264 DRAGONFLIES OF NORTH AMERICA 
bordered with black upon the humeral suture; another on the midlateral suture, 
behind which is a pale area divided by an oblique line of brown. Legs brown, 
paler beneath the femora and on the outer face of the tibiae. Wings hyaline 
with big red basal area behind the radius and beyond the quadrangle, on the 
hind wing strikingly veined with white beneath. Abdomen brown or coppery, 
blackening toward the tip, narrowly ringed on the base of segment with the pale 
color of the under side. 
254. Hetaerina americana Fabricius 
Common Ruby Spot 
Fabr. 1798, p. 287: Mtk. Cat. p. 30: Whed. ’14, p. 90: Garm. ’17, p. 471: Wlsn. 
712, p. 196: Smn. ’27, p. 9: Garm. ’27, p. 114. 
Syn: basalis Say, scelerata Walsh, pseudamericana Walsh, californica 
Hag., texana Walsh 
Length 44 mm. Expanse 58 mm. N. Am. Generally 
A beautiful copper bronze and metallic green species with brilliant spots 
of ruby red covering both wing bases. Labrum bordered with yellow. Bases 
of antennae same color. Thorax coppery bronze with short brownish pubescence. 
Sutures black edged. Thorax beneath grayish, this color extending up the third 
lateral suture. Legs blackish with the femora beneath and the tibiae externally 
pale chocolate color. Wings hyaline with the red spot of the base covering an 
area behind the radius well out beyond the quadrangle. Stigma brown. In old 
specimens the veins of the hind wings are white beneath. Abdominal segments 
bronzy green, darkening toward the tip with narrow basal rings of gray and a 
longitudinal gray streak each side beneath. 
The female differs by having the bright color of the wing base amber yellow 
instead of red, and diffusely extended outward, and by the yellow of the sides of 
the thorax which is more extensive. 
A southern variety described by Walsh as H. texana seems to differ 
by having the pale color of the under side of the thorax extended up- 
ward along all lateral sutures and the red color of the wing bases much 
more extensive, covering the entire width of the wing and extending 
almost to the nodus. 
This charming damselfly haunts the riffles in small, clear flowing 
streams. Males are frequently seen resting on stones or on little 
islands of sand in the riffles or on drooping sprays of white grass close 
to the water’s edge, furtively opening their wings now and then as if 
to give just a tantalizing glimpse of the crimson spot on their bases 
within. 
The long-legged twig-simulating nymphs crawl up the trash only a 
few inches above the surface of the water for transformation. 
It is a late season species. Kellicott (’95, p. 198) says of it: 
It is abundant along rivers and smaller streams, especially where grasses and 
shrubs overhang the water rippling over bars of pebbles and among boulders. 
