NOTES ON THE LIFE HISTORY AND ECOLOGY OF THE 

 DRAGONFLIES (ODONATA) OF WASHINGTON AND 

 OREGON. 



By Clarence Hamilton Kennedy, 



Of Stanford University, California. 



My interest in western Odonata started with the collecting I did 

 in eastern Oregon in 1898 for Mr. E. B. Williamson, who has ever 

 since encouraged me in further work along the same line. Since 

 1901 I have had further encouragement through correspondence 

 with Dr. E. M. Walker, who has very kindly assisted me in the deter- 

 mination of Aeshnid material and in the determination of various 

 2iymphs. Without such help, work on western insects would be very 

 difficult, because of the inaccessibility of much of the literature. 

 That which is available is purely systematic and written by men 

 who have only in rare cases seen the living insects in the field, because 

 of which I have in this paper made live color notes and ecological 

 data very full. This is the first of three general papers on western 

 Odonata. The second is in preparation, and covers collecting done in 

 Cahfomia and Nevada durmg 1914. The summer of 1915 I hope to 

 spend coUectmg in the southwestern States, and to publish the results 

 in the third paper. A list of western Odonata is in preparation, but 

 will not be completed until after this third summer's work is finished. 



1. NOTES ON ARCHILESTES CALIFORNICA. 



Only two species are known in the genus Archilestes. Arcliilestes 

 grandis is a species long known from Mexico, Central America, and 

 the Southwestern United States, having been first described by 

 Rambur as Lestes grandis in the year 1842. In 1862 Selys raised the 

 single species to generic rank as Arcliilestes grandis. In 1895 * 

 McLachlan described a new species, which he named calif ornica. It was 

 based on a single male specimen, presumably obtained in ' ' California." 

 The second species was based on differences in coloration, the main 

 points of which were, that californica lacked a metallic coloration 

 and had the costa and median veins yellowish. In 1901 Calvert^ 



> McLachlan, R. Some new species of Odonata of the "Legion" Lestes. Ann. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, 

 vol. 16, p. 20, 1895. 

 2 Calvert, Philip P., Biologia Centrali- American a, Odonata, p. 46, October, 1901. 



Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 49-No. 2107. 



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