Saturday, July 11, 2009

LOLDragonfly


Another photo from last week at Menards some home improvement store somewhere, if you can believe it. Thinking back on it, I wonder if this dragonfly was feeling entirely well: s/he let me get fairly close and didn't fly away, or even move, but then I was also trying not to startle it, either, and I didn't get that close. I like to think it was healthy and happy -- or, you know, as healthy and happy as dragonflies get. They're kind of hard to read. Not a lot of emoting going on.

I don't know what species this is; the Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Insects and Spiders includes a decent number of dragonflies, but none of them resemble this much at all.

Because I was pretty proud of the picture in its own right, here's the non-LOL version:


There's really quite a lot of detail visible in the large version of the picture: I highly recommend opening it in a separate window. The plant it's on is, of course, Russian sage, Perovskia atriplicifolia.


7 comments:

Corynocarpus lady ;-) said...

That's an awsome picture! Aren't they beautful in a close up?

sheila said...

Terrific photo! I've never seen a dragonfly that color. And he is kind of a scary looking one, at that!

kesslerdee said...

It is amazing- the transpaent wings and those eyes!!!

Plowing Through Life (Martha) said...

Beautiful! I love dragonflies; they're so cool-looking.

Benjamin Vogt said...

Niiiiicce. Now, what the hell were you doing at Menards??? No, I know, sometimes these places have good steals, esp on trees.

Nancy in Sun Lakes AZ said...

Fantastic picture! I certainly have never seen a dragonfly so close before. Thanks for posting the picture!

Diane said...

There's a dragonfly ID book on my Amazon wishlist and I'm still waiting for someone to buy it for me. That's a pretty nifty-looking guy but he needs to learn to sit on darker-colored foliage to show off his coloring properly. Insects with no fashion sense...