After sweeping through refuges in interior Alaska, Odonataphilia borealis finally reached Yukon Delta National Wildlife Refuge headquarters in Bethel.  Better known as "Northern Dragonfly Fever," this ailment is characterized by a suddenly increased interest in, and enthusiasm about, members of the insect order, Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies). Inspired by recent efforts at Kanuti and Tetlin National Wildlife Refuges, Yukon Delta refuge hosted a special late summer program focusing on those most charismatic of minifauna.

On 16 August, a dozen participants joined a visiting dragonfly expert, Bill Smith, in a 3-hour lab-and-field excursion.  The day began at the refuge’s visitor center, where Smith held forth on dragonfly biology and identification.  A Natural Heritage zoologist with the Wisconsin Bureau of Endangered Resources, Smith will soon have a new species of endangered dragonfly named after him.  He spent a few days in Bethel preparing for the program, capturing nymphs and adults of several species of local dragonflies, just in case weather precluded the field portion of the program. On Saturday morning, while overcast skies prevailed, he brought the live specimens to the refuge conference room so that participants could view them in the hand and through magnifying lenses.  Grandkids, grandmas, and everyone in between had a chance to get up close and personal with the dragonflies. Because some adult dragonflies can migrate hundreds, and even thousands, of kilometers, Smith also emphasized the importance of identifying either the aquatic nymphs or the exuvia (i.e., the exoskeleton that is shed when the nymphs transform into adults).  Smith explained that such specimens allow you to confirm which species actually breed locally, and in what specific types of wetlands.

As skies cleared after the “lab” demonstration, Smith and refuge Supervisory Wildlife Biologist Tom Doolittle led the newly-enthralled Odonataphiles out to one of Bethel’s many tundra wetlands.  During the first hour in the field, participants explored the margins of the wetland searching for nymphs and exuvia; Park Ranger Christine McCaffery and Wildlife Biologist Lisa Renan did extra duty, wading thigh-deep (and beyond!) to access particular microhabitats.  As the ambient temperature reached about 13 degrees Celsius, adult dragonflies became active, and Doolittle demonstrated the guile, skill, and speed required to snag fast-flying adults.

The diversity of species observed during Smith’s stay in Bethel was quite surprising.  The field guide, Dragonflies of Alaska (J. Hudson and R. H. Armstrong, 2006), lists only four species as occurring in western Alaska—one damselfly and three dragonflies.  On the field trip alone, however, three species of adult dragonflies were observed, including one apparently new to western Alaska.  Later that afternoon, two species of damselflies, including at least one new to western Alaska, were also located by Education Specialist Brian McCaffery.  In addition, Smith identified two more dragonflies and one more species of damselfly during his brief stay in Bethel, for a total of 8 species documented in Bethel in just a few days, doubling the known species diversity for western Alaska.  These additions to our region’s insect fauna suggest that the varied wetlands of the Yukon Delta refuge may support a still-richer assemblage of these beautiful wetland denizens.