New records of Bahamian Odonata

Only 2 previous reports have described the distribution of Odonata in the Bahama Islands (M.J. WESTFALL, I960, Amer. Mus. Novil. 2020: 1-12; D.R. PAULSON, 1966, Quart. J. Fla Acad. Sci. 29: 97-1 IO). I collected odonates on New Providence Island 18 Dec. 1982, and on Grand Bahama Island 20-21 Dec. 1984. New distribution records thus obtained plus 2 new records in the Florida State Collection of Arthropods (FSCA) at Gainesville are listed below. Fresh surface water is scarce in the Bahamas. On Grand Bahama Island, no odonates were seen at a small pond on the Rand Nature Center in Freeport. This may have been due to the residency at this pond of Loggerhead Kingbirds Tyrannus caudifasciatus, although the park naturalist said that a few dragonflies were seen there occasionally. Only a single male Ischnura ramburii (Sel.) was seen at the eutrophic ponds in the Garden of the Groves in Freeport. The best odonate area I located on Grand Bahama was several ponds along the road from Pelican Point to about 11 km W of Pelican Point. These ponds had a heavy growth of marly algal mats, with some sedges Juncus sp.