Where can you find dragonflies? You can find them almost anywhere where there is some kind of water nearby, but different species have preferred habitats. Some dragonflies can be found at lakes or ponds or streams or in sunlit meadows or in the margins of the forest.
Some of my favorites, including the Gray Petaltail dragonfly (Tachopteryx thoreyi) are creatures of the seeps, those mucky forest areas where skunk cabbages are likely to grow. Most of the photos that I have published of Gray Petaltails have shown them perching vertically on sunlit trees near those seeps. That is where they are found most often, although they will sometimes perch on people with gray shirts, perhaps mistaking them for trees. I have had it happen to me on multiple occasions and, even though I love dragonflies, it is a little disconcerting when one of these large dragonflies flies by your head with an audible whir and lands on you.
As I was exploring a seepy area in Occoquan Regional Park on Wednesday, I was thrilled to be able to capture a shot of a Gray Petaltail perched horizontally on some skunk cabbage. What was he doing there? My first thought was that maybe he had just emerged and was waiting for his wings to harden. Unlike many other dragonfly larvae that live in the water, Gray Petaltail larvae live in the moist leaves in and around the seeps, so that is were they undergo their amazing metamorphosis from larvae into dragonflies.
When the dragonfly flew to a nearby tree, as shown in the second shot, it appeared to be a full-grown adult. I am still at a loss to explain why he was previously perched on skunk cabbage. Who knows? However, I do like the way that way that the background of this image is diagonally broken up into a kind of yin-yang pattern, a wonderful backdrop for this dragonfly’s muted colors.
The final photo is a quick shot to give you a visual impression some of the elements in a sun-lit forest seep, the preferred habitat for a Gray Petaltail dragonfly. This seep is on the side of a hill, so the water is not stagnant, but instead slowly oozes its way into a stream. If you want to find a Gray Petaltail on your own, this is the kind of place where you need to search.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
Nice images Mike! Enjoyed seeing them! Liked the last image showing the habitat!
Thanks, Reed. I have a friend who is always encouraging folks to take photos of the habitats in which they find uncommon dragonflies. That helps to identify a species’ most common locations, but it is always possible to find dragonflies in locations that are not the expected ones (or outside of the geographic range areas shown in the identification guides).
Sometimes dragons (and other critters) don’t always perform by the book, good you had your wits about you to get the shot off!
So true. It seems that most critters are not big readers and have not read the identification guides that indicate how they should act and where they should be found. 🙂
Fantastic introduction to the gray petaltail, Mike. Your photos of the dragonfly and the forest seep are delightful. Fun that the petaltail has landed more than once on your gray shirt. I do l o v e that second photo. Great post, as always.
Thanks, Jet. In case you are curious about what I look like with a Gray Petaltail on me, check out this posting by my friend Walter Sanford. https://waltersanford.wordpress.com/2019/05/22/you-look-like-a-tree-to-me/
Wow! They’re really big! Great photos from Walter Sanford, Mike, thanks for the link.
You are welcome, Jet. Gray Petaltails are about 3 inches in length, which is big for a dragonfly. Petaltails are considered to be among the most primitive living dragonflies. Fossils have been found of dragonfly-like insects that are more than 250 million years old. 🙂
Wow, really good shots 👏👏👏
Thanks, Ted.
I hadn’t encountered seeps until I got to east Texas, where they’re the preferred habitat of various ferns, orchids, and such. Now, I come across the word time and again when I’m looking up those Pineywoods plants — dare I say it’s seeped into my consciousness?
Yes, you dared to say it!