NO. 2107. DRAGONFLIES, WASHINGTON AND OREaON— KENNEDY. 287 



apparently copulates for only a second. I have seen several different 

 females swing the abdomen forward for barely a second or so, but am 

 not yet positive that it is a completed copulation. These seizures 

 take place more commonly in the morning. If these seizures are 

 not copulatory, then copulation would seem to take place but once 

 or twice in the life of the female instead of daily and oftener as in 

 the higher Odonata, for if daily I would surely have observed at 

 least some single instance, for I was on the creek early and late and 

 from the beginning of the season watched for copulation. During 

 the afternoon numerous females seated on stones in the riffles refuse 

 the approaches of all males. In refusing a male, the female, as the 

 male swoops down on her, flies up and takes a position just above 

 the male's head, where she flies for several feet until the male gives 

 up and turns away. This species spends many hours in couple, the 

 male holding the female by the prothorax and both seated on some 

 sunny stone. 



Oviposition must occupy but a small part of the time of the female, 

 as on a stretch of 2 miles on Satus Creek I found only one small area 

 where oviposition took place frequently. This was among the pink 

 roots of wiUows which hung in a shallow side pool through which a 

 small stream flowed. Oviposition is a lengthy process, the female 

 sometimes working alone, but usually held by the male, who supports 

 himself solely by his hold on the female, and, scorning other support, 

 stands stiffly out of the water with Ixis wings folded and his legs 

 drawn tightly against his thorax until the female backing down into 

 the water submerges him with her. (See fig. 54.) 



The Argias, while spending all day close to the water, seldom leav- 

 ing the riffles and bars, leave the water just before sundown and 

 spend the night in the shrubs along the creek, where they are to be 

 fomid early in the morning. The two ways to captm-e them with 

 moderate ease is among the bushes early in the morning, or at the 

 height of their season to stand in the water facing a high bank or 

 dense bush, where they are passing, and capture them as they fly past 

 between the collector and the bank or bush. 



As to enemies, I have not seen birds capture Argias, but I have seen 

 an Erythemis simplicicollis eating a teneral. There are few frogs 

 along the creek; in fact the Argias seem to flomish with few enemies 

 except crayfish and such others as prey on the nymphs. I have never 

 found this species infested with red mites. 



I have never found this species else than on the Yakima River and 

 lower Satus Creek. ^ 



1 Since writing the foregoing I have found Argia emma common on the larger rivers of centrs,! California 

 and on the Tmckee and Humboldt rivers in Nevada. It occurs from sea level on the San Lorenzo and 

 Sacramento rivers to G,000 feet elevation on the Truckee River at Lake Tahoe. Professor Farr, of Suu- 

 nyslde, Washington, has recently sent me a series of specimens from Union Flat Creek, Pullman, Wash- 

 ington. 



