TRAMEA 253 
This is a clear winged species that has the extreme bases of the wings spotted 
with dark brown. Face olive brown with the labrum darker. Thorax reddish, 
golden brown clothed with long, thick yellowish gray hairs with traces of black 
on the humeral suture, below the spiracle, and in the depths of the third lateral 
suture. Legs obscure red brown, paler basally. Wings broad at the base and 
pointed at the apex, with dark brown spots on the extreme base, the spot on the 
hind wing larger, rounded externally, reaching almost to the triangle. Abdomen 
reddish brown also, with a diffuse blackish middorsal band on segments 2 to 7, 
greatly widened on 7. 8 to 10 and appendages black. 
56. TramMea Hagen 
The Raggedy Skimmers 
These are elegant strong flying dragonflies with conspicuous irregu- 
lar bands of brown across the base of the hind wings. The eyes are 
very large; the face is pale. The thorax is nearly uniform brown in 
color. The abdomen is much swollen on the basal segments where 
ringed with extra transverse carinae. It is strongly tapered beyond the 
base and blackened dorsally, terminating with long slender appendages. 
Wings are externally broad at base, pointed at apex. Some of the cells 
bordering vein M, before the stigma are transversely elongated. The 
triangle of the fore wings is very narrow and followed by four rows of 
cells. The anal loop is long, narrow and sinuous. 
The nymphs are smooth and broadly depressed with wide heads, 
laterally prominent eyes and very long spines at the end of the abdo- 
men. There are no dorsal hooks. The teeth on the lateral lobes of the 
labium are hardly more than crenulations of the border. 
The nymphs of North American forms seem to be lacking in good 
specific characters. Three of them were rather inadequately character- 
ized by Cabot (’90, pp. 45 and 46). Recently they have been carefully 
studied by Dr. Calvert, (’28, p. 29). 
i 
SS 
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eel: 
EV if: 
UTR? ig 
— 
Laas 
Y, 
abdominalis onusta lacerata ae carolina 

KEY TO THE SPECIES 
Adults 
1 Brown band of hind wing covering the triangle.............. 2. 
Brown band of hind wing not covering the triangle............ 
mgt oh cee SMO 4 olan a, 6. Oe EE Soe abdominalis, p. 256 
