It’s Sunday, which is John Avise photo day. John’s new series takes us through the dragonflies and damselflies of North America. His notes and captions are indented, and you can enlarge his photos by clicking on them.
Dragonflies in North America, Part 2
This week I continue a series of posts on Dragonflies and Damselflies (taxonomic Order Odonata) that I’ve photographed in North America. I’m going down my list of species in alphabetical order by common name. Also shown is the state where I took each photo.
Brown Spiketail, Cordulegaster bilineata, female (Georgia):
Brown Spiketail, female sideview (Georgia):
Calico Pennant, Celithemis elisa, mature male (Michigan):
Calico Pennant, young male (Michigan):
Cardinal Meadowhawk, Sympetrum illotum, adult male (British Columbia, Canada):
Cardinal Meadowhawk, mating pair (British Columbia, Canada):
Carolina Saddlebags, Tramea carolina (Florida):
Common Green Darner, Anax junius, male (California):
Common Green Darner, flying (California):
Common Green Darner, pair mating (California):
Common Whitetail, Plathemis lydia, female (Georgia):
Dragonhunter, Hagenius brevistylus (Wisconsin):
So cool. I’ve never seen a Carolina Saddlebags. Aptly named!
Cool indeed. And astounding that it can lift that body with those wings.
So cool
The Calico Pennant: the difference between the young male and an adult male. Does the incompleteness of the design closest to the body signify, ‘Yes, I am a mature, desirable male,’ or does it just take nature a lot of time to completely fill-in larger areas?
The color pattern does not change, as far as I know. I think the pattern is variable between individuals. A mature male will have more red color.
Thank you, Mark!
Very nice! Two comments.
The mating Green Darners are a curiosity, since the female also has a blue abdomen much like the male. I have not seen that in this species, but in some dragonflies and damselflies females sometimes show male coloration, and this seems to be useful since males frequently harass females.
Second, it should be pointed out that the huge and totally awesome Dragonhunter is eating another dragonfly. That is what they do.
Thanks for adding these interesting comments, Mark. I hadn’t even noticed in my photo that the Dragonhunter was caught in the act of eating another dragonfly!
The photos are beautifully composed. The one of the nature Calico Pennant is a real stunner!
Beautiful dragonflies!
I appeciate your photos so much, thank you!