The Blue-faced Ringtail (Erpetogomphus eutainia) is a little-known dragonfly which has been found in the United States only in central Texas (although it occurs from Mexico to Costa Rica in Central America). Apparently the only documented Texas records are from Gonzales and Caldwell Counties along the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers. The species is not found very often and there had apparently been very few reports of it in the past decade. During the summer of 2003, I made a concerted effort to locate this species. I spent several weeks in my spare time working public areas along the San Marcos and Guadalupe Rivers without success. Finally, in late July I found a female Blue-faced Ringtail in Gonzales, Texas. It is an inconspicuous dragonfly which flies slowly in an almost "damselfly-like" manner. I obtained several shots of this female in July, but wanted to try for better images. On 2 August 2003, John Abbott and I returned to the spot where I had located the female and had great luck in finding a male and a female Blue-faced Ringtail! We got excellent photos of both sexes and even watched the male catch and consume a female Powdered Dancer (Argia moesta). All the below shots were near the banks of the Guadalupe River in Independence Park, Gonzales, Gonzales Co., Texas. These digital captures were shot with a Canon EOS 10D and EF 70-200 mm F/2.8 L IS lens with a 2X extender and 550 EX flash. For more information on this species, refer to John Abbott's Odonata Central site here.



The above two shots show the male Blue-faced Ringtail with a female Powdered Dancer it has captured.

This shot shows a female Blue-faced Ringtail looking straight at the camera

Same female Blue-faced Ringtail as above, lateral view

Male Blue-faced Ringtail
Male Blue-faced Ringtail, hand-held, showing thorax pattern

The below two shots were taken in August 2004 at the same location as above. One shot shows a pair of Blue-faced Ringtails in copula and the next shot shows a Robber Fly (genus Diogmites) that has captured a presumed adult female Blue-faced Ringtail. Both these shots were taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mark II and a 300 mm F/4 L IS lens with 2X extender and 550 EX flash.

	The next 5 images are an assortment of shots of male Blue-faced Ringtail taken in 2003 and 2004. All these shots were taken at the same location in Gonzales, Gonzales Co., Texas.

	The image on the left shows a female Blue-faced Ringtail perched on a dew-covered grass blade in Gonzales, Texas, in August, 2007. This shot was taken with a Canon EOS 1D Mark III and EF 300mm F/4 L IS lens and 2X extender and 580 flash.