AESCHNA 149 
on the upper end; the second, broad, wider above. Legs brown, tarsi and under 
sides darker; first femora with an external, basal pale streak. Wings hyaline; 
stigma and costa brown. 
Walker (’12) says: ‘‘This species breeds among reeds and sedge in 
shallow sluggish creeks, lakes and bays. With the exception of Ae. 
californica and the multicolor group it is the earliest species to appear 
in the adult state. Individuals may sometimes be seen as early as the 
middle of June but the usual time of appearance in the Transition 
Zone in Ontario is during the last week of June and the first week of 
July. By the middle of July they are numerous and may sometimes 
occur in very large numbers about the sunny borders of woods, es- 
pecially conifers. Here they may be seen sunning themselves on the 
trunks of trees or hanging from the twigs. On hot sultry days they fly 
restlessly to and fro in small openings among the trees, on the lookout 
for their prey. In August they are less frequently seen in the woods. 
They appear to return to their breeding-grounds, where they may be 
observed in large numbers, gliding over the reeds or skirting the water’s 
edge. Such individuals are all males and may often be observed to drop 
down among the reeds and then emerge with a female in copula. 
Apparently copulation does not take place far from the water as com- 
monly occurs 7n constricta and other species.”’ 
109. Aeschna verticalis Hagen 
Hag. ’61, p. 122: Mtk. Cat. p. 114: Walk. 712, p. 145: Howe ’19, p. 47: Garm. 
27, p. 188. 
Syn: propinqua Scud. 
Length 59 mm. Expanse 96 mm. Wis., Ill. to Atl. Coast 
Occiput and face greenish yellow, with a fine brown line on the fronto-clypeal 
suture; anteclypeus reddish brown. T-spot heavy; stem short with divergent 
sides. Labrum brownish green, margined narrowly above and broadly below with 
black. Dorsal thoracic pale stripes conspicuous; lateral ones fairly broad; the 
first with an obtuse angulate excavation on the anterior margin and the dorsal 
posterior projecting spur; the second narrower below and with a slight suggestion 
of a dorsal anterior spur. Legs brownish, tibiae and tarsi black. Wings hyaline; 
costa and stigma brownish. 
23. GYNACANTHA Rambur 
These are slender graceful darners with broad heads and very long 
eye seams. The venation is much asin Aeschna. The legs and abdomen 
are slenderer, and the apex of the abdomen in the female is_ variously 
spined. 
This is a large tropical genus, of which but three species have been 
found within our southern limits. 
