r/dragonfly

Seen at El Hondo reserve, Crevillent, Spain

NE Wisconsin

Male, female and a moment of action at the end of Trithemis annulata.

#TrithemisAnnulata #VioletDropwing #LibélulaPúrpura #Dragonfly #Libélula #NaturePhotography #FotografíaNaturaleza #Odonata

Beautiful specimens — as I’m sure you already know, you can clearly see in two of them that they are starting to take on the colours of mature males, though not quite fully yet. Newly emerged dragonflies do not usually have the final adult colours; they acquire these after a period of maturation.

Newly emerged adult dragonflies (called tenerals) are typically pale, soft-bodied, and lack the full adult colouration and patterning. The hardening of the cuticle and the development of the final colours take place over a maturation period that usually lasts from a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the species and weather conditions.

In the genus Sympetrum (including the Red-veined Darter, Sympetrum fonscolombii), immature males are predominantly yellowish and only gradually develop the characteristic bright red colouration of mature males.

Here we can see a very characteristic nymph of the family Gomphidae among filamentous algae in a river, accompanied by some of its favorite prey: mayfly nymphs. This is a video filmed in the wild, not in an aquarium.

Best regards.

Not the best pics but I was happy to see them.

We found this guy stuck in the carpet coming into the hospital I work at. They had a HS student open house and there was no where for him to go without getting smushed as they left. He tried to fly off when I gently got him out of the carpet but it was sprinkling and he kept flipping over upside down. I moved him to dry ground and watched him several hours, helped clean his little paws of some carpet lint. We took him with us as we left bc there was no where safe to place him. Gave him water on the paper towel and a small drop of sugar. Put him near warmth. He’s moving a bit. Not sure what else we can do? Wings and body look prestine besides his left front leg missing half of it.