Orthemis aff. ferruginea (Fabricius, 1775)

Rogers, D. Christopher & Cruz-Rivera, Edwin, 2021, A preliminary survey of the inland aquatic macroinvertebrate biodiversity of St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands, Journal of Natural History 55 (13 - 14), pp. 799-850 : 820

Orthemis aff. ferruginea (Fabricius, 1775)

The dragonfly O. aff. ferruginea differs from the normal form in that it is red-violet. Donnelly (2002) and Garrison et al. (2006) suggest that it may be an undescribed species. We suspect this is the species Ramírez et al. (2020) refer to as Orthemis ‘Antillean red’ in their text. This libellulid was very common, and we found it on St. Thomas at nearly every water body, lentic and lotic. Nymphs were always found in ponds, but adults were seen cruising ghuts, ponds (including ornamental ponds), open fields, golf courses, roads, and around the St. Thomas airport. Donnelly (2002) consolidated records from St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda.