Garden Pic Wednesday: Know Your Dragonflies

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Today, I've learned how to tell the difference between a male Eastern Pondhawk Dragonfly and a male Blue Dasher Dragonfly!
They look very, very similar---in fact, on-line photos of the two are often confused. Both have bodies the same baby blue color.
The identifying distinction between the two is their face color as pictured below: 
 Pondhawk's have a green face; Blue Dasher's have a white face. 



The female Pondhawk is green & black, while the female Dasher is brown. 
For photos, I prefer the blue males. Much more showy.
I was lucky today that an adult male Blue Dasher decided to perch and stay perched on a wooden stake just outside my front door.
He's been there a couple hours now, just sitting, munching on whatever flies close. Probably because it's shady--it's been sweltering outside this week.
I kept snapping shots of him like he was a super model and he didn't even twitch. I could see his little head rotate watching me, though.
 He's definitely going in the 2015 Critter Calendar!  Just gorgeous! Huge, all blue with blue-green eyes and white face. Wings are black filigree, mostly transparent.

Dragonflies lay their eggs in ponds and so on, so they're more abundant in watery locales. There are some freshwater ponds in my neighborhood, so dragonflies seem abundant here.
They're carnivorous and eat other insects. Great mosquito patrol!

I observe they enjoy perching on tall things: wood stakes, old day lily stems, old hibiscus stalks--anything moderately tall.
So, I'd say, if you want to attract dragonflies to your garden leave some stems and stalks uncut and scatter some wood stakes here and there in shady locations. Dragonflies like cool spots to rest. (not metal--it absorbs heat)

Today's pic of the day is a Blue Dasher Dragonfly I caught a few days ago:
He's perched on last year's hibiscus stem.


I'm always interested in the know the names of insects & birds who frequent my garden.
Do you  have a favorite garden insect or butterfly?
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Be sure and stop back for Mama Kat Thursday tomorrow!
Also, thanks Dee, for all your comments!

Comments

Dee D said…
thank you Bev for the acknowledgement. Posting comments on this page is a challenge. But I understand how it keeps the riff-raff at bay. Think of you often.
Jul 2, 2014, 8:15:00 PM

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