Austrogomphus (Austrogomphus) collaris (Hagen, 1854) WESTERN INLAND HUNTER Family Gomphidae
THIS IS AN ENDEMIC DRAGONFLY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
On the 12th of February 2014 I was able to visit the Margaret River area, famous for its wines in Western Australia. Margaret River itself was more like a creek than a river but we discovered that it had a dam on it a little way upstream. As my companions were not keen to go any further I didn’t see what the river was like upstream from the dam. However, in the short section that we walked along I managed to see 2 endemic dragonflies and one endemic Flatwing damselfly.
The first dragonfly which was perched on a log in the river had the wide apart eyes and clubbed tail typical of the family Gomphidae. This dragonfly – a Western Inland Hunter – flew closer and landed at the edge of the river. Unfortunately someone came along and scared it off before I could get all the photos I would have liked. C’est la vie!
