Dragonfly becomes prey

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Dragonfly becomes prey

August 2, 2018 by Mike Powell

Sometimes the dragonfly is the predator and sometimes it is the prey—it appears to be primarily a matter of circumstances and timing. This male Common Whitetail dragonfly (Plathemis lydia) met his demise this past Friday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

I am not sure how exactly the spider managed to snag the dragonfly, but I assume the dragonfly flew into the spider’s web, which was high in the air, spanning a gap between some tall trees. Interesting enough, I was only able to see a few strands of the web, so I wonder if this action took place at the extreme edge of the web.

Posted in Arachnids, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spiders, Summer | Tagged Canon 50D, Common Whitetail, Common Whitetail dragonfly, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Plathemis lydia, predator, predator or prey, prey, Tamron 180mm, Woodbridge VA | 6 Comments

6 Responses

on August 2, 2018 at 9:08 am | Reply Laura (PA Pict)

Amazing shot, Mike!
on August 2, 2018 at 11:44 am | Reply Molly Lin Dutina

Ouch!!
on August 2, 2018 at 11:51 am | Reply Ellen

Benjamin listened to the post and examined the enlarged photo of the hapless dragonfly and the spider. He sadly shook his head and said : “That dragonfly should have paid attention, before he flew into the web!” Thank-you, Mr. Mike!!
on August 2, 2018 at 5:41 pm | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

I’m sure that happens much more than we realize.
on August 2, 2018 at 6:34 pm | Reply Dan Antion

Sometimes you get the bear…
- on August 2, 2018 at 7:22 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  and sometimes…(well, you know how the rest goes), 🙂