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Page last updated: 10 August 1998 (EB)
Notes on the Michigan Species of Hetaerina
These large stream damselflies are most numerous in Central and South America - with four (maybe five) species reaching the United States and only two recorded from Michigan (see maps below). Records of H. americana are known only from the LP, though it appears widespread there. One well-established locality in Livingston County exists for H. titia, and it appears conspecific with H. americana (Weichsel 1987, 1998; pers. obs.). Another old literature record exists from Oakland County (Kormondy 1958).
Larvae are similar to Calopteryx in habits, frequenting the edges of gently flowing streams and rivers where where woody debris, leafy matter or sometimes where dense macrophytes accumulate (Westfall and May 1996; pers. obs.). Larvae of Hetaerina tend to emerge later in the year (mid-June through mid-July) than species of Calopteryx (late May through June), though Weichsel (1987) indicates that adults are on-wing as early as late-May. I (EB) have seen large numbers of exuvia in the third week of June (1996) from upstream River Raisin in southeastern Michigan (Jackson County). Adults emerged en mass from a quiessent part of the stream thick with aquatic vegetation that protruded from the water surface.
The name "rubyspots" comes from the vivid red markings at the wings bases of adult males. The UMMZ collection of adult Hetaerina - thanks to years of work by E. B. Williamson, E. J. Kormondy and L. K. Gloyd - is probably the most extensive in the world. Zloty et al. (1993) used Cellulose Acetate Gel Electrophoresis to associate larvae and adults of Costa Rican Hetaerina in order to construct a diagnostic key, a method with much future promise in distinguishing groups with similar-appearing species.
Other links with information on the biology or
ecology of larval Hetaerina:
Hetaerina in water quality study in Venezuela
>>http://www.redpav-fpolar.info.ve/entomol/v09-1/v0901a04.html
Map 1
Map 2
1a. Abdominal
segment 8 with lateral spine; prominent sharp tubercle on
postero-lateral margin of head (fig.1); 3 stout spines on
posterolateral margin of abdominal segment 10 (fig.2); gills
distinctly banded (fig.3) - H.
titia
Fig.1
Fig.2 
Fg. 3
H. titia from Péten, Guatemala, collected in
1938 by C. L. Hubbs and H. van der Schalie.
1b. No
lateral spines present on abdominal segment 8; tubercles on
postero-lateral margin of head low and blunt; no stout posterolateral
spines on abdominal segment 10, not as above; gills not banded as
above, except perhaps on margins; fairly common in the LP -
H. americana
Fig. 4
H. americana collected from Washtenaw Co., Michigan,
USA.
Drury, D. 1773. Illustrations of Natural History. Vol. 2. White: London. 90 pp.
Fabricius, J. C. 1798. Supplementum entomolgiae Systematicae. Hafniae, Proft. (Schubothe), pp. 283-285.
Kormondy, E. J. 1958. A catalogue of the Odonata of Michigan. Miscellaneous Publications, Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan 104:1-43.
Selys-Longschamps, E. de. 1853. Synopsis des Calopterygines. Bulletin de l'Académie royale des Sciences de Belgique (1)20:1-73 (reprint 1-73).
Walker, E. M. 1953. The Odonata of Canada and Alaska, Vol. 1. University of Toronto Press: Toronto, Ontario. 292 pp.
Weichsel, J. I. 1987. The life history and behavior of Hetaerina americana (Fabricius) (Odonata: Calopterygidae) (Michigan). Ph.D dissertation, The University of Michigan. 208 pp.
Weichsel, J. I. 1998. Hetaerina titia is in Michigan!. Williamsonia 2(3):1.
Westfall, M. J., Jr. and M. L. May. 1996. Damselflies of North America. Scientific Publishers: Gainesville, Florida. x + 650 pp.
Zloty, J., G. Pritchard and C. Esquivel. 1993. Larvae of the Costa Rican Hetaerina (Odonata: Calopterygidae) with comments on distribution. Systematic Entomology 18:253-265.