Austroaeschna sigma

 

Austroaeschna sigma (Theischinger, 1982)

 

SIGMA DARNER

Family Telephlebiidae

 

 

 

 

 

Austroaeschna sigma
A male Sigma Darner at Deer Vale on January 8th 2015

Mature male Sigma Darners have beautiful bright blue eyes but all the females I have seen, have had brownish eyes. They can occasionally be seen  flying swiftly in  a patch of woodland or forest where if you are lucky they may land on a tree trunk. They also frequent mountainous creeks where sometimes they can be seen on adjacent vegetation.They may patrol up and down these creeks until quite late in the afternoon during summer.

Face of a male Sigma Darner at Deer Vale on February 1st 2015.
Notice the sigmoidally curved antehumeral stripe on the synthorax of a Sigma Darner at Deer Vale on February 4th 2011.
Left: Pattern on tergum 8 of the female Sigma Darner. Right: Pattern on segment 9 of a male Sigma Darner and male anal appendages
Side view of a male Sigma Darner at Deer Vale on February 1st 2015
Side view of a female Sigma Darner at Deer Vale at mid-day of January 19th 2012.
A male Sigma Darner patrolling a little creek at Deer Vale January 26th 2019
A female Sigma Darner flying at Deer Vale on March 14th 2015
A male Sigma Darner at Deer Vale January 14th 2016.

It is unusual to see a Sigma Darner perched on a rock in the creek. More often you  see them on vegetation or on a tree trunk.

A female Sigma Darner laying eggs on a wet rock in the Dorrigo National Park on February 18th 2019
A female Sigma Darner feeding on another insect at Deer Vale April 20th 2016
A male Sigma Darner at Deervale on 23rd April 2012. Photo by Marg Prior.

A sigma Darner landed on my neighbours hand while she was standing on her verandah. Amazingly she managed to walk over and pick up her camera and get a shot. Her house is surrounded on 3 sides by rainforest with small streams not far away.