Bear Meadows, Centre Co., PA
Bear Meadows (Topo
Map) is a 320-acre sphagnum bog nested in the mountains of central Pennsylvania
about 6 miles south east of State College. It is 56 miles southwest of the
nearest terminal moraine of the Wisconsin glaciation, the location of which
makes it a very interesting place to study boreal organisms at or near their
southern limit of distribution. Among the dragonflies of interest that regularly
occur here and would be expected during the second week of June are: Gomphaeschna
furcillata, Cordulia shurtleffi, Helocordulia uhleri, Somatochlora
walshii, Leucorrhinia hudsonica, and Libellula quadrimaculata.
Over 60 species of Odonata are known from Bear Meadows.
40° 43.75'N, 77° 45.73'W
From H. B. White, III and G. H. & A. F. Beatty (1968) The Odonata Fauna of Bear Meadows, a Boreal Bog in Central Pennsylvania. Proc. Pennsylvania Acad. Sci. 42, 130-137.
|In October 1965, Bear
Meadows Natural Area was designated a National
Natural Landmark site. The open part of the bog supports abundant
high bush blueberries which attact bear when bearing ripe fruit and thus the name Bear Meadows.