1946] 
Oxyagrion 
89 
A NEW RECORD OF OXYAGRION (ZYGOPTERA) 
FROM NORTH AMERICA 
By Kenneth A. Christiansen 
Boston, Mass. 
While examining a tray of unidentified damsel flies at the 
Harvard Museum of Comparative Zoology, I discovered a small 
male ccenagrionid of unusual coloration labelled “June 9, Belts- 
ville, Maryland.” The specimen had been collected by Mr. 
Nathan Banks on one of two trips in 1915 and 1916. I identi- 
fied the insect as Oxyagrion peter seni Ris, and this identification 
was later confirmed by Dr. P. P. Calvert. On further inquiry 
Mr. Banks informed me that the damsel fly was captured in an 
open Sphagnum bog which had formed over a substratum of 
rock. To my knowledge the only other North American record 
of this tropical genus is the capture of Oxyagrion rufulum in 
northern California. 1 Needham apparently did not think that 
this record was sufficient reason for including the genus Oxy- 
agrion in his “Handbook of the Dragonflies of North America.” 
I have compared the Maryland specimen of O. peter seni with 
the two paratypes in the collection of the Harvard Museum with 
the following results: The Maryland specimen is darker than 
the paratypes on the thoracic dorsum, and the femora of the 
former are lined with black whereas the legs of the paratypes 
are entirely yellow. 2 There are eight matched post-nodal cross- 
veins in the wings of the Maryland specimen and nine in the 
wings of the paratypes. In all other external features the 
specimens appear to be identical. 
I have as yet no plausible explanation for this northern oc- 
currence of the tropical genus; and further records are neces- 
sary to determine whether or not Oxyagrion is a true member 
of the North American odonate fauna. 
1 Muttkowski’s Catalogue of the Odonata of North America, Bull. Wise. Nat. 
Hist. Soc. No. 8, p. 53. 
2 These variations are probably due to age as the paratypes appear to be 
younger than the Maryland specimen. 
