512 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Perithemis domitia Drury 



Plate 24, fig. 3 and 4 



Amber wing 



I use tbe above scientific name in this place without having entered into the 

 question of synonomy — a question for the determination of which I have no 

 adequate material. Domitia is the name that has been used hitherto in 

 most American descriptive papers. Dr Haj^en regarded ten era and 

 tenuicincta Say, chlora Eambur, me tell a Selys, and iris Hagen, 

 as synonyms of domitia. Forms like those occurring in New York state 

 were described by Say (1839) under two names, tenuicincta (^^J and 

 tenera ($)• Should these be ranked as a species distinct from domitia 

 the latter name, having precedence of position in Say's list, would be the name 

 for the species. Hagen's Synopsis of the Odonata of America'^ and Kirby's Cata- 

 logue of the Neuroptera Odonata^, represent the extreme views. 



1773 Libellula domitia Drury, Illus. exotic ent. v. 1, pi. 47, fig. 4 

 1861 Perithemis domitia Hagen, Synopsis Neur. N. Am. p. 135 

 1893 Perithemis domitia Calvert, Am. ent. soc. Trans. 20:264 (descrip- 

 tion) 

 1895 Perithemis domitia Calvert, N. Y. ent. soc. Jour. 3:48 (listed from 

 Westchester co.) 



1898 Perithemis domitia Needham, Outdoor studies, p. 59, fig. 58 {$,) 



and 59 ( $ ) 



1899 P er i th emis domitia Kellieott, Odon. Ohio, p. 112 (description) 



1900 Perithemis domitia Williamson, Dragon files Ind. p. 317 (descrip- 



tion) 



This is a pretty, little brown species, with amber tinted wings. It is 

 apparently not common in New York state, having been taken as yet 

 only in the vicinity of New York city. I studied the species in Gales- 

 burg 111., in 1895, and there worked out its life history. 



It appears on the wing about the end of May, and flies through June. 

 Its flight is rather weak, and a bit clumsy and slow. When over water 

 it habitually avoids the altitude of the larger and stronger species, keep- 

 ing down nearer the surface. It is very sensitive to cloudiness and 

 moisture, being seldom seen in flight except when the sun is shining. 



The female is sometimes held by the male while ovipositing, but I 

 have seen her oftener unattended, dropping her eggs on bits of floating 

 dead pond scum by many successive dips made at very nearly the same 

 spot. When a female was taken in hand and " dipped " to the surface 

 of water in a tumbler, lo to 20 eggs were liberated by her at each de- 

 scent. 



IBost. soc. nat. hist. Proc. 1875. 18:82-83. 

 21890, p. 10. 



