Grantsburg High School
  Summer Research Biology

The 6th Annual Great Lakes Odonata Meeting
June 22-25, 2006
Grantsburg, Wisconsin
"Bringing experts and amateurs together to discover dragonflies and damselflies"

What is GLOM?  

The Great Lakes Odonata Meeting (GLOM) is not a club, a society or an organization.  There is no membership, and no dues to pay.  It is just an annual international event that happens somewhere near the Great Lakes.  The first GLOM was held at Laurentian Lodge near the Mississagi Provincial Park in eastern Ontario in 2001.  In years since, Roscommon, Michigan (2002); Finland, Minnesota (2003); Northeast Ohio (2004); and the Rainy River District, Ontario (2005) have also hosted GLOM. 

Dragonfly watching itself is a fast-growing hobby, drawing on many of the same skills used in birding. To encourage the hobby and facilitate the study and conservation of odonates (dragonflies and damselflies), a group of enthusiasts started GLOM.  In addition to providing an informal gathering for people who are interested in odonates and the habitats and resources that support them, GLOM also provides an opportunity to survey the host location for rare and sensitive populations of odonates.
 

Canoeing the   St. Croix River   GLOM 2006   Grantsburg, WI

Dragonflying   GLOM 2005   Emo, Ontario

Who comes to GLOM?

GLOM is a very open and welcoming event.  In past years, the experience levels of participants have ranged from PhD level scientists to people who have never seen a dragonfly up close.  It is an event that has become well known as a great place for beginners to get their feet wet, so to speak, under the informal tutelage of some of the best and most experienced Odonatologists of North America.  There have never been scientific papers or technical reports presented at GLOM, but in the evenings it is not uncommon for people to share their slides of Odonata-based vacations or of the interesting bugs of their own regions.  Children of all ages are welcome!
 

	Little Kid Netting Dragonflies   GLOM 2005   Emo, Ontario
	Big Kids Netting Dragonflies   GLOM 2005   Emo, Ontario

Where was GLOM 2006?  This year's GLOM was held at the Crex Meadows Education Center  in Grantsburg, Wisconsin.  This area was chosen because of its close proximity to the St. Croix River where the St. Croix Snaketail Dragonfly (Ophiogomphus susbehcha) was discovered in 1989.  The St. Croix and its tributaries are also home to many other rare riverine clubtails including the Extra-striped Snaketail (O. anomalus), the Pygmy Snaketail (O. howei) and the also recently discovered Sioux Snaketail (O. smithi). 

Although little studied in Burnett Co., it is also likely that bog pools in the area hold many rare emerald species such as the Ebony Boghaunter (Williamsonia fletcheri), and several members of the Striped Emerald genus including Brush-tipped Emeralds (Somatochlora walshii), Delicate Emerald (Somatachlora franklini), Kennedy's Emerald (Somatachlora kennedyi), and Williamson's Emerald (Somatochlora williamsoni). 

In addition to these rarities, Crex Meadows Wildlife Area features vast remnant brush prairie, four natural lakes, scores of beaver ponds, natural sedge marsh openings, and hundreds of constructed potholes creating habitat for our state's more common lake and pond species.  All total, there is the potential to see more than 80 dragonfly and damselfly species at the end of June. 

What Species are found in the St. Croix River Watershed?  To date, over 80 species of dragonflies have been recorded in the counties surrounding the St. Croix River and its tributaries.  A species list for GLOM 2006 is available as well as a species list for the St. Croix National Riverway and its tributaries with accompanying pictures of adults, exuviae and life history reports for select species.
 

GLOM 2006   Participants Identify a   Pygmy Snaketail   (Ophiogomphus howei)

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