The Ringed Boghaunter (Williamsonia lintneri): Challenges and Strategies to Detect and Protect a Rare Dragonfly in Maine by Mark Ward

The Ringed Boghaunter (Williamsonia lintneri): Challenges and Strategies to Detect and Protect a Rare Dragonfly in Maine webinar by Mark Ward which was hosted on Thursday, April 1, 2021.

The ringed boghaunter, Williamsonia lintneri, was first discovered in Maine in 1995. The Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife has since conducted regular surveys to assess the distribution and status of the species in the state. The ringed boghaunter is listed as a threatened species in Maine. The biology of this species presents survey challenges because of its early and brief flight period, its propensity to spend most of its adult life stage in forested uplands, and the difficulty of definitively distinguishing its exuviae from those of the ebony boghaunter (Williamsonia fletcheri) – a species with considerably more general distribution and habitat preferences in Maine. This presentation will provide an overview of this rare dragonfly species in Maine and how we know what we do about its presence and abundance in the state.

Mark Ward is an ecological consultant based in Bristol, Maine. His consulting has ranged from ecological field studies to conservation planning projects. He has conducted a number of insect-related projects for state and local governments, land trusts, and private landowners. Mark has carried out surveys for the ringed boghaunter in Maine since 2001. He is a graduate of the Field Naturalist master’s program at the University of Vermont, where he developed a fascination for invertebrates when he enrolled in the Field Zoology course taught by the late, great carabidologist Ross T. Bell.