On Monday I spotted this freshly emerged female Common Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It won’t be long before it will be time for her to migrate southward. Yes, some dragonflies actually migrate.
When I first started getting into dragonflies, it never struck me that dragonflies could travel long distances. I figured that they lived and died in a relatively confined geographic area. Although that may be true for some dragonfly species, that is not the case for the Common Green Darner. One of my favorite websites, Dragonflies of Northern Virginia, describes the amazing saga of this species in these words:
“They emerge in the Southeast and fly north, arriving here late March thru May. After their long flight, they mate, lay eggs and die. Their young emerge in July and August. Congregating in large swarms, this 2nd generation begins flying south in September. They lay eggs that fall, after arriving in their southern destinations, and die. When their young hatch in March, they fly back to Northern Virginia and it starts again – a two generation migration.”
Many of us have gotten used to using Global Positioning System (GPS) devices to help us navigate or use Google Maps. How do these dragonflies know where to go? How do they find a destination that they have never visited before? It boggles my mind and fills me with awe and wonder when I contemplate questions like these.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Would not seem that the tiny blue dot with the antennae could navigate all of that! Yet God has made them able. May we be as yielded that He might direct our flights, too!
Amen.
I love the close-up of the wings, Mike. If I were a dragonfly, I’d be the reason they would be showing up in new locations.
Great images, Mike, and the two generation migration is truly amazing.
It is amazing the abilities that God gave to all the birds, insects and animals!
Beautiful photographs, Mike!
Like you, as I learned more about dragonflies, I was stunned to learn that some migrate. Amazing to think of such relatively small creatures undertaking such journeys!
Incredible story about the migration over two generations. Nature is amazing.
It is a remarkable journey although, …I think of this often while watching the annual flights of our local Osprey …wondering “How is this possible? Got to be a DNA thing, an ancient evolutionary blueprint specific to each and every species, and therefore all living things. We sorta understand, but there will always be that wow factor’! Great post and pictures, as usual, Mike. M 🙂
Wow! Says it all! Great photos.
Very Nice Images Mike!