I love the cool tones of this image of a male Eastern Pondhawk dragonfly (Erythemis simplicicollis) that I photographed last week at Occoquan Regional Park—the green of the vegetation seemed a perfect complement to the colors of this handsome dragonfly. In most dragonfly species the male stands out more than the female, but with the Eastern Pondhawk, it is the female who is more often in the spotlight with her emerald green thorax and the black striped abdomen, as some of you may recall from my posting last week entitled First Eastern Pondhawk of 2021.
A male Eastern Pondhawk starts out with the same bright green coloration as the female, but over the course of his adult life the green is gradually transformed into a duller shade of blue and finally a powdery bluish-grey. A number of other dragonflies have a similar shade of blue on their bodies, but it is fairly easy to identify male Eastern Pondhawks because they, like the females, have bright green faces and their terminal appendages at the tip of their abdomens (the “tail”) are white in color.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I’m almost certain I found one of these yesterday. Unfortunately, none of my photos shows those distinguishing white thingies at the rear end, but everything else seems the same.
The “thingies” are technically “cerci.” If you want a bit more information on these appendages and an explanation of what they do, check out this posting by my friend Walter Sanford. If you saw a green face, that is enough to identify the species. https://waltersanford.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/eastern-pondhawk-dragonflies/.
Nice capture, Mike, and a very pleasing composition with the stalks of green on either side.
Interior designers should take some clues from the dragonfly and damselfly color palettes!
There is definitely a lot to be said for using the colors found in nature.
What a stunning creature and photo! I gazed and gazed at the enlargement. The beauty of the wings and body, and even the head (looks like some kind of electronic cockpit). So much is clearly in focus! Thank you my friend.
Thanks, Liz. I am used to looking at the wings and the body, but it is a bit unusual to have that view of the back of the eyes. I too don’t know exactly what I am looking at, but I can definitely see how you could view it as an electronic cockpit. As for the focus, it is often a matter of angles. A lot of the time I try to position myself so that the plane on which my camera is oriented is parallel to that of my subject. It is not always possible, but it is one of of ensuring that the maximum amount of my subject is in focus.
Fantastic to see this eastern pondhawk, Mike. I just saw a western pondhawk this week and will be putting it into Friday’s post. They are interesting the way their wings angle forward. This photo is sublime.
Very nice Eastern Pondhawk image Mike!
Thanks, Reed.