The Michigan Odonata Survey (MOS) compiles and maintains verifiable records on the dragonflies and damselflies of Michigan. The state checklist of 172 species is based entirely on specimens housed in collections across the country, dating back to the late 1800s.
The MOS was organized in 1996 and has been managed since 2018 by Julie Craves and Darrin O’Brien. Verification and standardization of specimen data from the primary state collections has been ongoing, and additional collections have been incorporated into the MOS database, including substantial material from watershed sampling completed by the state of Michigan and regional watershed groups. Significant findings have been published in peer-reviewed journals.
Several important collections still need to be integrated into the database, along with additional specimen identifications. This will form the basis of the first comprehensive state checklist published since 1958.
December 2025
An article on the Michigan State University Entomology Department’s website is an example of the kind of work we do as Adjunct Curators in MSU’s AJ Cook Arthropod Research Collection and managers of the Michigan Odonata Survey. Click here to read it.
August 2025
Taxonomy changes from the newest version of the World Odonata List have been incorporated into the Michigan checklist: the species in the genus Didymops are now (again) in the genus Macromia. In Michigan, this means Didymops transversa (Stream Cruiser) is now Macromia transversa. This is based on a recently published paper Molecular phylogenetic analysis of the family Macromiidae (Odonata) worldwide based on a mitochondrial and two nuclear markers, with a short overview of its taxonomic history.
October 2024
Taxonomy changes from the newest version of the World Odonata List have been incorporated into the Michigan checklist: the state’s five species of spiketails, formerly in the genus Cordulegaster, are now in the genus Zoraena. This is based on a recently published paper, Molecular Phylogeny of the Family Cordulegastridae (Odonata) Worldwide.
June 2024
Great Pondhawk (Erythemis vesiculosa) has been added to the Michigan checklist!
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