Have you ever found yourself in a thorny predicament? Last weekend, I came upon this female Spangled Skimmer dragonfly (Libellula cyanea) that had literally placed herself in such a situation.
Fortunately, dragonflies are so small, lightweight, and agile that she was able to place herself in between the thorns, out of harm’s way. If you look closely at her wings in the second image, however, you’ll see that they are tattered, suggesting that it’s been a tough season for her, probably as a result of predators, including overly aggressive male dragonflies.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
How observant, Mike. It seems like your powers of observation are in tune to your ‘macro’ photos!!
“Learned your lessons well have you, Luke.” Yodonata
I’m always amazed how badly wings can be damaged without any obvious effect on their flying. I’m guessing that wouldn’t work for me.
Nice shots. I wonder if she caught her wings on those blackberry thorns.
That could easily happen. I found out that day that the blackberry thorns are really sharp (and some of the blackberries were ripe).
She looks rather like me after a session blackberry-picking in the park this week. Those thorns jump out and attack!