Maine Damselfly and Dragonfly Survey
At Home With Nature: Maine Youth Helps
Set The Pace With State Dragonfly Survey
From Natural New England (Issue I)
by
Nathaniel May
nat@naturalne.com
Joseph Mailhot has about 50 dead dragonflies in his mother’s refrigerator, and he can’t wait for April when he can begin adding to his collection. His mother laughs about the fact that the insects are in there along with the family supper, but as long as they are dead she says she doesn’t really mind - all in the name of science, she jokes.
Mailhot is one of more than 100 naturalists who began collecting the insects last summer for a five-year survey of dragonflies and damselflies run by the Maine Department of Fish and Wildlife’s study. Mailhot, at 15, is the youngest member of the survey team of volunteers, but he clearly knows as much as any of his collecting colleagues about these ubiquitous double-winged critters.
A high school sophomore from Auburn, Maine, Mailhot is a prodigious student of nature who has shown interest in the insect world since he was a boy. Those who know him say he long ago earned the respect of his adult peers. “In fifth grade, I raised wood frog tadpoles I collected from a vernal pool,” he said. “Plus I read a lot about nature and I kept a daily journal,” he said. Mailhot’s efforts as a grade-school naturalist won him a prize with the Stanton Bird Club in Lewiston, where he began as a junior naturalist.
His work and dedication also won him an informal acceptance in the adults-only bird club which regularly includes him in their activities. That’s where he met his mentor, Susan Hayward, a biologist from Lewiston who helped to get him involved in the state survey project.
“I used to collect butterflies, moths, and beetles, and pin, preserve, and classify them with my mom,” said Mailhot. He has done well to educate himself about many elements of the natural world, and his ability to speak well on what he’s doing is a testament to his earnestness.
As for his friends at school? “They don’t really understand why I’m so into this,” he remarked. But Mailhot has a small group of friends who share his enthusiasm for nature and sometimes they all work together in a gang which his mother describes as sort of a naturalists SWAT team.
Having recently acquired a second-hand 35mm camera and several lenses, Mailhot’s interests now extend to photographing as well as collecting. He likes to shoot insects and frogs, especially close-ups, he said.
Paul Brunelle, a naturalist who recently discovered a new dragonfly species and who helped Maine officials set up their survey, said young Mailhot is as capable and knowledgeable as any of the surveyors. “He’s very driven in his own quiet way, in learning about the natural world,” he said. “Plus he seems to be interested in many of the more cryptic creatures that would not necessarily grab a young person’s attention.”
Mailhot and other dragonfly enthusiasts completed a two-day training session at the Humboldt Field Research Station in Steuben, Maine, last summer to prepare to help with the survey. “They gave us a lot of paperwork, and taught us how to collect specimens and do simple identification,” he said. He also received a notebook full of information regarding dragonfly species and characteristics, far more than he needs to know to participate in the MDDS.
Funded by the Outdoor Heritage Fund, an instant lottery sponsored conservation program, MDDS is the first extensive study of dragonflies in Maine. There are 5,000 species worldwide, and more than 400 in North America, so biologists have a lot to learn about which ones are living in Maine. The study is expected to last five years. Last summer, a collector from Massachusetts found Maine’s 156th species while participating in the survey.
Volunteers gather the dragonflies in butterfly nets by stalking them or waiting for them to pass close by. Once in the nets, the hunters reach in carefully, grab the dragonflies by their wings so as not to damage them, and put them into glassine envelopes.
“Dragonflies are vision-oriented, so we put the envelopes inside black video tape boxes,” Mailhot said, explaining how he calms his catch.
Back at their homes, volunteers put insect-laden black boxes in the freezer. “It’s the most humane way to kill them,” said Mailhot. Later, survey participants soak the dragonflies in acetone to preserve them and kill parasites, before sending the specimens to entomologists for identification.
“There are over 150 species in Maine,” said Mailhot, “and there’s no thorough field guide-it’s an understudied organism.” It’s difficult to accurately identify each insect, but he can put them into categories, such as cruisers, spiketails, or pedaltails.
With each specimen, the surveyors must send paperwork documenting information about the collection area. “They want as much information as they can get,” said Mailhot. He fills out a site form in meticulus detail, specifying the town, elevation, latitude, longitude, etc. Mailhot also includes information about the environment, whether there’s running or still water, if it’s near a road, or what human environmental influences are nearby. All of this information gives MDDS researchers an idea of each specimen’s habitat.
“I only fill out the site form once,” said Mailhot, “and for each collection day I fill out a site visit form.” On this he includes temporal data, such as weather, time of year, and time spent collecting. “If, in 10 minutes of collecting, I get 10 of one species, and one of another, it shows the rarity of the second species.” The site visit form tells biologists more about the insects’ preferred habitat conditions.
Mailhot, presently focusing on school studies for the winter, said he is looking forward to coducting site visits every week or so next summer.