As much as I like birds, I'm going to take a break from them for a bit. Lately I've been doing a LOT of Odonate (dragonfly and damselfly) photography, so I thought I'd showcase a few of the better shots. I don't know too much about them, so these are going to be more of a "look at the pretty picture" sort of posts.
That being said, my first installment is one I just took two days ago of Anax junius - Common Green Darner. These are large dragonflies in the family Aeshnidae which often have heavily marked abdomens. I managed to catch this pair in the process of mating. Not only is this a good way to get a shot of these things sitting still, but also a great showcase of behavior. I believe the one on top is the male in this photo, though as they aren't very sexually dimorphic, I could be wrong, suffice to say it's one of the two!
You are correct, the top green darner is the male. He's holding the female's head with his claspers.
BTW, thank you very much for the id help on the Bug Guide site.
Posted by: Dona Hilkey | August 24, 2007 at 09:37 AM