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Image-of-the-Day by Subject
Dragonflies & Damselflies Page 28
Image Taken on 18 Sep 2018
at 12:46 Image of day on 12 Nov 2018
This male Ruddy Darter Dragonfly was flying from stick tip to stick tip
as he keeps a look-out for rivals and mates.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20181112_df3_20180918_1246_176+1250_193 ruddy darter dragonfly perched on tip of sticks (montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 03 Sep 2019
at 10:20 Image of day on 28 Oct 2019
A mature female Ruddy Darter Dragonfly on the tip of a cut Blackberry stem shows
the sun shining through the orange pterostigma - the
coloured patches near the tips of the wings - that are present but takes many
forms in the various Odonata species.
.jpg)
Ref: 20191028_df3_20190903_1020_719 ruddy darter mature female(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image of day on 04 Sep 2005
This Darter Dragonfly (Ruddy Sympetrum) perched on a warm rock at
one of the night photo stations and show an almost perfect shadow of
it's wings.
.jpg)
Ref: 20050904_p20_1030429 ruddy sympetrum darter dragonfly and its shadow 2005aug28_13-32-48(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 10 Oct 2012
at 13:18 Image of day on 13 Nov 2012
This female Southern Hawker Dragonfly individual has frequented a
sunny and sheltered section of the meadow for several October days.
We know her from her torn wing and tatty wing tips, but she can fly well.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20121113_df1_20121010_1318_175+185 souther hawker dragonfly female with torn wing near dandelion flower 1+2 of 2 (montage for focus)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 24 Jun 2010
at 12:28 Image of day on 03 Aug 2010
Dragonflies end their 2 or 3 year life as predatory aquatic
larvae by crawling up a plant stem and emerging from a pupal case
(Exuvia) to expand into the flying insect. This image
shows the intricacy of the case including transparent eyes and
the strands which are insides of the breathing spiracles. The
insect exited out of the upper back. Thanks for Rory for the gift
of the Exuvia from his garden pond.
If you are interested in more detail we photographed an exit
sequence of a different dragonfly species in 1999 (with far
inferior equipment) which you can see at
Dragonfly Emergence sequence
 (rgb) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20100803_d12_20100624_1228_008 southern hawker dragonfly exuvia side (@ rory morrisey) (rgb) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 26 Jul 2023
at 12:56 Image of day on 18 Sep 2023
Another sighting of a female Southern Hawker Dragonfly warming quietly in the sunshine.
.jpg)
Ref: 20230918_df3_20230726_1256_113 southern hawker dragonfly female(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 27 Jul 2008
at 13:53 Image of day on 12 Aug 2008
Dragonflies really are incredible creatures. Unlike the one shown
a few days ago this is definitely a female. Sexing can be
difficult - the colours change with maturity and even with
temperature and other characteristics don't appear in photos
.jpg)
Ref: 20080812_da1_20080727_1353_017 southern hawker dragonfly female(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Jul 2021
at 13:17 Image of day on 31 Aug 2021
Finally the hot weather has brought out the first dragons - well Hawker Dragonflies at
least!
This female Southern Hawker Dragonfly is perched on a twig basking in the hot sunshine.
 (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20210831_pk1_20210723_1317_150 southern hawker dragonfly female (1st of 2021) (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 27 Jul 2008
at 13:59 Image of day on 12 Aug 2008
Here is a head shot with an inset showing the compound eye.
Compound eyes are an array of uni-directional cells rather
than lens and retina. Resolution is poor but they have huge angle
of view, are lightweight, detect movement quickly, and some
detect polarisation (used to navigate by skylight).
More info at
Wiki Compound Eye.
The streaks on the eye in the main image are Moire (artificial
digital patterning) effects at the reduced resolution used in
these archives.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20080812_da1_20080727_1359_073 southern hawker dragonfly female eye detail (web sized 768)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2012
at 12:13 Image of day on 06 Oct 2012
Female Southern hawker dragonflies don't systematically patrol
ponds like the males do, but hunt around the hedges and rank
grass. Here she is hung up on a dead stem.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20121006_df1_20120823_1213_004 southern hawker dragonfly female hanging from dead stem (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 20 Aug 2024
at 14:15 Image of day on 06 Oct 2024
A female Southern Hawker Dragonfly resting on a vertical stem
.jpg)
Ref: 20241006_d72_20240820_1415_069 southern hawker dragonfly female hanging from plant stem(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 17 Aug 2020
at 12:11 Image of day on 28 Sep 2020
Our first (and so far only) sighting this year of a Southern Hawker Dragonfly.
This is a female hanging on stinging nettle flowers.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20200928_d73_20200817_1211_042 southern hawker dragonfly female hanging from stinging nettle flowers (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 11 Aug 2013
at 14:51 Image of day on 05 Oct 2013
This female Southern Hawker dragonfly spent a few minutes indoors
for a some in-flight portraits.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20131005_da1_20130811_1451_370_ft1 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Sep 2018
at 14:17 Image of day on 29 Oct 2018
4 images of a female Southern Hawker Dragonfly in this pic, if you
can only find them spread across the confusing ground flying right to left.
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20181029_df3_20180905_1417_113-116 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight 1-4 of 4 (accurate montage @7fps)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Sep 2018
at 14:17 Image of day on 29 Oct 2018
This is a detail of the last image in the montage (far left).
The male of the Southern Hawker Dragonfly is our most commonly seen
large Hawker, but we don't often see the females like this one except when
depositing eggs at the edge of a pond, so a pleasing moment.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20181029_df3_20180905_1417_116 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight 4 of 4 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 23 Aug 2012
at 12:16 Image of day on 06 Oct 2012
This female Southern Hawker dragonfly was flying into a strong wind
allowing an unusual 3 images in succession to be in reasonable
focus. You can see from the difficulty of seeing the wings
against complex background the reason we use a simple 'blue sky'
background in the indoor 'flight tunnel'
(r+mb id@1024).jpg)
Ref: 20121006_df1_20120823_1216_060-062 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight @ 7fps 1-3 of 3 (horizontal spread montage)(r+mb id@1024).jpg
Image Taken on 11 Aug 2013
at 14:55 Image of day on 05 Oct 2013
This female Southern Hawker dragonfly spent a few minutes indoors
for a some in-flight portraits. She was turning in flight here
and partly out of frame.
(r+mb id@768).jpg)
Ref: 20131005_da1_20130811_1455_387_ft1 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight head-on and sideways (crop)(r+mb id@768).jpg
Image Taken on 05 Sep 2018
at 14:20 Image of day on 29 Oct 2018
Here our female Southern Hawker Dragonfly shows that her interest is hunting,
here holding the remains of some food item in her legs and her mandibles do their
thing.
The males of this species seem to spend far longer 'on the wing' than the
females in order to guard their territory and be on the lookout for females.
(r+mb id@432).jpg)
Ref: 20181029_df3_20180905_1420_167 southern hawker dragonfly female in flight holding prey to mouth 2 of 4 (crop)(r+mb id@432).jpg
Image Taken on 07 Aug 2013
at 12:46 Image of day on 27 Sep 2013
This female Southern Hawker Dragonfly laying eggs on the Iris fronds
well above (say 0.5 metre) the water surface. We have only
previously seen them laying on near water-level sodden dead wood.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20130927_df1_20130807_1246_118 southern hawker dragonfly female laying eggs in iris fronds (crop 2)(r+mb id@576).jpg
Image Taken on 24 Aug 2016
at 17:48 Image of day on 12 Oct 2016
A Southern Hawker Dragonfly ovipositing (laying eggs) on Iris fronds in the main
pond. She spent about 10 minutes laying all around the pond, but almost every
stop was out of view or so shaded that neither we nor the camera could see a
thing. Finally she reached the front of the pond pausing for a few seconds that
you see here. She first had her ovipositor (tail end) out of sight on the left
of the frond, and then on the right as you see here, before flying off into the
distance after about 10 seconds and we didn't see her again.
(r+mb id@576).jpg)
Ref: 20161012_df3_20160824_1748_006 southern hawker dragonfly female laying eggs on iris fronds in main pond 2 of 3 (crop)(r+mb id@576).jpg
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