"Apeora" Pilot Darner (Coryphaeshna apeora)

I saw this dragonfly on 7/15/09 on Bullhead Creek about 3 miles East of Vance in Real County.  It is about the same size as a Swamp or Regal Darner.  It flew around the pool there for about a minute or so, hit the water a few times (I couldn’t tell if it was ovipositing or drinking), and then flew off and out of sight.   At this time, I am convinced that the evidence points to it being the poorly known Neotropical Coryphaeschna apeora - a species which is known from scattered locales from Veracruz, Costa Rica, and the West Indies.  This represents the 2nd (probable) example of this species seen in the US (see Martin Reid's record from 2008 HERE).  I've illustrated some details that led to my identification in the 3rd photo/collage.


TEXAS: Real Co; White Ranch River Resort, ca 3 mi E of Vance - Female - 15 July 2009


see Paulson, D.R. 1994. "Two New Species of Coryphaeschna From Middle America, and a Discussion of the Red Species of the Genus (Anisoptera: Aeshnidae)".  Odonatologica 23(4): 379-398.  To read the species description and form your own conclusions, you can find a  pdf of this paper HERE.

For comparison photos of this species, see:

http://gallery.cs.umb.edu/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=383445 (very similar IMHO)

http://www2.ups.edu/biology/museum/CoryphaeschnaF.jpg

And to compare to the similar C. diapyra, see:
http://gallery.cs.umb.edu/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=383451