/4 squarely | Cabot ’81, p. 24? 
truncate 
verticalis (?) 6-9 hooked Ndm. & Hart ’01, p. 41 
1 Jn relation to length of segment 9. 
2 Proportion of apical breadth to length of mentum. 
* Also Ndm. & Hart ’01, p. 42. 
