One of the earliest dragonflies to emerge in the spring in our area is the Blue Corporal (Ladona deplanata). Adult males are bluish in color and both the male and the female have two white stripes on their thoraxes in an area that you might think of as their shoulders. In the military of the United States, the rank insignia for corporals is two stripes, which accounts for that portion of the common name for the species.
The dragonfly in the first photo is a female Blue Corporal. She will remain that tan color for her entire life. If you look closely at the very tip of her abdomen (the “tail”) and compare it with the same area of the dragonfly in the second image, you can probably see some physiological differences. This is often the best way to tell the gender of a dragonfly.
The dragonfly in the second photo is a newly emerged male Blue Corporal, a stage known as teneral. During this stage, the wings are very clear and shiny and are very fragile. As the male matures, he will gradually turn bluish in color. His corporal stripes may turn light blue and eventually fade away.
You probably noted that the male Blue Corporal is perched flat on the ground—this is the most frequent perching position for this species. I was a little surprised that the female in the first photo was perching vertically a few inches above the ground, but I am not complaining, because it gave me a better chance to get a photo of her wings.
It is still a bit early in the season for dragonflies, so I was really happy to spot these two on Wednesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is still open and there were a number of other cars in the parking lot when I arrived. All of the other visitors, though, seemed to be either birding or walking in other areas of the refuge, leaving me the chance to muck about at the edge of a small pond all by myself, safely distanced from human contact.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Both of these are stunning Mike, for different reasons. I mean, the female wings splayed out like that are absolutely astonishing. But the photo of the male is wonderful too, he’s so well hidden and the brand new wings are beautiful!
It is interesting that you should mention his hiding ability. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him fly by and land, but initially I could not see him. I knew precisely where he was, but he blended in well enough with the rocky gravel on the path that I could find him in my viewfinder or even with my naked eye. I deliberately chose to include lots of those rocks for interesting texture and to let the viewer also do his/her own mini-journey of discovery.
Is it ok if I use the photo of the teneral in a post tomorrow? I’d team it up with the b&w spring photo Gary has just posted if he allows me to use it. I started following him after you included a link to his blog a little while ago.
Yes, definitely. I was off-line for most of the day and just now am catching up.
Thank you Mike!
Spectacular shots of these new little scouts. Wishing you lots more lucky mucking!
“Lucky mucking”–it’s fun to repeat those words aloud over and over again. Thanks, Gary. As you might suspect, I often come home from my adventures with wet feet. I have only fallen into a creek once that I recall, but landed feet first, so my gear was ok. The creek was a bit too wide to jump over, so I had to walk across a log that turned out to be frosty and a little slick. The water was only knee deep, but it was winter. Yikes!
One of the skills involved in being in water with hip- or chest-high waders is knowing when not to take that next step until you’re as sure as you can be of what you’re stepping on. Trout usually love cold water, and I can clearly remember the thrill of each misjudgment (even though it’s only happened to me four times).
I have always admired the guys that are willing to wade out into the water, whether fishing or taking photos. (I remember being intrigued one time when saw plans for making a one-mad floating blind for taking bird photos when wearing waders.)
Very Nice Mike! Especially like the teneral!
Greta photos, Mike. I’m always amazed at how well they blend in. I’m not sure I’d find them.
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