Female Swamp Darner in action

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Female Swamp Darner in action

April 23, 2019 by Mike Powell

On Monday I traveled to Patuxent Research Refuge in Laurel, Maryland with fellow dragonfly enthusiast and blogger Walter Sanford to search for dragonflies. One of the highlights of the visit for me was spotting this female Swamp Darner dragonfly (Epiaeschna heros) as she was laying her eggs. As you can see from these two photos Swamp Darners lay their eggs directly into wet wood with their blade-like ovipositor, unlike many other dragonflies that lay their eggs onto the water.

Swamp Darners are among the largest dragonflies in our area, about 3.4 inches in length (86 mm) and it was impressive to watch this one flying about over a swampy area of the refuge.

Posted in Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife | Tagged Canon SX50, Epiaeschna heros, Laurel MD, Patuxent Research Refuge, Swamp Darner, Swamp Darner dragonfly | 6 Comments

6 Responses

on April 23, 2019 at 2:42 am | Reply rugby843

Those wings, unbelievable
on April 23, 2019 at 2:46 am | Reply blhphotoblog

This is very similar in looks and habits, including egg laying, to the Southern Hawker (Aeshna cyanea) we have in the UK.
- on April 23, 2019 at 5:53 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  I suspect that the two species are cousins–kind of like the Americans and the British. 🙂
on April 23, 2019 at 4:04 am | Reply deuxiemepeau

She is amazing, so well captured Mike as she is very well camouflaged
- on April 23, 2019 at 5:51 am | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks, Damien. Many dragonflies tend to fly away when they sense my presence, but this Swamp Darner seemed so focused in accomplishing her mission that she seemed to ignore me, allowing me to capture these images.
on April 23, 2019 at 12:45 pm | Reply Dan Antion

I love looking through their wings.