I was really excited to spot this male American Rubyspot damselfly (Hetaerina americana) on Monday while exploring in Fairfax County, Virginia with my good friend and fellow dragonfly enthusiast Walter Sanford. I have seen this species only a few times before, but had no trouble identifying it, thanks to the distinctive “rubyspot” on its wings.
The first image gives you the best view of this gorgeous little damselfly, but the second shot is my favorite. I love to look straight into the eyes of dragonflies and damselflies—they have an almost hypnotic effect on me. Whenever I get the chance, I try to get a close-up shot of the eyes of these acrobatic insects that fascinate and delight me endlessly.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I love the second photo closeup.
Thanks, kenne. That is my favorite too. Normally I lead with my favorite shot, but WordPress does not handle shots in the portrait mode very well in the thumbnail in the Reader view, so I ended up deciding to lead with the overall shot.
The second shot is great … looks like a sci-fi movie monster!
Thanks. I like to think of him as a friendly vice ferocious monster. 🙂
Wow! Great images Mike!
Beautiful shots. Both of them.
Thanks, Michael. I was happy that the damselfly was cooperative enough that I was able to work the scene and get shots from several angles.
The straight-on head shot is most charming!
Thanks, Eliza. It is definitely eye-catching. 🙂
Stunning shots of this beauty, Mike! Such beautiful detail.
Thanks. As you can probably tell, I really enjoy using my macro lens, which lets me capture so much of that wonderful beauty, assuming I can get close enough to the subject. Obviously this one let me get pretty close. 🙂
In that first photo, he looks so delicate.
Wow, these are spectacular! The iridescent patches on the dorsal thorax remind me very much of the tiny feathers on the throat of the (of course!) ruby-throated hummingbird when viewed from certain angles. Case in point: https://krikitarts.wordpress.com/2015/05/22/bejeweled-beauty/
Thanks, Gary. I love the way the light and the angle can make colors come alive, as was the case with this beautiful little damselfly and your wonderful hummingbird shots. I suspect that is why they chose to call them both “ruby” rather than simply “red”–the color sparkles in the sunlight like a precious gemstone.
Thanks, Mike, I’ve seen some works on how flowers look (in infrared, etc.) to insects, and wouldn’t it be fascinating to see how little folk such as this one appear to others with similar ophthalmic attiibutes?! I can well imagine someone doing a thesis on this concept.
Wow. My minds threatens to explode by the concept of seeing through the compound eyes of dragonflies or damselflies. I know that some scientific work has been done on dragonfly eyes, but I got bogged down in trying to understand the abstracts that I found. 🙂
A gem indeed.
Nice ones, Mike. Great headshot and this is a spectacularly beautiful ode.
Thanks, Steve. There are so many beautiful odes that I am excited to see. A lot of folks give attention only to dragonflies, but I like to showcase damselflies too.
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